Hit the worst pothole in my life....help..

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For the amount of time the car will be suspended to replace the control arm, you should be fine without the support tool. Worst case is the upper shock bushing splits.

Definitely take a really good look at the strut rod bushings, one may have split during that impact.
Agree. I forgot to mention, my new Scott Drake strut rod rubber bushes lasted just under 1,000 klm and crumbled like cheese. More good Chinese quality?. Put a full set of suspension rubbers from a local Aussie manufacturer and not a problem since.
 
Yes, that is correct, if the jack under the rotor slips the spindle will come down in an uncontrolled direction with full force. The spindle will be able to rotate in and on the upper ball joint. If the strut rod is loose it can rotate in any direction. The potential energy stored in the spring is enough to maim or kill, when loosed the resulting kinetic energy of the spindle and rotor adds to the damage.
You would have to be crazy to jack the car up by the rotor, at least I would never jack the car under a rotor. I hope the OP has never thought of doing that. Honestly, that never crossed my mind when I read that.
 
Agree. I forgot to mention, my new Scott Drake strut rod rubber bushes lasted just under 1,000 klm and crumbled like cheese. More good Chinese quality?. Put a full set of suspension rubbers from a local Aussie manufacturer and not a problem since.
Moog still makes good strut rod bushings.
 
I've swapped out many lower control arms on all the Ford vehicles with this type suspension.. Never, ever has a spring popped out of it's seat. The upper control arm will rest against the inner support on it's own without damaging the bushings.. Do not under any circumstances support the spindle or steering knuckle. They will just hang suspended freely until you bolt them back up..
 
It's going to need an alignment after anyway, so how much more would it cost for a good front end guy to replace the control arm. Maybe what, 1hr extra work?
Just a thought. Sometimes in the long run, it's easier and better to pay a few bucks and get it done and let someone else get their hands dirty.
 
well problem may be worse then I thought. Just replaced the lower control arm, not a lot of fun.....but metal noise was still there. So now I look up and the spring is rubbing, see first picture. 2nd is of the driver side spring which is clear of any contact. Beyond my scope of work so will wait until I can get it into the shop the I have had work in the past to see what the problem is. Thoughts???

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I had this exact same issue of the spring hitting the spring cover on one side of the car. This happened was after I had replaced everything in the front suspension. including the springs, upper and lower control arms, shocks, all bushings, all the tie rods, rotors, calipers, brake hoses etc.. It drove me nuts for a while and I disassembled that side of the suspension 3 times trying to look for an answer. I finally figured out that the spring cover was bent, don't ask me why it did not hit before I replaced everything. From the photo yours also looks to be bent. I figured it out as when I looked at the drivers side spring cover and compared it the passenger side one, I could see that the passenger side one was further into the shock tower as the lower part of it was bent in an S shape like your is. Look at your upper photo and look at the lower part of the spring cover, right on the lower stud, you can see clearly that it is bent inward in an S shape. If you look at the other side, that part is basically straight. Just take it off and grab a big hammer and a piece of wood, lay the spring cover on top of the flat piece of wood and go to town on it.

After seeing what happened to you, I finally understand what happened to me. The front suspension, steering and brakes, was the first thing I did when I bought the car. I had never understood how or why that cover was bent inward like that when it did not look like anything had ever touched it. My car had a nasty hit on the front crossmember on the passenger side, which bent the crossmember and the strut rod. When I did the front end I put a new strut rod in. I now realize, after looking at your car, that if these cars are hit hard on one side of the lower suspension, that the hit will travel through front frame and into the apron/shock towers and bend the spring cover. The front frame rail on my car is a little bent, you should check yours. My car was hit in the crossmember which bent the strut rod and pushed the lower control arm back and bent it a little bit, all that force bent the spring cover and my front frame rail. Yours was kind of opposite, in which your lower control arm hit, but that force would travel forward through the strut rod and into the crossmember, basically imparting all that force to the the lower frame rail and into the aprons, shock towers, and that spring cover.
 
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Take a close look at the first photo, you can clearly see where the spring cover is bent into an S shape. On the top photos on the top part of the photo look at the screw that is protruding through the apron, now look straight down and you will see the end of the stud that is on the shock cover that goes through the apron with a nut on the other side of the apron. Right under that stud you will see the apron is bent into an S shape, and the bend goes into the shock tower, causing the middle of the shock cover to be closer to the spring.
 
Just looking at it quick I think I can see what happened perhaps. The pothole hit was so violent that the rubber bumper at the bottom of the cover hit hard and bent the cover inwards a bit. At least that us what I will hope for. I see two bolts on each side but what about the bottom, is that a rivet of some sort?
 
well I took it off and put back the wheel, no more noise, nothing rubbing. I beat on it and beat on it to no avail...so far. I think I will order the repro from NPD. May not be as thick metal as the original but I do not care as long as it gets the job done. The bumper was kind of toast anyway so I need new ones as well.
 
well after my last comment and reading about the S bend I beat on it some more, now it may be fixed, what do y'all think? Needless to say I need a new bumper on it but it looks to be clear of the spring now. One mounting hole is not lined up well and have to alter it a little. My elation to possibley having it fixed almost evaporated at the same moment as my quick jack, one side, gave way. Guess I did not check the line up of it when I raised it this time. It was the driver side so the passenger side held it up, long enough for me to get a floor jack under the center and lift it up, got jack stands on the back and was able to then get the quick jack down and re-lined. Will never make that error again. Need to see if those rubber lift blocks of the quick jack can be replaced with a hard part. Send NPD a message to cancel the order for the repro cover.
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As long as it is not hitting you are good. I beat mine up with a 3 pound hammer and it went back to straight, you probably needed a bigger hammer. :)
 
well after my last comment and reading about the S bend I beat on it some more, now it may be fixed, what do y'all think? Needless to say I need a new bumper on it but it looks to be clear of the spring now. One mounting hole is not lined up well and have to alter it a little. My elation to possibley having it fixed almost evaporated at the same moment as my quick jack, one side, gave way. Guess I did not check the line up of it when I raised it this time. It was the driver side so the passenger side held it up, long enough for me to get a floor jack under the center and lift it up, got jack stands on the back and was able to then get the quick jack down and re-lined. Will never make that error again. Need to see if those rubber lift blocks of the quick jack can be replaced with a hard part. Send NPD a message to cancel the order for the repro cover.
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Using heat before you beat (on sprung steel) will get you better results. Shorts checker might add to that… 😂
 
After replacing the PS lower control arm, banging out the coil cover from this pothole damage I have been waiting to get the car into the shop that does work on my car to replace the DS lower control arm (seemed sill to have one new one and one 50 year old one) before I went for an alignment. Not knowing when I can get shop time I decided to get the alignment done. They could not do it, said something else must be slightly bent on the PS side. Perhaps the upper control arm??? He did do a little tweaking on the alignment, the steering wheel was clocking at 1 o'clock, now at 1157. almost dead straight. lol. While the car drives fine I will limit the driving till I can get this done. Will swapping front tires side to side after, say a 100 mile drive help out in the meantime? Any other thoughts? Thanks
 
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