| Subject: | Mitsubishi Lancer |
| Question: |
I don't own a Eclipse but a Lancer 2003 and I was wondering if you could still help me. I own a Lancer 03' ES 2.0L with AUTO, While sliding on ice my driver side front wheel hit a street curb. I changed the standerd to my spare but noticed that now it seems that the axle for that side has been pushed towards the back closer to the drivers seat but not the engine. That and the spare now rubs against the body while turning the wheel or going over a bump, plus the standerd wheel probably doesn't fit any more. Heh. But I was wondering if you knew of anyway to possibly fix it by hand or how much a repair would cost me. Thank you for your time |
| Answer: | Jr., This may be a tough fix by hand; if even possible. Sounds like you may have broke your hub assembly or possibly bent your axle. In either case, it cannot really be fixed; only replaced. If replacing by hand, you'd need some special tools to remove some of the steering and axle components, plus quite a bit of muscle. Replacing just the hub is not too expensive; about $60-$75 for the part.
But unfortunately if you hit the curb hard enough, you may have damaged
many surrounding components. Worst case scenario, you'd need an entire
axle assembly, which can run about $530-$660 for the parts alone. Labor
may cost just as much. Get a couple of estimates, and see if you can find
out exactly what needs replacing. You may even want to contact your insurance
company to see if you can claim it. Your deductible may be cheaper than
the overall cost. |