Tell me what I broke ... bouncing Eurovan

[fredikium]

I'm a little sick to my stomach at the moment. We just started a 3 month road trip, but today I might have broken our Eurovan.

Went to do an errand, and there was a railroad crossing. I couldn't have been going very fast since my destination was right there, I'm guessing only 20-25 mph, give or take.

Something about the spacing of the rail bumps and my speed caused some kind of synchronization of my springs, and I ended up in a brutal front to back seesaw for a few bounces. I'm pretty sure the suspension was hitting the stops and my wheels were airborne. Totally caught me off guard and shook everything bad - luggage all over the place inside.

Not sure what could have all been damaged, but I do now get my steering jammed whenever I make a right hand turn. It will come back if I stop and move forward and backward a bit while applying pressure to the left - with an audible clunk as it releases. I just limped the couple of blocks back to our campsite, and now I sit here unsure what to do.

All the mechanics in the area are booking next week, but more generally, I'm feeling a bit sick about the rest of our planned trip. Could I have damaged it so badly that we will forever now be having problems?

[Joshwa]

Best to just get your flashlight and look underneath. Do your wheels appear to be aligned still. Maybe you bent a steering arm. You could turn your wheels to the right where it gets stuck and look underneath to see if something is hanging up on something else.
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93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93

[Abscate]

It’s fixable but not safe to drive at moment

You probably bent a control run and blew out the strut too.

New parts and she’ll be like new
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.ssS!

[Zeitgeist 13]

If possible, take pics and post them here for us to help you diagnose.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[CdnVWJunkie]

These T4s are super stout. You've likely done some damage to a consumable part, not the chassis itself.

[garthg]

[thallihan]

Sounds like you blew one or more shocks heading over tracks too fast. Or you simple broke the shocks mounting point from the control arm.

A normal-working shock will go through 1-3 cycles before settling the vehicle...if the compression and rebound are not working then your springs are free to do whatever they want without any control.


As far as the steering...like others have said, you may have damaged the ball joint on the tie rod end, causing binding when steering.

[Kombinut]

First thing to do is to inspect underneath, if possible start the engine, leave it in park with E brake pulled tight, and have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you look under to see if you can identify the problem. You may get lucky at identify a bent or broken part just by a simple inspection. If no luck with that, then find the nearest jiffy lube, Monroe or quick oil change service that does brakes and shock replacement. Explain what happen and have them put your van on the rack and look take a look for you. Good luck

[fredikium]

Thanks all for your replies and thoughts!

To close the loop on this, I had it in to a shop in Salt Lake City (Integrity First Auto). They put it on a lift, inspected everything, couldn't see any problems. I went down and drove around with the tech for a long time and we couldn't recreate the jamming symptom. With fingers crossed and a prayer said, we decided to continue on our journey. Almost 1,000 miles later, the issue has not returned. New stuff going on though, which I'll create a new thread for.