so, in typical fashion i went way too fast into a corner in the snow the other day. ended up hitting a curb on the front passenger side. bottom of the wheel is bowed in a lot. went to my mechanic friend and we took the wheels off and compared the two sides. typically i've heard when this happens people end up replacing a control arm. he said it looks like a control arm and told me to track down the parts and we'll get it fixed.

problem is, after looking at the car over and over and looking at diagrams, trying to find something that matches what we saw, the only obviously bent part i can see is the guide rod. looking over and over at upper and lower control arms just left me feeling "that doesn't look quite right...", until i looked at a diagram with all the labelled parts and saw what i was looking for was the guide rod, not the lower control arm.

should i be looking carefully at anything else (including the control arm in it) or am i on the right track and already have my bases covered? the car needed an alignment before this happened and that'll obviously get covered once i get this fixed.

thanks.

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1981 300SD - 283,000 KM's at purchase, 360k+ now. Engine replaced at 311k. 16" CLK wheels, w126 gen II cosmetic upgrades, late w126 leather interior. RIP. Parted and gone due to fire

1987 300SDL - 243K miles and counting. In winter hibernation!

2001 Ford F250 Super Duty "Platinum Edition" Lariat 4x4 7.3L turbo diesel, 295k+ miles, various mods for reliability and performance.

Compare left and right control arms for symmetry. Might be difficult to do with the mucked up guide rod distorting the orientation of things.

Check the steering linkage too.

Sixto
87 300D