Nothing as crazy as what
@22hemi13 was doing, but had an almost catastrophe yesterday doing some light wheeling north of Saguaro Lake here in AZ.
Family and I were headed out for a play/picnic day on the backside of the lake when I hit a small ledge climbing a hill, and next thing I know, the brake pedal was on the floor and we were rolling backwards with brake error lights and a helpful message about 4wd system overheating. I slowed down a bit with the ebrake, but seeing as the next stopping point was down the side of the hill, I aimed at the tree and small berm and backed it in there. Truck bumper not nearly as important as the family.
Was doing some pacing and swearing and trying to figure out a rescue plan and had a Jeeper stop to check on us, he ended up working with me for almost 2.5 hours all said and done.
Once the tire was off, the control arm had separated from the knuckle. Best I can figure is the upper control arm balljoint nut worked it's way off somehow/somewhere (no telling where as we couldn't find it afterwards anywhere on the trail and hadn't had any issues/noises up till this), CV axle came out, tie rod bent to 90 degrees, and probably most importantly, this took out the brake line, which was what caused the pedal to the floor (now also draining my brake fluid on the trail).
We took some time to make a small plan, I called someone in town that could get to us and asked them for a brake line and fluid, then me and Jeeper got to work. We popped back in the CV axle (joint separated), pulled the outer tie rod end and did out best to straighten the tie rod, got it back to about 45 degrees or so. Got the control arm put back on the knuckle, and by a freak chance, Jeeper guy threw a hail mary and we found out that the lug nuts thread matches the upper control arm thread, so we stole a lug nut and tightened the control arm back down.
This only left the brakes to solve as there was a pretty steep section to go down to get out, then the drive home still to go. Parts arrived and we got to work but couldn't get the new hose to stop leaking. After all that, turns out the Autozone had sold him the driver side hose instead of the passenger side, so the blocks and angle were wrong. We found a saw blade in one of my rescue tools and made the block work, but upon reassembly, the banjo bolt snapped off in the caliper, I think I had stressed it trying to get the leak to stop before we realized it was wrong. Luckily we had some vice grips on hand, so we clamped off that line, added more fluid, and the brakes were holding fine.
Now with the tire back on (toe wasn't terrible actually) since I was faced the wrong way, in a tree and in a hole, I had to first climb forward and the CV axle held, then back down the hill to a turn around spot so I could go down the hill. Family walked behind me since I didn't want them in front if the vice grips gave out.
Put the kids and wife in the other vehicle, then a nice slow drive home, which luckily I live a fairly straight shot from where this happened, so the drive home was uneventful, if pretty stressful thinking every bump or weird noise was going to be the wheel coming off again.
Damage assessment:
- Pride
- Tie rod
- Tie rod end
- CV axle
- Brake line
- Rear bumper, dent on one side but not effecting tailgate or exhaust
Things I don't feel safe trusting so I'm going to replace (open to other suggestions also):
- Upper control arm on both sides (they were Mevotech upgraded when Bilsteins went on, going to go with either the Mevotech TTX with a castle nut or something aftermarket like Zone or ReadyLift pending finances), please note, I am not blaming Mevotech or the UCAs themselves for the failure, just don't trust them now.
- Lower ball joint on passenger side, was taking all the load coming back down the hill and might as well take care of it while I have everything apart, might just throw the Mevotech TTX lowers on as well
All in all, looks like about $700 in parts depending on what goes on the list, and that's before the bumper. Going to talk to a shop nearby I trust to see what they recommend as to insurance claim or not for everything. Luckily I don't see any body damage up front from the wheel being in the wrong position.
Silver linings: tree being in the right place to stop us, about a dozen vehicles pulled up and every single one got out to see if they could help us, lower ball joint not breaking off, brake line delivery to get the brakes working even if the line didn't fully work it allowed a spot to clamp it, and good view and good weather while working. Also, shout out to my wife and Jeeper's wife for keeping the kids sane while this was all going on.
Pictures below, and yes, my super dumb-ass self did not take any before pictures as I was still pretty in shock about the whole thing, but you can see the lug nut in action:
