Hit kerb at 15-20mph approx...wheel not straight

[Anderson]

Hello all so I've had an extremely unfortunate incident involving a kerb and my wheels. Apparently they don't like each other and now I'm left with two tyres needing replacing. I've managed to get one done so I can now drive the car however, I have noticed now that my steering wheel is positing itself around 6-7cms to the right whilst going straight. If it's any left of that , it will turn left. I assumed this was tracking/allignment e.t.c however when I took it to the garage to get them to look at that, the guy basically said that it's not tracking e.t.c but isnt 100% sure what it could be, it MIGHT be the "hub" ( not sure exactly what that is) and that i should get a body shop to look at it. I'm just wondering what it could be? They pointed out and showed me the wheels themselves and you can actually see that the front wheel that hit the kerb is seemingly tilting inwards? so the gap between the top of the wheel and the shock absorber was about 1-2cms where as the other side is about 5-6. I'm worried as to what could be the issue as he didnt know and said it could be a couple hundred to fix if it were the hub. How likely is it to be the hub?

[540itouring]

more likely to be bent rack end or lower wishbone .

[Anderson]

18 minutes ago, 540itouring said:

more likely to be bent rack end or lower wishbone .

 

Thanks for the reply, I'm just checking out a website called 'clickmechanic' with the hope of getting this sorted tomorrow ready for work on tuesday but they don't seem to have anything relating to 'racks' other than the steering rack itself which is 700£ I'm guessing this is not what you're refering to ? I did do some research and came across Inner Track Rods which is sometimes refered to as Rack Ends , is that what you were refering to?

 

This website also has nothing on wish bone or control arms but I'm sure they arent too expensive? as it looks like it's quite easy to get to, take out and replace one assumes.

 

 

[isetta]

my wife had an accident in her escort (not a kerb, but the corner of another car hit her front  wheel and bent it inwards). The gap between the wheel and the shock absorber was as you describe on yours. The damaged part on hers was actually the shock absorber. it was bent where the hub carrier bolted to it. Luckily I got a brand new old stock shock absorber on eBay for about a tenner including postage. Fitting was not too difficult but it did need some spring compressors to take spring off old shock and put on the new one.

It is harder to see how it got bent there from hitting a kerb, but the way you describe the gap difference between each side is consistent with the shock being bent at the bottom so you should check that part before buying anything elese

 

[Anderson]

4 minutes ago, isetta said:

my wife had an accident in her escort (not a kerb, but the corner of another car hit her front  wheel and bent it inwards). The gap between the wheel and the shock absorber was as you describe on yours. The damaged part on hers was actually the shock absorber. it was bent where the hub carrier bolted to it. Luckily I got a brand new old stock shock absorber on ebay for about a tenner including postage. Fitting was not too difficult but it did need some spring compressors to take spring off old shock and put on the new one.

It is harder to see how it got bent there from hitting a kerb, but the way you describe the gap difference between each side is consistent with the shock being bent at the bottom so you should check that part before buying anything elese

 

Thanks for the reply, yeah I think my best hope is to take it to a garage and let someone have a look and confirm it what is wrong. I'm a bit of a novice with cars and I wouldnt know whether the shock absorber was in good condition or not to be honest unless it's extremely obvious anyway. Given that the guy in the shop didnt know what was wrong and probably has far more experience than I , I think perhaps best bet is to take it into a garage and let them have a look. Was hoping to get this corrected for tuesday but not looking likely at the moment :( I remember hearing once upon a time, if 1 shock obsorber has to be replaced, you're required to get both sides done ?

[540itouring]

the rack ends can be replaced and so does not mean a whole rack on most cars. Have a good look at both sides of the car with front wheels off as you should be able to see whats bent

[jbell]

Not related to your tracking issue, but I cracked an alloy hitting a kerb at that speed before. I'd suggest taking the ones that hit the kerb off and giving them a rinse to make sure there isn't a crack hidden somewhere. 

[isetta]

Re  the distance from the tyre to the shock being smaller. Explaining this logically.

The wheel is on the hub which is mounted in the hub carrier in bearings. the hub carrier is bolted to the bottom of the shock. 

if the lower wishbone was bent then the distance between the tyre and shock would not alter.  the camber might alter but the wheel and shock would both have moved together and the distance between tyre and shock is unaltered.

if the rack end is bent it would pivot the shock around a bit but the distance between tyre and shock is unaltered.

So if you jack car up and spin wheel, is it unbent ie. the distance between tyre and shock stays the same and does not vary as you spin wheel.

Now hold the wheel at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock and try to rock wheel, does it move like the bearing are loose. Hopefully there is no free play.

