very bad alignment after ditch crossing-possible bent frame.

[racsan]

my '93 is in some serious trouble, roughly 2 weeks ago i was starting to teach my daughter how to drive, wanted her to learn in a manual transmission, long story short, the last corner we turned she didnt straighten out the wheel & when i reached over to correct, she panics, floors it and we go into a ditch at approx 45 degree angle, and bounce through it out into a field. left front tire is turned outward, right front tire is straight ahead. when the left front tire went up into the wheelwell it hit the inner liner hard enough to snap off the fitting on the clutch master cylinder for the reservoir. put in a new clutch master cyl, and got enough clutch travel to get it on a tow dolly. from what i could tell the drivers side ttb beam might be bent, found one at a junkyard, got the drivers side beam with the radius arm, left side tie rod & the coil spring all as one unit, it happened to be a D28 hybrid (2nd one i found that way) my D35 diff still looked good so i swapped it into the "new" housing. got the assy into place after alot of work, but everything still looks like it did before. crossmember where radius arm mounts looks fine. i do think the frame is slightly bent, the gap between the back of the front tire & the body on the passenger side i can stick a closed fist into, drivers side i can only fit 3 fingers, body clearance on drivers side between cab & box is different from side to side now, more gap on drivers side, seal between cap & the cab has a gap at the top drivers side now. going to see if theres enough toe adjustment on tie rods to get the front end toe correct. was wondering about washers between radius arm mount & radius arm to try & "push" the axle forward. just want to get this thing driveable again, i know factory alignment specs are probly no longer possible, but i cant see any visable bending of the frame. all my body panel gaps are the same as they were before, doors open & shut normally like they did before, only thing that isnt the same operationally is the drivers seat rails dont slide freely like they used to, passenger ones are ok. am i beating a dead horse that should just be shot? i know its a 19 y/o truck and all, but dont really want to have it hauled off or parted out. any ideas/suggestions about my differance in tire direction? replaceing the drivers side beam did help some, but not nearly enough for it to be driveable.

 

[racsan]

well, i got it driveable, the drivers side tie rod has a bend in it to clear other parts of the steering when in a tight turn. i heated & bent the rod, putting more of a bend in it, and thereby shortning the linkage, letting me get the toe adjusted. it probly dogtracks a little, what with the driver side tire closer to the rearmost wheelwell. camber looks ok, guess time& tire wear will really tell the tale. started to try the idea of washers on the radius arm to "push" the driver side beam forward, but that just increased the toe-out, not much but enough that i decided to not do that. got a few things to finish up before putting it back on the road, clutch travel isnt what it should be, probly have some air in the slave cyl, got the front driveshaft to put on, add oil to the front diff, put the step bars back on. i did end up putting new ball joints on the "new" arm, lower one had some play in it.

 

[Fellro]

The mount for the radius arm may have gotten bent as well. Would be good to let a frame shop check it out just to see where it is, might not he a horrible fix. The cab and clip may have been shifted as well.

 

[racsan]

well, it doesnt dogtrack, i did see whewre the left side of the cab has shifted forward a little bit, the right side is about 2" higher than the left. drivers seat was leaning to the left inside the cab, put a spacer under the l.r. seat bracket to the floor & got it much better. rear sway bar is broke inside the l.r. bushing. put front sway bar, side steps & front mud flaps back on. my passenger side exhaust flange had rusted away where the y-pipe joins the manifold, in the wreck the front driveshaft hit the Y-pipe & caused the exhaust leak to be much worse, fixed that with 3 stainless hose clamps, one on either side of the exhaust joint, then 1 to pull them together. alot cheaper, easier & quicker than a new Y-pipe. i think its good enough to drive to work & back but im retiring it from trailer towing service.