How about a Lexus question?

Hi all,

My GF's son bought a daily driver 220,000 mile '99 RX300 and it had been hit or slid into something on the passenger side rear. The tire was torn but the wheel was not impacted, the rocker panel and bottom of the back door are mashed in and the lower front control arm on the right rear wheel is arched slightly so the tire toes in a little bit. I'm going to help him with the repair and we can replace the $25 part easy enough but curious if I'm going to have trouble getting that wheel/hub tugged back out so the new control arm lines up. This is a first for me on something with this kind of damage.

Thanks!

A question about a Lexus......

Will it perplex us?

I think that's the question.


Mike

Regardless of make, what is actually bent? I understand what you're saying about the wheel, but is it due to bent frame/mounts or bent suspension components?

lol Mike, yes that's the question.. is that hub going to come back straight (somewhat) willingly or ??

The hub attaches to the spindle. Are you asking if you can straighten a bent control arm or spindle or suspension cross member?

There are 2 lower control arms on each rear wheel. The forward one on the passenger side is slightly bent/arched from the impact. Just curious if that hub is likely to come back straight somewhat easily once I unbolt the control arm or if I'm going to have to figure out a Red Green solution to pull it out.

No sir, the lower front control arm is slightly bent, toeing the wheel in. What I'm not sure of is if that hub/spindle is going to come back straight easily once the bent control arm is off. Just want to put a new control arm on but if that spindle doesn't want to come back straight easily I'm going to have to put some thought into how I'll pull it straight with the tools i have.

Assuming the spindle isn't damaged, you shouldn't have to do anything to it or to the hub. The radius rod, the strut, and the 2 lower control arms determine the position of the spindle. If nothing else is bent other than the front lower control arm, what are you concerned with regarding the spindle not being able to be moved to it's proper position?

Probably going to require a hot pull.

You can actually buy parts for a Lexus? I tried to get a new battery once and took the old one to the Lexus dealer. They had no parts department and no place to even put the old battery on a counter! Finally two guys in white lab coats and gloves came out and take the battery, come back after a while with a new one. Apparently if a battery goes bad in a Lexus you call the dealer and a truck comes out and replaces it for you...

About all you can do is replace the known bent parts and see where you are. If everything is OK, your good. If not, you have to find out what else is bent, and repeat the process. Bent parts are easy, you unbolt the bent stuff and put on new straight stuff. The problem occurs when the stuff the parts bolt onto is bent or twisted out of shape. Sometimes that shows up when the new parts don't fit right, but sometimes it won't show up until everything has been replaced, and you still can't get the wheel alignment correct. Then you may be required to have the "frame" pulled back straight.

This problem is universal among modern vehicles of all brands. Most of the time, replacing the bent parts solves the problems, but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes rust and high mileage have an effect on this stuff as well. Some vehicles have known, or expected issues to look into before you start buying parts. For instance, a mid 2000s Chrysler mini van had issues with the upper strut tower sheet metal rusting out. If one came into my shop that was in a minor fender bender and the strut got bent (which is pretty expected), I would be looking at the condition of that upper strut tower before I bought the replacement struts. That area has a replacement fix available, but its something I would want to know beforehand.

It is part # 24 that is bent. Once removed, I'm just asking if the spindle/hub should somewhat freely come back into line or if I might have to rig something to help pull the wheel/hub straight so that the new arm will line up on the bolt holes. Pretty straight forward question I thought.

Since you are the only one with eyes on the issue it will be virtually impossible to answer your question. Without know what, if anything, is bent we cannot give you any ideas on how to deal with.

So no, the question is not pretty straightforward other than replace #24 and see.

If the only damage is the bent arm then it will all go back into place.

The big fear is if the mounting points of the suspension are moved out of place then you will still have problems.

Luckily for you those arms bend easy. Helped replace 4 this year.

If the mounting points are moved you will have to either replace the rear carriage (if it has one) or put the car on a frame machine.

Lots of modern cars use a carriage like our old K frames to hold all the rear suspension. They bolt it in as an assembly. If yours is that type and the carriage is bent you can probably replace it.

The big problem would be a bent frame or chassis.

If part 24 is bent, isn't part 25 a matching part on the other side of the spindle? I'd replace both 24 and 25 if both are attached to either side of the spindle. I would also expect to be replacing the mounting hardware. I can't see one side bending with out damaging the other side. Once everything is apart, that spindle can move a lot. If it doesn't sit back in place properly, something else is probably bent, but the mounting brackets may still also be bent. I can't see that from here.

I suspect it'll be fine...those lower arms are made of tin foil so likely the weak spot. I'd be more worried about getting the bolts out in one piece. Live in the rust belt?

from your description and looking at not a charger parts image.
my 30+ years of autobody experience says #24 or #25 arm, whichever is the foreword one, is bent.
this is easy to diagnose by placing a straight edge against the rod. it should be perfectly straight against the straight edge. measure at vertical and 90*.
the center hub rarely bends, the knuckle itself usually bends before the hub.. the bearings will go bad and howl but the hub flanges rarely bend. if it's bent it will be easy to see by spinning when the wheel is off.

This The only issue you may have is the bolt that goes through the bushings. Yes you will need to pry and wiggle the new parts into place and even "sharpen" a point on the bolts to drive them back home. i have used a ratchet strap to the shipping anchors to pull suspension parts into place.
Shoot me a PM if you need any other help on this car as I am a master Toyota tech with 35 years experience.
Gus

Thank you. From underneath and the tire off it looks like only the rocker got mashed and the one arm bent. I'm hoping that because the tire was ripped open but the wheel was not hit that there's no frame or mounting point distortion. Sounds like it should move back into line barring unforeseen damage.

I'll get into it on Saturday. Thank you both for the insight.

I am going to guess it will return close enough that the new arm will go back into place with the same level of difficulty of any other suspension part. It might require some wrestling but I bet it goes together OK.

Just one arm is bent and the wheel did spin straight. I had a chance to drive it a couple miles and outside of a pull it drove well with no shakes or vibration. Just heard that the young gun had it out yesterday and heard a strange noise... will see if its a bearing on Saturday.
Thanks!

Cars with the type of rear suspension in the diagram often suffer bent lower arms- 24 and 25 in the pic. People use them as a point of connection to pull the car out of a ditch and bent the crap out of them. I replaced 2 of 4 bent on a car with said design. The rear aligned properly at the shop. Removing them on the other hand? Rough but it was a car that had seen road salt.

Appreciate all the info. The spindle was fairly easy to line up. The rusty bolts took a map gas torch to help break loose and the bolt on the spindle end was bent so no chance it was coming out of the bushing. Two hours under the car to get it apart, 15 minutes to put it back together. We’ll have to get an OEM or equal bolt for the new arm and should be an easy fix.