Car hit a curb, bent the rim. Replaced all rims and tires. Wheel still bends under. Replaced lower control arm and lower ball joint, better but not fixed. Other side of car is fine and straight. Did not notice any damage to frame, upper control arm, fork, steering knuckle, or radius arm. Possible bent sway bar?
The sway bar gives from side to side so I doubt your problem is in that. Of course it is really hard for me to pinpoint your problem without inspecting the vehicle, how hard did the vehicle hit the curb? If it hit it pretty hard and severely bent the lower control arm, I would suspect that you have some frame damage.
You need to really inspect the frame where the lower control arm mounts, it may help to look at the other side and compare it to the damaged side. You'll be looking for slight wrinkles or bends in places near where the control arm mounts or follow back and keep looking for any signs of slight signs of damage.
And, are we talking about the front, rear or both on the vehicle?
If it's the rear, the rear is weaker than the front. Follow the frame rail all the way towards the middle and look for signs of damage.
If you look closely, you should be able to find the damaged area.
It being a '94 it doesn't take much damage for your insurance to total the vehicle out, (if you happen to have full coverage insurance and file it.)
I hope this may help.
SOURCE: I have a 97 Honda
The most common reason for this problem is that you haven't got a proper tie rod adjustment. The tie rods need to be adjusted so that you have the same distance. You can use a standard tape measure and with the car on a flat level surface with the tires straight, have a friend help you measure from the one wheel to the other. You need to measure from the front of the tire using the same reference points on both tires ( like the farthest outside tread groove.) once you have the measurement on the front of the tires then move to the back side of the tires and measure again, using the same reference points, the outside tread groove. The measurements should be within 3/ 16 of an inch and should be slightly shorter in the front. For example if you measured the front @ 4' 41/2" then the back of the tire should be from 4' 4 1/2" to 4' 11/16". The front wheels will be slightly toed in of pointing at each other but no more then 3/ 16 of an inch. If you measurement are off then you will need to adjust the tie rods to get a even measurement. Also you may find that your steering wheel is off center if you don't have them adjusted correctly.
I would really recommend that you just take this and have an alignment done, they are relatively inexpensive considering you have replaced the tie rods and this will make for easy adjustment.
To be completely honest, it's impossible to say even looking carefully. The only real way to be SAFE is to go to a specialist centre and have your entire steering geometry checked out. Even if you were to change most (or all) of the replaceable components, the problem could well be where they attach to the sub-frame or chassis. Get it checked!
Best of luck!
SOURCE: wrecked and broke rocker arm on my HONDA CIVIC
first for some clarification .1. it is not a rocker arm it is a control arm,or another name is (A arm)because it is usualy shaped like the letter A.. 2.a rocker arm is in the top of the head on the motor. 3. DO NOT TRY TO BEND OR HEAT AND BEND IT BACK IN PLACE. you are asking for a early death bed...... BBBUUUUTTTT you can go to your local parts house and order one for around 150-200 bucks. or go to your local salvage yard for about 50-75 dollars.
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