[Konig]

I hit my right front wheel onto the curb at around 40km/h because I made a mistake judging the curvature of a roundabout and the friction on the road as its snowing.

Now the car steers to the right even when steering wheel is straight.

In this case do i just balance the wheel or do I need a wheel alignment? Will this incident cause any damage to the brakes? Anything I should let them mechanic know?

Thank You guys in advance!

 

[shigzeo]

Thought that a UofT student would be able to figure this out! (jokes). I ran over a small median before, destroying part of the car - I was 20, that is my excuse. But, I have no idea about cars.

 

[Sasahara]

If your alignment is off you will wear down your tires faster.

 

[ericj]

tell the mechanic exactly what you told us.

Bare minimum you need a front-end alignment.

 

[ph0rk]

Alignment, if you are unlucky some suspension parts will also need to be replaced (control arms, some other bits). I did this in a civic (swerve to avoid someone that pulled out in front of me without signaling) and my right front wheel was several inches behind the left. First quote was around $1400, but I was able to leave one part as-is and replace others, got it done for $400, back in 1998-1999, so expect more now.

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ph0rk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Alignment, if you are unlucky some suspension parts will also need to be replaced (control arms, some other bits). I did this in a civic (swerve to avoid someone that pulled out in front of me without signaling) and my right front wheel was several inches behind the left. First quote was around $1400, but I was able to leave one part as-is and replace others, got it done for $400, back in 1998-1999, so expect more now.

$1400!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you have to replace the tie rod and ball joint??! Did you manage to drive home or did you get a tow truck?

 

[pne]

you need to bring it in to a suspension/tire place to get the front end inspected. At the very least you will need alignment. But it could be worse and you may have damaged other stuff, like the, tie rod, steering hub, etc. You may have also bent the rim which probably cannot just be fixed with balancing. I would not think such a hit would damage your brake rotor, otherwise your wheel would have to be pretty bent for some part of it to impact the rotor itself. It also wouldn't be too likely that you damaged a CV joint (is your car fwd or rwd?)

 

[balderon]

You may be in for a shock if you feel a new vibration or other unexpected motion in your steering wheel while driving down the road. I hope you have a mechanic you can trust. Good luck!

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pne /img/forum/go_quote.gif you need to bring it in to a suspension/tire place to get the front end inspected. At the very least you will need alignment. But it could be worse and you may have damaged other stuff, like the, tie rod, steering hub, etc. You may have also bent the rim which probably cannot just be fixed with balancing. I would not think such a hit would damage your brake rotor, otherwise your wheel would have to be pretty bent for some part of it to impact the rotor itself. It also wouldn't be too likely that you damaged a CV joint (is your car fwd or rwd?)

FWD!!!
Man, I really wish I should have switched off the bloody VSC during the snow drift and accelerate out asap and let the back wheels hit instead

 

[Seamaster]

Back to New Jeresy 10 years ago, I was driving up hill in the middel lane of 5-lane highway at 75 MPH at night. As soon I made to the top of hill, a disabled car parked /appeared in the middel the highway with no lights of any kind, all lights were off. It was only little more than 50 meters away, when it jumpped out of no where!! screw*, I should went to the Church last Sunday......At the moment I really thought that was the end for my happy a*s. I turnned wheel and dive hard to the left, barely missed and craped the crap of right side of my car. Any the owners (two) of that disabled car were standing on the shoulder of the highway yell: " hey watch out where you going......!"

Really? People really do that!?

 

[pimfram]

You could try makeshift fixing it by adjusting the caster and/or camber, but it's probably best to get an alignment done. If you leave it as-is you'll end up going through tires like toilet paper.

 

[koven]

You probably bent a rim and/or did some damage to the suspension.

Take it to a shop, an alignment isn't going to fix your problem.

Might wanna check the tire pressure too.

 

[Uncle Erik]

X2 on what most people said here.

Don't put it off, either. Your tire could be damaged and might go at any time. You might have screwed up the brakes and you might have done something to the front end and suspension, too.

If any of those fail, you could very well hurt yourself or others. Be safe and get it checked ASAP.

 

[skyline889]

You probably bent the control arm and wrote off the rim as well. Take it into a decent repair shop and have them assess the damage asap. Even if it means catching the bus for a week or bumming a ride off a friend, it's better than putting yourself at risk of an accident. Depending on the extent of the damage, you'll probably be looking at $400-500, or if it's serious, maybe $1000. I'd tend to doubt you incurred $1400 worth of damage at 25mph but it depends how hard you hit it, what angle you hit, what kind of car you have, etc. Bottom line like others have said, take it in and get it checked out!

 

[krmathis]

99% sure you need a wheel alignment.
A damaged rim most often lead to shaking only, but not pulling to one side. A damaged linkage rod or similar on the other hand, that may lead to pulling to one side.