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My name is Darcey Tyler. I'm Donny Tyler's little sister for those of you that know him. I've been borrowing his car (an '87 subaru RX turbo) over the past few months and i ended up in an accident. He wants me to work things out myself (his way of helping my grow up) and i don't know the first thing about repairing the damage. I'm really desperate for a car right now so any help i can get will be GREATLY appreciated. The pictures i have aren't very good so i'm going to do my best to describe the damage as well as possible (which probably won't be any help at all)

I ripped the front passenger side tire completely off...the roader is completely destroyed. The lugnuts are still intact. Donny said something about needing a new axle. I really don't know how do explain it. i smashed into a hill sideways and jumped up over the hill and slid several feet before i came to a stop. i was kind of spinning when it happened i'm not sure if that makes a difference... i'm not really sure what kind of information someone would need so if you have any questions i'll answer them to the best of my ability. I really need to know what parts i'll need and maybe where i could get them if at all possible. Thanks for everything....Darcey Tyler

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This may or may not be helpful as my setup in this picture is a bit home made custom job...

 

suspension_components.jpg

 

Which parts looks bent or broken/snapped on your car vs this picture?

 

In the picture I have a <-- pointing to the ball joint. The part at the bottom that you can see is just a thread. above the thread is a tappered rod that goes through the control arm. This then gets bigger and goes into the steering hub (which I have not listed in the picture.) The caliper also bolts to the steering hub and so does the steering rack and shock absorber. And so on. I'm just saying this to give you more knowledge on how all this stuff works.

 

From what you explaine it sounds like the nut on the end of the drive shaft (big one in the center of the wheel) has sheared off and the wheel has ripped the brake disc and caliper with it. This means you may need a new drive/axle shaft (which has both CV joints on it already, btw) plus a new hub (part that you bolt the brake disc and wheel too) plus a new caliper, brake disc, brake lines, handbrake cable and maybe something else I missed. But if the steering hub is damaged, then it could need a lot more, or maybe even less. Any pics of the damage you can get to us is a really great start.

 

So the wheel is completely dissconnected from the car?? wow... I'm almost interested in the pics for the soul purpose of seeing what broke first.

 

I hope this hasn't confused to much more. And more importantly I hope it helped.

 

Welcome to the board! :)

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if you click on my name, you get an option to send me a private message.

 

PM me your email address, and I will send you a .pdf file of a book called How To Keep Your Subaru Alive. You can read the chapter on front suspension/steering and learn alot about the different parts you are looking at on the car.. because with adequate terminology and knowledge on your part, it makes helping you much easier on our part. You will also have better results.

 

This book breaks things down very thoroughly, and puts everything in easy to understand terms. It was written to help people with practically NO mechanical knowledge, and is helpful even for those who have learned alot.

 

You said the lugnuts were still intact; that would indicate that the wheel hub itself is still intact, but the brake rotor was ripped off the wheel hub. If this is the case, there *is* a chance of some substantial damage, but like I said.. Simply reading that section of the book (it isn't incredibly long) will help you understand your situation immensely. Its a 24 megabyte file. I didn't realize it was so big, so if you are on a dialup internet connection I will see if I can cut that section out for you.

 

This website really is an immense help. We are also somewhat partial to our female members, as has come up recently in the past (bucky and heartless come to mind ;)) I dimly recall a member talking about his sister and his RX, but i can't recall who it was.. ask him what his name on the board is so we can associate the two of you. The book I mention was written with subarus from around 1980, but they DO apply to later models as well.

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Shoot me some pics and I'll talk to LUVMYBRAT (Bill) to see what he thinks. We both are in the Laramie area (I live here and he works here but lives in Cheyenne) and I have a ton of parts. Get some pics and I'll see what I can do with Donny's car. After all, I've known this car since before he ever left Bend!:-p

 

I also have a full EA82 front suspension setup which is perfect for this car. Shoot me a PM or if Donny wants to, have him call me cause he has my number.

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Donny's name is harpua if that helps you at all. The middle of the roter is still attached to the tire...it took the center out with it. I'm working on getting pictures of the damage but i'm going to have to dig the car out of the snow and jack it up to get anything helpful and it just so happens to be finals week at school so it might be a day or two. Thanks for all of your help so far!

 

if you click on my name, you get an option to send me a private message.

