CactusJack

I was having too much fun in the snow a couple of weeks back and ended up sliding into a curb (rear left wheel). Impact was pretty light, tough to gauge speed when going sideways, but probably 15mph +/-5, and only some of that speed was towards the curb.

Everything looked and felt straight afterwards, but the ABS was messed up from the start. Classic symptoms of missing tone ring teeth -- after starting the car each time, ABS activated with each press of the brakes, after a while the car figured out something was awry, deactivated ABS and lit up the light, and everything was fine (albeit without ABS) until the next time I turned the car off and on.

I only got around to taking things apart last night. There is only one tooth missing from the ring, and everything looks straight, which is consistent with only one tooth having been sheared off. I'm ordering a new axle due to the ABS tone ring, but I wonder whether I should go ahead and order other parts.

I assume I should definitely get a new hub assembly because the bearing probably took a hit, and while it hasn't made any noise yet, it's probably a matter of time before it fails.

Should I get a new knuckle as well? Unlike all the control arms, it looks like it's steel, so more amenable to bending. Plus the existing hub is seized to the knuckle, so not having to put up with getting someone with a hydraulic press to separate the two makes it a tiny bit easier to justify getting a new knuckle.

As far as everything else -- I'll just wait until I put it back together and try getting it aligned. If it won't get aligned, I'll have to dig in again and figure out what's bent. The alignment figures should be helpful in this respect.

Thanks.

CactusJack

So after leaving some PB Blaster on the knuckle and hub assembly for a few hours, the two separated with a half-hearted whack. That stuff will never cease to amaze me.

But I decided to get a new knuckle anyway. Unless I can confirm with 100% certainty that the old one is perfectly straight, I'm popping on the new one. Getting all that stuff off to get to the point of swapping knuckles, while not difficult, is a major pain in the **** and I'd rather not go through it twice. Plus I don't want to risk busting any ball joint dust seals by popping them off repeatedly. That procedure, when performed on a non-replaceable ball joint that is attached to a $300+ part, will never be one I'm entirely comfortable with.

VT Mitsu

iTrader: (3)

I am in the exact same boat (due to the same exuberant driving issue :] )

I was wondering if you did any research on replacing just the tone ring?

I have one missing and one bent tooth in my ABS tone ring/ wheel speed sensor ring and it is causing the same issue. Right rear axle.

Dealer stated need new axle, not willing to replace just the toothed ring.

Anyone ever replace just the toothed ring? Source for the toothed ring?

500 plus dollars for a new axle. need a more reasonable solution.

Dealer tech said they used to do just the ring, but if installed/epoxied at wrong angle, would just need to do the whole axle anyways, so now they replace only the axles.

Thanks for the input. I really look forward to hearing about how you resolved this.

Tom T.

CactusJack

I feel your pain, man. But one piece of advice -- don't ever buy axles from the dealer (this goes for many parts, but we're talking axles). You can get a non-OE axle through Checkers of all places for somewhere between 100 and 200. I don't really trust that, plus I don't want my dealer to know I curbed the car in case I have unrelated driveline issues down the road and they decide to decline warranty coverage because of the curb hit. That's why I got a used OE unit. Dealer will never know.

I got my "new" used axle from http://awdmotorsports.com/usedparts.html. They appear to have them in stock, and they cost $175 shipped. The axle I got was basically mint, and in fact looked less used than mine (comparing paint chips on the TJ casing and shaft, etc. -- I'm willing to bet it had less miles than mine). It turns out most of their axles are from guys who beef up their axles to drag their Evos.

Good luck! And careful with those ball joints; I was anally-retentive when removing them from the Evo and it went smoothly, no damage to dust seals (some grease leakage is normal from the pressure of the tool). Just today, though, I was removing a bad tie rod end from my truck, without the same level of attention (but not sloppy by any means), and I busted the dust seal. The tie rod end is busted anyway, so it doesn't matter, but just goes to show you how easy it is to do.

As far as tools go, make sure you get a real ball joint tool. DON'T use ball joint forks and a hammer. Harbor Freight has them for $20, and they work just fine if you're careful (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=99849).

Mechanics often use the forks without any ill effects, but it takes practice. When I was a kid, my old man taught me how to use the forks on our car in Poland. I wrecked the first dozen or so dust seals before I got the hang of it. But they were replaceable for pennies (I don't remember if it was just the seals or the ball joint that was replaceable, but either way it was cheap and easy).

When you use the ball joint tool, it's a good idea to coat it and the dust seal of the ball joint you're working on with some kind of grease -- white lithium, normal grease-gun type grease, whatever -- to make sure it doesn't cause damage as it wedges under the dust seal. And get ready for the gunshot-like sound when the joint finally separates -- after many years of not working on cars I forgot about this last part and the wheel well gave me a nice whack on the head as I recoiled in surprise.

Good luck!