hydroplained and hit a curb

[sheff2720]

it was raining pretty hard and i guess i took the turn a little to fast but i ended up hydroplaining and hitting a curb head on with my passenger side front wheel.. it damaged the rim really bad and that will need to be replaced, but should i be worried about anything else.. i wasnt going any more than 20 mph when it hit, and driving home from that it didnt seem to have any problems.. the car still tracks strait if i ket go of the wheel and theres isnt any noticeable problems.. so should i just replace the rim and call it a day, or should i be worried about other possible damage?

 

[5.0 Nostalgia]

I would take the tire off and look for any problems in the wheel well. Then jack up the car and look at the suspension on that side. I am sure it's fine and doing that is unnecessary, but I worry and would do those things if that happened to me. Last winter I was driving in the snow and spun out. I checked the car out and then posted on here about what happened and everybody made fun of me for being over precautious. All in good fun though.

PS. It was raining pretty damn hard this afternoon. I was out in my dad's truck and had to practically slow down under the speed limit every time I made a big turn.

 

[iwashmycar]

That sucks, but if you dont/ havent noticed anthing abnormal, it is prolly alright. If you went over the curb, just check underneath to make sure it didnt really bottom out on anything.

-Adam.

 

[94Silverbullet]

Don't take it lightly too soon!!!. I once hit a curb similar to how you did pretty hard and thought everything was allright. A couple weeks later I was parking(LUCKILY)in a garage and I heard a slight screeching and the car was hard to move. It turned out that one of my wheels was turned left and the other was turned right, so they were both facing in. I'd broken the right front steering assembly or axle(not sure exactly what it's called). I'm pretty sure there was a crack in it and I never inspected it. Make sure you do a thorough inspection. If I were zooming on the highway and that happened.... ....don't even want to think about it...

 

[mat82284]

man i wish it was raining in sacramento ca it was 105 today. that makes my car run real slugish and slow.

 

[nito88stang]

jack the car up on that side and grab the wheel at the 12 an 6 o clock position. Try to wiggle the tire. If there's play then check your tie rods. I'd also give the spindle a good looking over to see that it didnt bend somewhere.

 

[sheff2720]

Don't take it lightly too soon!!!. I once hit a curb similar to how you did pretty hard and thought everything was allright. A couple weeks later I was parking(LUCKILY)in a garage and I heard a slight screeching and the car was hard to move. It turned out that one of my wheels was turned left and the other was turned right, so they were both facing in. I'd broken the right front steering assembly or axle(not sure exactly what it's called). I'm pretty sure there was a crack in it and I never inspected it. Make sure you do a thorough inspection. If I were zooming on the highway and that happened.... ....don't even want to think about it...

this is what i'm afraid of.. was the peice that broke visable without taking anything apart.. do you think maybe i should take it to a collision place to have them check it out just to be safe?

 

[Michael Yount]

If you hit it hard enough to bend the rim, you almost certainly knocked the alignment out. Replace the rim, check for any visible damage and if you can safely do it, get it to an alignment shop so they can check out the rest of the suspension. It could be nothing other than a simple alignment; it could be as serious as control arms being bent, steering rack being damaged, pick up points being bent (body shop involved in fixing that), etc. You won't know till they put it on the machine and see what they see.

 

[Michael Yount]

OH - don't assume the tire's ok either - a smack like that will often damage the plies/belts inside the tire requiring replacement.

 

[5.0 Nostalgia]

this is what i'm afraid of.. was the peice that broke visable without taking anything apart.. do you think maybe i should take it to a collision place to have them check it out just to be safe?

I think the part SilverBullet is referring to is the tie rod. Yes you should check that. If it is damaged, it will be visable without having to remove anything.

 

[sheff2720]

ok.. i'll definatly take it to an alignment shop just to check everything out.. i was going to go to the track on friday to finally test out the new engine combo but it looks like thatl have to be postponed.. this is like the third time ive made plans to go to the track and something has gone wrong

 

[executioner]

have it checked out.years ago i hit a curb with moms 75 dodge dart.pulled bad as my mom noticed when she got in car next day.she drove to her mechanic and as she pulled in lot brakes went to the floor! not only did i bend lower control arm but messed up brake line also. got grounded,couldnt use car for along time but no beating.Dad made me feel so bad about almost killing mom i would have prefered a slap. me and dad also had the experience of a tie rod breaking at 30MPH in his old 67 camaro.car was a beater and just let go.spun around twice. after both those experiences when i was young i learned alot of respect for maintaining brakes and front end parts especially after a hit or acccident.

 

[MustangPunk302]

I'd go get the front end checked out as soon as you can. Even potholes can sometimes knock stuff out of alignment or even damage steering/suspension component's..

 

[94Silverbullet]

I think the part SilverBullet is referring to is the tie rod. Yes you should check that. If it is damaged, it will be visable without having to remove anything.

Yup! That's exactly what it was.

 

[Michael Yount]

Inner and outer tierod ends can be damaged; the ball joint can be damaged too in impacts like that.