Advice on Lower Control Arm damage & repair

[PK]

Hi Sue,
the LCA has to be replaced, no option if you want to have a safe vehicle to drive. The fact it hasn't failed yet is okay to show reserve capacity, but the cracks and additional stress in that arm will lead to eventual failure.
As far as the frame part goes, it does not look damaged in the photos, so I would ask your mechanic to point out the damage, and compare it to the other side.
I would also jack the VX up and take both front wheels off. Then take photos of that frame part from outside the wheel well looking straight in.
The force caused by the rock looks like it has gone upwards and to the rear. So the frame part could be bent to the rear and we would not see it in the photos you have taken.

I am fairly sure a new LCA and bushes, and wheel alignment will have you happy again.

PK

[Gizmo42]

Hard to see small frame member bends with the eye, really need it on a frame rack with laser alignment to check it. That said, I cant see anything that indicates any bending on the LCA mount.

Now that myisuzuparts is gone its hard to cross reference parts. Isuzu mixed so many trooper and rodeo parts on the VX I never know which are the same. Might have to call Merlin, he should be able to tell you for sure.

[H3_VX]

This is why I don't wanna take my VX off-road. I live vicariously through all of you. LOL. I really hope you can get everything repaired Kat.

[Scott Larson]

Sue, you took one hard hit on that LCA and that can transmit to anything it's attached to. In the VX's case, that happens to be a cast bracket that once tweaked cannot be staightened and expected to survive. Any reputable frame shop or repair facility won't take that risk. The reason your go-to guy won't just weld in a new bracket is because it's very tricky welding cast metal to formed steel. That's why he's opting for cutting out the frame and bracket assembly and welding in a salvaged assembly from a yard. It really makes sense from a safety standpoint and I commend him for calling it like it is...sorry the news isn't better!

[BigSwede]

I *thought* the VX suspension was the same as a 2nd gen Trooper, not Rodeo...but I could easily be wrong.

All 92-02 Troops should have the same LCA, BTW.

[VX KAT]

Definitely will talk with my guy about all the options after he assess it, and decide on best/safe course. Since I can't lift it, I've always known damage was likely a matter of time, and this year with me feeling so crummy, I guess my number was up. So I gotta pay to play

Since my guy does laser alignments, I'm hoping he also does frame work.

I'm confident we'll get her all fixed up one way or the other!
Although I may need to sell some stuff to afford all this - - hmmm, I do have this one Beretta Cheetah .380 I've been "thinking" of selling - - may have to now BOO!

[VX KAT]

OH, FORGOT TO MENTION THE GOOD NEWS!
Replacing the fan clutch and fan blade DEFINITELY solved the overheating in hot weather with full A/C.
I ran both trails all day with full A/C, crawling, 92+ degrees air temp.
Scan gauge hung around 184 - 190 degrees, and never went above 207 (once when I was climbing slowly).

YAH!!!!
.
.
.
.
it was still pretty miserably hot, with all the starting/stopping/slowing but hey, I didn't overheat!

[JoFotoz]

Ummmm....

Since I can't lift it

...yup, ya can.

I've been through this with you

OK..back to the pool party!


Jo

[VX KAT]

Ummmm....



...yup, ya can.

I've been through this with you

OK..back to the pool party!


Jo

oh yeah, I forgot again. (again, and again )
Yes, I should look into those airbag/air system. Thanks for reminding me. IIRC, it wasn't the kind that's an airbag within the spring, correct?
Since I'm not familiar with this, can anybody shoot me a link so I can start checking them out?

[vt_maverick]

It certainly would be cool to watch Sue lift and slam her bagged VX (would it be the first?). But couldn't she just put in the Daystar spacers, crank the T-bars, and be more or less where she was last year when she had no problems? I think the only difference is her tires are 1" shorter than they were last year, so if she lifts by an inch (Daystar advertises them as 1.5" but rickshaw and I both found them to be closer to 1") her step-in height would only be .5-1" higher. That's $40 compared to who knows how much for a remote air bag system.

But is the problem really the trails themselves? A few folks told me the trails were worse last year than in previous years, even on the "bunny slopes." And it sounds like things were even worse this year. Are we seeing the end of the era of stock VX participation at Moab?

[Y33TREKker]

Definitely will talk with my guy about all the options after he assess it, and decide on best/safe course. Since I can't lift it, I've always known damage was likely a matter of time, and this year with me feeling so crummy, I guess my number was up. So I gotta pay to play

Since my guy does laser alignments, I'm hoping he also does frame work.

It seems that the first step would have to be determining whether that section of the frame is actually tweaked or not. With an oddly shaped piece like the one in question, having it checked out on an actual frame straightening rack would obviously be more accurate than an eyeball assessment...no offense meant to your guy of course, it's just that I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in this thread when the eyeball he uses for these kinds of assessments was last calibrated.



Who knows, maybe it'll all turn out to have been a false alarm.

[VX KAT]

It certainly would be cool to watch Sue lift and slam her bagged VX (would it be the first?). But couldn't she just put in the Daystar spacers, crank the T-bars, and be more or less where she was last year when she had no problems? I think the only difference is her tires are 1" shorter than they were last year, so if she lifts by an inch (Daystar advertises them as 1.5" but rickshaw and I both found them to be closer to 1") her step-in height would only be .5-1" higher. That's $40 compared to who knows how much for a remote air bag system.

That calculation was right until they DID crank my TBs a little to clear the tires, so I ended up about 1/2" higher than my prior set up. I even had them lower the TBs a little, but I'm still a little bit higher in front than before. Which makes it all the more ironic doesn't it!

Interesting Porcupine Rim is listed in the Wells book as Easy, whereas Hells Revenge and Fins-N-Things are listed as Difficult. I thought it was a little harder than "easy".

On Porcupine you go up and back on same trail, so some of these pics were harder going down. I know I slammed down on a few of these, any one could have caused my damage. Look at all those potential hits to the Driver side LCA!

I just took some bad lines, wasn't careful enough on some areas, and have no one else to blame but myself.

A stocker could still easily do this trail.


Oh, and I stopped by the shop 10 mins before closing on a holiday weekend so it was a real quicky. He'll do a full assessment before I do anything.

[Triathlete]

Sue, to do that damage you surely would have heard and felt it. That would require a VERY hard hit.

[JoFotoz]

The object of Air bagging Sues ride is to give her easy entry/exit at a suitable/comfortable height...

...and the ability to lift once settled in, for good 4X4 ground clearance.

As for the trail ratings in the guide book...OUT OF DATE!

Increased usage, rain errosion, and decreased trail maintenance have IMO, radically altered many of the trails.

Some are easier than they were...most are/seem harder.

jo

[vt_maverick]

The object of Air bagging Sues ride is to give her easy entry/exit at a suitable/comfortable height...

...and the ability to lift once settled in, for good 4X4 ground clearance.

Hence "lift and slam."