Assessment Of Steering Gear After Accident Damage: Fundamentals

The steering gears can sustain various kinds of damage in an accident.

If the steering gear shows no external signs of damage, it can sometimes be difficult and costly to detect damage.

Nevertheless, this damage represents an unacceptable risk for the vehicle, since it could lead to failure of the steering system.

A comprehensive check on all individual parts of the steering gear is not usually feasible due to the relatively high cost or is not possible using ordinary workshop resources. Instead, the condition of other components that are easier to check must therefore be taken into account.

The following guidelines are provided to help you decide whether the steering gear of a vehicle that was involved in an accident must be replaced or may continue to be used.

Assessment of the steering of a vehicle involved in an accident 

The steering gear may have to be replaced in the following situations: 

1. Yellow or red warning light (in the instrument cluster) indicating a problem with the steering.
2. Visible or perceptible damage to the steering gear.
3. Fire damage (e.g. steering bellows burnt).
4. Unacceptable rise in torque and the steering gear jams or catches when turned fully from stop to stop.
   1. 4.1 Check the steering with the engine running and stopped - the front wheels must be free when turning (front axle raised).
5. Permanent deformation, damage or fractures on:
   • Rims
   • Tie rods
   • Steering arms
   • Steering-gear mountings
   • Steering shaft
   • Bellows - associated with the ingress of water
   • Spring struts
   • Wheel bearing housing
   • trailing arm
   • Front-axle cross member
   • Points on the body where wheel suspension parts are bolted on

   If the listed criteria are insufficient for making a decision, we recommend that the steering gear be replaced or changed.