The good,the bad, & the ugly

[Yellow RUBI]

So instead of going on the club camping trip I had to pack the Jeep for a trip Piney,Mb. (a small community south of Steinbach,MB) We Left early Friday morn. All went well, strong cross winds and cold weather all the way till Portage la Prarrie,MB. While crossing an overpass at about 1am we encountered several small drifts (due to the high winds) then a large drift, then the guardrail...    :'(   
At about 40 kph this wasa a fairly hard hit!
The good = no one was hurt , even a little  (except my pride)!
The bad = after we bounced off the guardrail I stopped on the shoulder off the overpass to  inspect the damage, it appeared to be just the fender and some rash on the left front wheel (not bad!  )
The Ugly = First impressions are sometimes very wrong! Trying to drive away the Jeep was allover the place!, Very challenging to keep in one lane! After about 200 meters we stopped again & I got down on my hands and knees to look underneath. Most experienced Jeepers will know what I found...the tie rod was badly bent. (way too cold for pics, sorry)
I wrestled the jeep back in to Portage and got a motel room for the night.
The next day, Saturday, I took the Jeep to the local Kal-tire to try and get a new tie rod. No dice on that, So we tried to straighten it out which went pretty well, enough so that I could get the Jeep to where we were headed, We rented a pickup to use while I wait for a new steering upgrade.
On further inspection I found a broken driving light, a badly damaged front wheel, and a rather badly bent lower control arm mount on the front diff.

The control arm mount is my big concern, Can these be replaced?
I'm gonna try and straighten it out with a BFH and a pry bar, unfortunately my brother in law (who has a garage) has almost no tools.
I'll try and upload a pic later.

I  just wondering what else I should look for in the way of damage?

[Bnine]

Track bar tweaked or not

Upper control arm contition.

Balljoint condition/placement (hard enough impacts, the balljoints can actually pop out, or partially out)

Straightening the LCA mount is not a big deal. Just stroke it good with a hammer and get it "about there".

Glad everyones ok.

[newfie]

Double the " good to hear everybody's ok"
fixing a jeep is the easy part, maybe is an excuse to do some upgrades now 

[barmanjay]

Gee Zus,.. glad you guys are ok!!!

[BlackYJ]

Just stroke it good

HA HA HA 

Sorry I could not resist.  Also glad to hear there were no injuries

[Yellow RUBI]

Track bar tweaked.. not sure, BUT the front and rear wheels were not in line after the tierod was straightened. Kaltire did some sort of adjustment to correct it, though now my steering wheel is upside down
Upper arm I think might have a bit of a twist but again not sure
The ball joints don't appear funky

I'll be under it later today and take some picks.


I ordered the Currie steering upgrade complete with tie rod ends and draglink, it should be here on Monday.

[01sahara]

Track bar tweaked.. not sure, BUT the front and rear wheels were not in line after the tierod was straightened. Kaltire did some sort of adjustment to correct it, though now my steering wheel is upside down

I too have driven with the upside down steering wheel, it was from a bent track bar. It is one of the weak links in the system and bends easily with a side impact to the wheel. I have bent my track bar twice just out wheeling.

[Bnine]

A stock track bar from a place like autovalue is actually really cheap and usually available.

[cLAY]

When hammering the lower mount back inspect it to see if any of the welds cracked.  I half ripped one off once.

[Yellow RUBI]

Well the trackbar does not seem bent,
,

and the ball joints look ok, ,


just looks like the lower control arm mount on the drivers side of the diff is the only thing bent

[01sahara]

When the track bar bends it does it on the bend that it normaly has over the diff. You can't see it it just becomes shorter.

[Yellow RUBI]

When the track bar bends it does it on the bend that it normaly has over the diff. You can't see it it just becomes shorter.

So if you can't see it, how do you know its bent?
(just askin)

[01sahara]

So if you can't see it, how do you know its bent?
(just asking)

It is shorter, that's all I know. It forces the front axel of jeep over to one side a few inches and that is why it seams like the steering wheel is turned.  See if your front wheels have a similar alignment under the fender flairs or if the axel seams pushed to one side.  Just my guess someone have a better diagnostic idea?

[Vinman]

So if you can't see it, how do you know its bent?
(just askin)

Measure the overall length of your trackbar and compare it against another Jeep. You will probably discover your trackbar is now shorter.
You will also notice that your axle is located further towards  the drivers side than the passenger side.

Vince

[Yellow RUBI]

OK, any one wanna measure their stock trackbar, bolt to bolt, and post up the result for me?
 I'm on the backside of nowhere here...    
Thanks