So far, this means that the only way the distance between tyre and shock can change is if the position of the hub carrier change in relation to the shock. It is extremely unlikely that the hub carrier is bent as it is a chunky lump of metal.

Are the bolts tight where the hub carrier mounts on the shock?

It does suggest to me that the shock is bent, probably at the bottom.

I might be wrong, is my logic wrong - can anyone else advise if they agree or disagree with the way I have explained what I have said above - have I overlooked something?

you asked if both shocks have to be replaced as a pair. I would say No. A retailer of shocks will no doubt say yes.

In my previous message when I mentioned my wife's car, I could not really tell the shock was bent until removed from the hub carrier, but the logic explained above led me to the conclusion it was that part.

 

 

[Anderson]

23 hours ago, isetta said:

Re  the distance from the tyre to the shock being smaller. Explaining this logically.

The wheel is on the hub which is mounted in the hub carrier in bearings. the hub carrier is bolted to the bottom of the shock. 

if the lower wishbone was bent then the distance between the tyre and shock would not alter.  the camber might alter but the wheel and shock would both have moved together and the distance between tyre and shock is unaltered.

if the rack end is bent it would pivot the shock around a bit but the distance between tyre and shock is unaltered.

So if you jack car up and spin wheel, is it unbent ie. the distance between tyre and shock stays the same and does not vary as you spin wheel.

Now hold the wheel at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock and try to rock wheel, does it move like the bearing are loose. Hopefully there is no free play.

So far, this means that the only way the distance between tyre and shock can change is if the position of the hub carrier change in relation to the shock. It is extremely unlikely that the hub carrier is bent as it is a chunky lump of metal.

Are the bolts tight where the hub carrier mounts on the shock?

It does suggest to me that the shock is bent, probably at the bottom.

I might be wrong, is my logic wrong - can anyone else advise if they agree or disagree with the way I have explained what I have said above - have I overlooked something?

you asked if both shocks have to be replaced as a pair. I would say No. A retailer of shocks will no doubt say yes.

In my previous message when I mentioned my wife's car, I could not really tell the shock was bent until removed from the hub carrier, but the logic explained above led me to the conclusion it was that part.

 

 

 

[UPDATE]

 

Thanks for the reply. Prior to reading this I today jacked the car up and tested the wheel at 6 and 12 oclock and also 3 and 9 oclock, there is zero movement in all directions which I believe means the bearings and tie rods are fine? 

 

I also had the car in the garage this morning for them to have a quick look at it, they could not tell me exactly what is the damage at this stage other than a bolt at the bottom of the shock obsorber was loose (they tightened that up) and that they suspect the bottom of the shock is cracked but cannot confirm until they investigate fully (which is next week...) I will try to find another garage sooner than this as I really dont feel safe driving this car 30 miles everyday for work (which I cannot get to work without the car so I dont want to damage it any further). They did asssure me that its fine to drive FOR NOW but dont leave it too long. 

So from what you've said and what the garage said, I think the shock obsorber needs replacing.. as I'm sure they would of been able to see anything else like tie rods, bent parts e.t.c ?

 

So if you jack car up and spin wheel, is it unbent ie. the distance between tyre and shock stays the same and does not vary as you spin wheel.

I have not managed to test this part ^ yet but tomorrow I will test this and see what happens. I can also confirm that since this happened, I noticed my car seems "louder" than normal when in motion, I also noticed today that the pedals virbrate and so does the area behind the pedals in the footwell. I think that the road vibrations are making their way through the vehicle via the steering wheel, and where the pedals are connected because I tested when stationary and it is not the engine vibrations causing this. I also noticed that if I turn steering wheel to the right and try to drive forward, normally the steering wheel would (without me touching it) try to pull itself back to the center position, instead now, it turns even more to the right. I guess this may be the tracking issue but I just wanted to point this out incase it has any significant importance. Once again thank you all for the advice and info thus far. Appreciate it 

[isetta]

yes, I'm sure the tracking will be out, it will be if the bottom of the shock is bent. That does not neccessarily mean the tracking will be out when the shock is replaced.  

On my wife's escort when the shock was bent, I temporarily adjusted the tracking to compensate for the bent shock (because it was horrible to drive with the tracking so far out) and then adjusted it back when the shock was replaced. I have a homemade tracking guage which is a bit heath robinson but is good enough to tell if it is miles out.

Driving it how it is will very likely cause some adverse tyre wear as it is kind of tearing away at the tread as you drive, which will probably cause some adverse vibration.

Some will say it is unsafe to drive as the steering is not behaving as it should do, you mention this. I certainly would not drive fast, if for example, an incident occurred where you need to take sudden evasive action you might find you lose control more easily.