uber help needed - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

juise15 · 08-14-2005, 02:15 AM

All I can say is HELP.

I have a 96 Camry with about 140,000 miles on it. This car still drives just as good as the day it was bought, but recently has had some problems. Ill tell the entire story so you can have a good understanding as quickly as possible.

I was involved in a wreck where someone sideswaped me (front passenger side). All she did was put a real big dent in the car, and made some marks on the paint. Well several months later I was driving the car and I went to make a left turn. When I turned the wheel I noticed that the steering was more smooth than ever before. This was until I made a crash landing into a pole (very minor scratch on the car.

What happened, as I could tell, is the wheel came completely off, and everything that was attached to the wheel was off with it. I was told that the wheel came off as I was turning so it wasn't just me running into a pole. The guy who towed the car said that it was the ball joint that just came off out of no where.

Could this have been caused by that first wreck? Of should I be suspicious of something else. I also noticed something strange on the arm that holds the wheel (I'm not entirely mechanically enclined), there was something which looked like duct tape on there, but that could be anything. Is there a recall on this issue, or something that could be related to this?

Is there anything I could do to get this car back on the road. No one wants a car that cant drive.

Thanks for your help!

***cam2Xrunner*** · 08-14-2005, 02:35 AM

Pics are a must for this one.

Lord_Anarchy · 08-14-2005, 03:18 AM

Wha?!?!! Duct tape?? Get pics bro.. that's not sounding to good. I can't think of a single component that even RESEMBLES duct tape or a "tape" for that matter.

It's all easy to fix assuming you haven't damaged your frame (could lead to crappy alignment REGARDLESS of tire balancing and etc) and that your didn't cause damage to the trans (I doubt that you did) It will be semi-pricey.. I'm sure you can use your original stuff and probably need to replace your CV joint, tie rod, and brake/speed sensor lines and the ball joint which, assuming you can do yourself, let's see....

If you ripped your speed sensor line, that's about.. 120 a pop. Brake hose.... 27? CV around 70 with core exchange or 40 if you hit the junkyard. Tie rod (I dunno.. never bought one) so.. around.. 300 or so... Hopefully your rim is not bent, otherwise you'll have to buy a new stocker (unless you had aftermarket rims or steelies)

juise15 · 08-14-2005, 01:08 PM

As soon as I get a jack, Ill take the pics. But I will still have to prove I didn't put that tape on there.

nodrogkam · 08-14-2005, 01:14 PM

ur steering felt smooth probably because the wheel was no longer attatched. and after that accident did your steerting perhaps feel more loose and not as tight? Did you hear any clicking sounds when you went over speed bumps etc? I had to get some parts tightened on my camry because of that, and now my steering feels way better like when the car was new and the clicking sound went away because the parts were loose.

Yeah i'd like to see some pictures too when you get a chance. Glad you are okay tho.