 

PM me your email address, and I will send you a .pdf file of a book called How To Keep Your Subaru Alive. You can read the chapter on front suspension/steering and learn alot about the different parts you are looking at on the car.. because with adequate terminology and knowledge on your part, it makes helping you much easier on our part. You will also have better results.

 

This book breaks things down very thoroughly, and puts everything in easy to understand terms. It was written to help people with practically NO mechanical knowledge, and is helpful even for those who have learned alot.

 

You said the lugnuts were still intact; that would indicate that the wheel hub itself is still intact, but the brake rotor was ripped off the wheel hub. If this is the case, there *is* a chance of some substantial damage, but like I said.. Simply reading that section of the book (it isn't incredibly long) will help you understand your situation immensely. Its a 24 megabyte file. I didn't realize it was so big, so if you are on a dialup internet connection I will see if I can cut that section out for you.

 

This website really is an immense help. We are also somewhat partial to our female members, as has come up recently in the past (bucky and heartless come to mind ;)) I dimly recall a member talking about his sister and his RX, but i can't recall who it was.. ask him what his name on the board is so we can associate the two of you. The book I mention was written with subarus from around 1980, but they DO apply to later models as well.

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I just called Donny and talked to him about this. He gave me a short list of parts needed and I told him I have everything, but that YOU were the one taking care of it all;)

 

Anyways, he also said your brother who lives here, is making a trip up your way in a couple months and we might be able to get together and get you the needed parts. Also, I told him that if there was some way to get the car here, I could have it all done in 2 hours, plus it would leave here with a nice set of snow tires:brow: Shoot me a PM and we'll work something out!

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I tried to email you the file, but it may be too large for gmail to attach it.... My email was being funked up when I tried sending it, so I dunno what the deal is.

 

Did you get any emails from shawnmcarey@gmail.com?

 

if so, did any of them have the .pdf attached to it?

 

Does someone here have a website that has the HTKYSA bookmarked?? I know I downloaded it from a members website, but I cannot recall who.

Edit: Oh yeah, i found a link on a search earlier, before I was dragged away from my computer.. Thanks goes out to Baccaruda for this one, posted in this thread...

 

right click here and choose "save file as" or whatever your broswer's option is..

end edit.

 

any volunteers?? It appears that I cannot select a page range and save only the suspension chapters, so my only other option would be to span it over multiple zip files to email it...

 

I never did get around to setting up any sort of webhosting.. :\

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well what you havent heard is if you or a friend disconnect's everything on the damaged side that bolts up or attached to the wheel you will then be able to take the parts to a junk yard or an auto parts store and they will tell you what the name for the parts are and you decide if you want somthing from one of the awesome subaru members or if you want parts that are brand new or from the junk yard. caboobaroo is really nice and will help (said it himself) i suggest that route as it is cheaper and he has offerd to install the parts himself. im not doubting you in any way, i encourage you to do the work youself, there arnt too many subaru girls out there... i would help if i could but ive got two projects and a ton of money to make + distance (your far away) i wish the best of luck to you and hope everything goes smoothly:) .

 

P.S. if you are going to buy new parts get a quote and ask the guys if its over priced or not... (some auto parts stores are a rip off)

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Not to worry. I actually have people to help me and if all else fails i have a mechanic friend who i can take it to....i'll probably have him show me what to do if at all possibe. The whole car thing fascinates me. This summer my brothers got a car ready for me (while i stood around asking dumb questions and doing stupid jobs that a monkey could do) and then i derbied it. It was awesome. I learned a lot of useful stuff. When my friends can't open their hoods they always come to me....lol

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You need to delete some of the private messages.. it stores both the messages you send, and the ones you receive.. and you can only have up to a grand total of 50.

 

I tried to send you a messaage but your mail folder is full.

 

Check my last post in this thread, it has a link to a place where you can download the HTKYSA directly.. I think 24 megabytes is too large for me to send as an email attachment.

 

(while i stood around asking dumb questions and doing stupid jobs that a monkey could do)

 

That sounds like most of us, back when we were little wrench-monkeys. I know I learned about cars by doing the exact same thing while my dad was busy cursing at our Ford van, or one of his Datsuns, or his XT-6 (not so often there, it was brand new.. BUT it did blow an engine after about two years... we suspect a case of bad motor oil, because an oil change coincided with a ford V8, a soob flat 6, and a craftsman riding mower engine all blowing within three or four weeks of each other.) The journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step, right?

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