Hit a Deer at 75mph

[Runnin on E]

Ya so I hit a deer at 75. I have a Coastal Offroad front winch bumper so nothing happened up front there except a ditch light lens got smashed but the light still works. When I got the whole situation back under control and headed back home, my steering wheel is now pointed 45 degrees to the drivers side when the truck is headed straight down the road. The tie rod ends (inner & outer) are straight (on both sides). I also have a VSC & skid control light blinking. Does anyone have first hand experience with this kind of steering position shift? I have inspected the steering rack and the steering shafts and they look normal. Something has "slipped" but I can not find any evidence except the steering wheel position. I doubt the splines on any of the steering shafts have twisted so what, in that shaft system, would allow the steering wheel to re-clock so far?

 

[Parks Junkie]

Oh man, you're lucky. Hitting a deer at 75 can total a car. And hurt people inside.

Something obviously got bent. My guess would be a tierod, but you're going to have to get it into the air to really see. Take a tape measure to it, compare side to side. If worst comes to worst, you might have to take it to a shop.:embarassed: I know, that would kill me, but neither you or your tires are going to like what it's like now.

 

[Inv4drZm]

An easy check is the alignment cams where the LCA's pivot. Probably got bumped outward. Just need to have the alignment redone if that's the case.

 

[Runnin on E]

Oh man, you're lucky. Hitting a deer at 75 can total a car. And hurt people inside.

Something obviously got bent. My guess would be a tierod, but you're going to have to get it into the air to really see.

I can see both tie rods just fine and they are definitely not bent as I said above. I also took a look at the alignment cams and although they are not "paint slippage" or torque striped (for all you aircraft mechanics) they are "mud" marked. Meaning there is a slight coating of fine desert dust/mud around all those parts underneath so it is very easy to tell that they have not been moved. And if they had moved there would be evidence of clean shiny metal exposed. What I did find was that the steering rack output shafts on either end had different measurements when the WHEELS are pointed straight ahead AND those measurements are identical when the STEERING wheel is pointed straight (up). SO, I don't know how, but it seems that the steering rack or the shaft input has maybe skipped a tooth? I don't know. I would not think it was possible. Why would this not happen when hard wheeling? I gotta say, that C/O bumper save my life. The person who was behind me and pulled over at the same time I did said "I thought you were going to flip" and I replied "I thought I was going to flip" The collision pointed my T4R into the ditch so it was tough to get it wrestled back up onto the emergency lane at that speed. Ya that was a close call alright.

 

[Runnin on E]

I think I answered my own question above. After I thought about the steering rack measurements it was obvious that everything from the nut holding the steering wheel on down to the rack output shafts were good. The only parts that didn't seem to be in the right place were from the tie rods out, even thought they are straight and no evidence of movement at the adjusters. So I used the FSM section on centering the steering wheel. There is a measurement and conversion from mm to degrees. I followed that and it was pretty close, so I made the small corrections needed from there. In total the rod ends needed 3 1/2 turns (about 5mm). The VSC and skid control lights went out, and I think they were on because the "spiral cable" at the steering wheel was reporting a turn but the wheel speed sensors were reporting the same speeds (no turn). So the whole crash ended up with a broken lens (already replaced) and an hour adjusting the rod ends. Not too bad, I'll call that a win for now.

 

[AuSeeker]

I think I answered my own question above. After I thought about the steering rack measurements it was obvious that everything from the nut holding the steering wheel on down to the rack output shafts were good. The only parts that didn't seem to be in the right place were from the tie rods out, even thought they are straight and no evidence of movement at the adjusters. So I used the FSM section on centering the steering wheel. There is a measurement and conversion from mm to degrees. I followed that and it was pretty close, so I made the small corrections needed from there. In total the rod ends needed 3 1/2 turns (about 5mm). The VSC and skid control lights went out, and I think they were on because the "spiral cable" at the steering wheel was reporting a turn but the wheel speed sensors were reporting the same speeds (no turn). So the whole crash ended up with a broken lens (already replaced) and an hour adjusting the rod ends. Not too bad, I'll call that a win for now.

So for that to be the cure, something had to slip inside the rack assembly, correct?

 

[Runnin on E]

No the movement was in the lower A arm? No too sure where because I can clearly see the adjustment cams have not moved. They have a nice coat of desert dust and a little mud from some slight rain a couple of weeks ago. The steering rack output shaft measured exactly the same side to side when I centered the steering wheel. I live in south central Colorado. It's still a mystery what moved but it drives straight and the dash lights are out so.....

 

[<<<<]

Lower Control Arm has moved out alignment. Take to alignment shop and have them check and correct. My 4th gen's LCA moved slightly after rock off roading but driving straight down the road on the way home felt like a major damage.

 

[<<<<]

Even if you do not off road - mark all alignment tabs and tie rod ends with paint marker. This will save you trip to the shop and guesswork if any move after say pothole impact.