Q: Steering knuckle bar rubs against strut on driver side

Without having your car in front of me, I won’t be able to say for sure what the problem is since accident damage is very specific and random to the accident and car. I can, however, give you some advice on how to figure this out. The first thing I would do is compare the passenger side of the car to the drivers side. This will be your single best indicator of what has been damaged. It is important to note that anything that was attached to the damaged parts will likely have been bent as well. It sounds as though the car took quite and impact so I would be concerned the frame may have been twisted.

With any accident repair I do, I take measurements of the frame to make sure it is still square. There is nothing worse than doing a bunch of repairs only to find the car can’t be aligned because the frame is bent. Frames can be straightened, but this is often an expensive process without a guarantee. The measurements that need to be taken is not something I can explain here, but it is very much like measuring to see if a door frame to a house is square. If you understand how to do that, you should be able to figure out how to take the appropriate measurements.

If you should need further help with this, I recommend having a certified professional, like one from YourMechanic, inspect the steering and suspension and advise you on the correct repair.