a few weeks ago i drove frontal on a 15 cm high concrete curbstone (the bonnet opened while driving, pretty scarry) with the result the 2 wheels on the leftside ruined and the left back suspension arm bended. after putting on another suspension arm and replacing the wheels the car pulls a bit to the right, especially when i brake. i had the wheel alignment checked and the mechanic who did it claims everything is allright at the front left and right as well as at the left backside, only at the right backside is something wrong ( unfortunally i dont remember if it was the camberangle or the wheel had toe-in or toe-out.) very strange because i think the right side of the car stayed on the road and did not hit the curbstone.
i am worried that i might have bent the chassis a bit ( a nearly new galvo wheels chassis) but the mechanic who replaced the suspension arm as well as the one that did the 4 wheel alignment thinks that is very unlikely as the chassis is only a bit scratched.
i would have the right back suspension arm replaced as well if a was sure that it would solve the problem. anybody ever had a simular problem? what does the 2cv wizards of this forum think?

im not a 2cv wizard but I am saying this under the assumption that the mechanic isnt a 2cv specalist,

If not then get under the car and have a look yourself, it would be obvious if it was scrap..

It is known for rear suspension arms to have been not straight from the factory, I think/suspect it was the Portuguese cars that were effected, but perhaps someone will confirm that. Although as I remember it doesn't normally cause a problem, and the driver isn't usually aware of it.

If the chassis has been damaged it won't necessarily be from coming into contact with the curb, so there may not be any significant scratches on it. Look around the axle mounting bolts for any sign of deformation. Also look across the lower skin of the chassis if it has one, for any sign of twists or ripples.

Really I would expect your mechanic would have already done this, but I've nothing else to suggest.

Russell gave me a measurement to use to dertimine whether the chassis is collapsion,

Russell im sure will be along to explain

staf,
if both wheels on the left side were damaged beyond use, it's likely that the left front suspension arm has also suffered some distortion.

As well as checking the tracking, your mechanic should have checked the camber of the left front wheel, which should be slightly 'positive'. ( 1* {+ 45' - 25'} )

If it's got negative camber as a result of the impact, the car will tend to steer to the right.

Ken

( p.s. Hope you've not been dealing with that outfit in NJ. )

i am reasonably certain that the camber is also checked and i could see on their computerscreen that only the right backwheel was not within the tolerances that the computer gave for a 2cv. is it possible that this can make a car pulls to the right?
the chassis has hit the curbstone just before the front axle but the mechanics who looked at it seems to find it very unlikely that the chassis is damaged, they also seem to think that if something was wrong with the chassis or the front suspension arm the front wheels could not be within the tolerances.

Just because there a mechanic doesn't make them correct...

staf,
the specified toe-in for the rear wheels on an A series is 0 +/- 4mm.
Some of the later cars were fitted with left side rear arms which had excessive toe-in, causing rapid wear of the outside edge of the tyre fitted on that corner.
I've 'corrected' more than a few of those, using one of the suspension arm benders favoured by the 2CV racers.

It's not necessary to employ computerised equipment to check wheel alignment on a 2CV, as it can be carried out with sufficient accuracy using stringlines.


tracking by slcchassis, on Flickr

The central section of a Wheels chassis used to consist of nothing more complicated than lengths of 50x30x2.5 box section, double stacked and welded together.
If the construction is still the same, alignment can be checked with stringlines from front to rear, with perhaps a measurement between axle bolt centres thrown in as well.

Ken

Ken, if the steering rack is not centered would that effect the direction of the wheels?

Taskos,
I'd have thought that a rack which wasn't centred would upset the Ackermann effect, because of the unequal lengths of the track rods.

At straight ahead, there'd be no detectable effect.

Ken