1999 Taurus got side swiped from behind. A rear control arm got pushed forward and the unibody mount which is perpendicular to the wheel got bent forward nearly half an inch, so the whole back wheel is now half an inch forward. The control arm does not appear to be bent. The alignment is seriously messed up now.
Tried hitting the mount with a sledge hammer. That didn’t do any good. It’s like gage 10 plate that is probably high strength. It just bounced and kept its deformed shape. The control arm is oval shapped and the mount is sandwiched between two rubber pieces that the control arm goes through. So trying to use washers as spacers would mean cutting an oval shape in the middle, and it may not be possible to fit 1/2" of washers in there.
Wondering how strong of chain would be needed to pull the whole thing back. If it got pushed in I think it could be pulled back out. The chain or maybe wire rope would go around the bottom of the strut next to the control arm mount. Then somebody has to drive away from the tree over and over with gradually increasing speed.
A camera for America’s Funniest Videos is already part of the plan.
I just thought of this now, but since it was hit, the wheel bearing mount could also have been bent making the wheel turn more inward, so the majority of the alignment problem could have more to do with that rather than the whole left side of the axle pushed half an inch forward. It’s a noticeable issue where the steering wheel has to be turned right to correct the problem.
Some yeats ago a storm dropped a large tree branch on the kids garage. In Oder to cut it up we had to get it on the ground. So I roped it to the hitch of my riviera. Broke the rope several times while the wheel spun and thought I might pull the hitch off. Don’t over estimate the traction available or the damage to the transmission, or of course the stability of a tree. Wind blows them down and where ya gonna be if it lands on your roof with you in it.
Use a chain with the biggest links you can find. Don’t use wire rope, if it breaks the cable can cut through a human or car parts. Do not use a nylon strap and a chain… same problem. If the strap breaks, the chain can pass through the car and kill the driver.
You should mark reference points to allow you to determine how much correction you have and how far to go. Also consider getting it close and slotting the bolt hole to finish it.
You won’t be able to pull it steady. You will have to bang it until it is correct.
Considering we’re talking about a 1999 Taurus . . . maybe it’s time to retire it, in favor of a more modern vehicle, which will be more fuel-efficient, have more safety features and will probably be better equipped
I don’t think this is a good idea. But if you are going to try it anyway, at least wear a helmet and eye protection. I used my truck to pull out some shrubs at my friend’s property one time, chain broke and went flying at high speed. Fortunately I wouldn’t let them watch, insisted they all stay inside, so other than broken chain, no problems. I wore a helmet and eye protection just in case.
Watch a few “Tree stump fails”… A snapped chain shoots straight through the truck’s rear window… The stump blows through the back glass and ends up in the passenger’s seat.
It is all fun and games until someone gets a chain through the face.
I don’t remember the details anymore but my bil was an insurance agent. One of his clients had a guy killed when the chain snapped. Don’t remember if it was backhoe or what trying to pull a tractor out of the mud. But yeah, right through the glass and hit him in the head. Ded as in dead. Don’t know if a helmet would have helped or not. At any rate paying for liability for a death takes a few premiums to make up.
I’ve had a few get hung up on adjacent trees, then all you can do is either try and pull it free or start hacking the trunk. Usually as a novice though I can get them in the right spot. It’s all in cutting the wedge and then the back cut and hammering a few wedges though. I had one on the corner of the that I was concerned it would hit the neighbors garage if it went the wrong way. Kept putting it off. Had a stump ground from the spring storm so asked the guy to look at the tree while he was here. 15 minutes later it was down right where it was supposed to go. Watching a pro is a thing of beauty. Took me a week to cut it all up and haul it away though.
It’s sort of hard to believe the folks doing the cutting didn’t see the problem … lol … At least the guy with the truck used a rope to try to direct the tree, but he didn’t seem to realize a single rope develops slack as the tree falls & isn’t enough of a constraint. I had to remove a relatively small tree in tight quarters one time, tied to two supports at 60 degree angle. Decided that wasn’t quite enough, so added another tie-in, rope went over a support, tied to a 5 gallon bucket filled with water lifted up in the air. As tree fell the bucket of water pulled the tree in the necessary direction.
The boy scout manual method of making the cut in the direction you wan the tree to fall, it won’t work on large trees if there’s even a slight breeze blowing the wrong direction.
Heh heh. Yeah breeze, or lean, or balance of the tree. Cut the wedge to where you want it to fall, according to the sight lines on the saw. Then cut from the other side slightly above the undercut. What is important is to leave a hinge. That is what controls and directs the tree. Wedges pounded in the other side also help. Ya gotta know your limitations though. And a place to run to. I had one up against a fence so my options were limited. Tall pine. Went back about three times cutting a little deeper. Then as I was going back again it started to fall right where I wanted it.
