[Chicago_Paul]

Howdy folks,

Here's a funny/scary story...I'll let you make your own "female driver" jokes.

My girlfriend was driving her 2001 Forester this weekend when she turned to me and said something felt "funny". I asked her to pull over into a parking lot, and I drove it. Indeed, the front steering/suspension/braking was definitely not normal. I got out, grabbed a flashlight, and was shocked at what I saw. When I finished laughing, I grabbed my digital camera.

I've worked on many cars since the early 1980's and have never seen this. The service techs at the Subaru dealership scratched their head and whispered, "Dude, what did she do??" She claims she hasn't hit or run over anything recently.

Thank God, we avoided tragedy.

 

[Duderotomy]

Oh my....

 

[yallahyimshi]

Strange things happening... i never heard or saw stuff like this on any car!

Even heavy offroad didn´t lead to something like that! Maybe she hit a steel turtle?

 

[frogstar7055]

That cracks been there for awhile,you can tell by the rust stains.

 

[pete]

Damn, did somebody lift the vehicles on the LCA?

 

[05maxoXT]

That cracks been there for awhile,you can tell by the rust stains.

I do agree with you man.It was just matter of time when gone happend.
I'm glad nobody got hurt

 

[sea-scooby]

Any impacts marks on the underside?

 

[SubieGaz]

what side is the battery on for this model year?

 

[Tuned200]

Wow, Its uncommon for LCA's to crack!

 

[neoshi]

Sheesh.. must have run over that guy who uses sawzalls on his wheels when his lugs are stuck on.

Hey is that grease leaking out of the inner CV boot or is that just mud?

 

[satalac]

Hey is that grease leaking out of the inner CV boot or is that just mud?

It's probably the Forester crying.

 

[Tuned200]

It's probably the Forester crying.

HAHA:biggrin:

 

[Woody '04]

wow! :icon_eek: wonder if this will be the next recall?

had a friend once that had an old corolla/tercel for a "drive to work" car that was recalled for a control arm rusting out problem. the car had lots of miles and was not worth much but was still fixed free of charge for him.

i had and 89 camry and made about 1 1/2 hour trip in 2-3 inches of slush with studded snow tires. i thought something felt funny and got out to shake things around. i noticed one front wheel seemed to move a lot more than the other one - like a couple inches front and back "play"; so much i wondered if the tire might hit the fenderwell! :icon_eek: turns out the bushings where the stabilizer bar went through the lower control arm were missing most of the rubber, allowing all the movement! i only ever replaced that one side and believe that it was possibly advanced degradation related to an obvious accident/repair from the previous owner.

 

[frogstar7055]

I'm REAL hard on my 01 off road.

Going to be doing a thorough inspection.

 

[scubadoober]

I'm thinking a jack may have been used on the inboard side of the control arm. The weight of the car and the opposing force of the shock/spring cracked the bottom of the control arm. The crack then worked its way around due to the forces from travel. Just a guess:shrug:I just don't see this happening naturally, it should have bent first.

 

[mmowry]

WOW that could have made for a very bad accident, glad you caught it!

 

[Chicago_Paul]

That cracks been there for awhile,you can tell by the rust stains.

yeah, I asked her if she hit anything really hard 3 or 6 months ago.

she had new tires & brakes installed a little over a year ago, so you'd think a mechanic would have spotted the crack if it was there then.

 

[Chicago_Paul]

Damn, did somebody lift the vehicles on the LCA?

That's what I first thought, but I have never used a floor jack on it, and she's never had a flat tire. I assume her mechanic knows how to position a hydraulic lift.

 

[Chicago_Paul]

Any impacts marks on the underside?

The pavement was snowy and it wasn't a great neighborhood, so I wasn't interested in crawling underneath the vehicle (although in hindsight, I could have just stuck my camera under it and snapped a photo).

 

[Chicago_Paul]

what side is the battery on for this model year?

that's a good point. but, I think it would be closer to the firewall.