How to know whats damaged after a front end impact

[John]

I have a Rear Wheel Drive Toyota 4Runner SR5 4.7L v8 with an automatic transmission and around 90,000 miles on the clock that was recently in a drivers side front end impact.
The tire was punctured, the rim shattered, the break rotor was completely cracked in two and the lower control arm was sheered straight down the middle separating the two forked arms from the single meeting point as per its “y” shaped design.
Now not much else seems to be damaged (although admittedly we have a pretty big list already) but the tie rod end has fallen out of its “socket” on the inner side of the wheel arch and i’m not sure how to judge weather it needs replacing or not. Money permitting I assume I should just replace it to be safe, but it would be nice to know for sure if what is being done in actually necessary.
Now obviously we already know that the lower control arm and the break rotor are shot for sure as they have massive cracks in them and have actually both sheered and are now in two separate pieces each. I’m not however familiar enough with auto repair to diagnose the remaining suspension components such as the upper control arm and the now dislocated tie rod end because both these components along with the rest of the suspension that I haven’t mentioned (shock absorbers, springs bushings, dampers, and the rest) and I just don’t possess enough skills to be able to judge the damage without the obvious physical damage that the other broken parts sustained, and thus nothing I can use to judge weather these seemingly fine components are re-usable or must be replaced.
Furthermore, after I remove the caliper and check it for damage, and then the cracked break rotor how do I know if the break rotor’s mounting point (the physical bolts to which the break rotor is fitted, which also has the break caliper mounting points on it) is damaged enough to need replacing as well?

When it comes right down to it, what I basically need to know is weather or not the car is safe to drive after I replace the obviously broken stuff and indeed which components can do with serving the car for a few more years and are not criticality in need of replacement. After the obviously damaged parts are replaced I will most certainly be taking the car to an alignment shop to have it’s suspension geometry correctly calibrated of course, but I know won’t be satisfied or feel safe until I’m sure that all damaged parts have been properly replaced. Any info on diagnosing the calipers, tie rod ends, ball joints control arms or any other possibly damaged components would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for all the great advice you’ve already given,
Regards – J

Topic

[college man]

All you can do is inspect the components and see what is obvious
of being bent or broken. see if these links help.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/determining-the-causes-of-vehicle-vibrations

[EricTheCarGuy]

I actually made a video about this.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Aaron Abajian]

Hi John. I am in the collision repair business and hope I can help. This seems like a rather substantial impact. You did not say what year your vehicle is but, from your description of severity the damage and the fact that you did not mention any airbags being deployed I will assume your model year is before any SRS systems were implemented. It sounds like most of the repairs can be done by any capable DIYer. The only thing I think that you might have overlooked is the fact that your frame might need to be pulled back into position. If I were you, I would start by getting all of your new parts and see if they can go back into there original positions. If the control arms, bumper, etc. does not fit properly, I would suggest that you go to a body shop that has a frame machine. They might try to sell you on the entire repair or tell you that they can not put the frame back into position without these parts being installed. This is not true. Any reputable body shop should have access to OEM measurement specs and the proper measuring tools to put your frame back into the right shape where you can put the parts on yourself. If everything bolts back on with little or no “persuasion” and if she drives relatively straight, you will have a fairly safe vehicle. Please let me know if my assumptions are correct on the airbag issue… That is my biggest concern. Dealing with SRS is very important. You are tacking something that is extremely challenging for even the most experienced professional. I hope I helped some. Aaron

[Author]

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