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Old 02-11-2001, 05:20 PM   #1
SnooPSter
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Have a Nice Day? OH man

Okay,

So I was driving my Sube thru a big winter storm. There were cars all over the median of the highway, police, the whole 9 yards. I made it to the city I was travelling to but when I tried to make a right into the drive way of the apartment complex, I slid right past it. So I tried to do a U-turn. But my car didn't make it, and my right front wheel ended up crashing into the curb. Now, when I drive, the steering wheel wobbles. Additionally, when I shift, it makes a loud CLUNK. Anybody know what that could be?
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Old 02-11-2001, 06:15 PM   #2
P.K. Motorsports
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Um, $3000 worth of parts and labor?

AWD does not make you invincible, especially on RE-92s.
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Old 02-11-2001, 06:53 PM   #3
dandbest
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Best case scenario- You just bent the wheel which will cost you like $300. Worst case-Bent wheel, bent strut, bent tie rod, axel, a-arm- gotta be a few thousand.


Danny
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Old 02-11-2001, 07:01 PM   #4
paultg
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Don't panic yet. You might have knocked a wheel weight off which would cause the vibration. The clunking noise is not a good sign though. You will need a new alignment for sure, and I would think you bent the control arm and/or tie rod end before you bent the rim. Your front wheel bearing could be the clunking noise too. As far as I can tell the stock rims are pretty strong, and would chip before they bent.

A good visual inspection should be done ASAP.

Paul G.
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Old 02-11-2001, 08:44 PM   #5
SnooPSter
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Well... let me tell you about the clunking noise a little more. It sounds/feels like a "thud" underneath me. When I drive the car in 4th 5th gear at very low speeds, the thunking turns into a constant noise... the noise sounds exactly as if the car had no muffler on it. The noise persists until i reach a certain speed... really loud... like there is no muffler.
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Old 02-11-2001, 08:45 PM   #6
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And also, the car seems, except for the jiggle/wobble, to drive fine.
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Old 02-11-2001, 08:46 PM   #7
SnooPSter
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oh... and one more thing... nothing "looks" bent/sprained. There is a dent in the wheel. It's the steel wheel from an L... not an aluminum alloy.
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Old 02-11-2001, 10:15 PM   #8
Scooby2
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The wheel is bent if you feel it wobble through the steering wheel. Have someone else drive and you can look out the window and see the wheel wobble, if so replace it. The steel wheels are cheep and most tire stores (snow wheels). As for the noise it sounds like you may have a wheel bearing growling, or the dust shield may be draging on something.
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Old 02-12-2001, 08:54 AM   #9
motorob
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In my experience, Subaru control arms bend before any other suspension part does, almost as though they are designed to sacrifice in the event of front wheel collisions. The first thing you need to do is take the wheel to a tire store, get them them to spin it and check for bends and/or out of round condition (forget about trying to drive next to it and visually inspect, that's kind of amateurish.. It's only going to cost you $10 to get the wheel rebalanced at a tire store.) If there's a small dent in a steel wheel, you can pound it out with a big hammer, but considering how cheap steel wheels are at the junkyard (c.$20), you may just want to replace it. Put the wheel back on the car and drive. Your vibration is probably gone. If it's still there, then you need to do a visual inspection for anything obviously bent/broken in the ft. susp. If there's nothing obvious, go for an alignment. You should be all fixed up....
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Old 02-12-2001, 09:01 AM   #10
ScoobyJoe
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I did this exact same thing except bent the wheel all the way against the wheel well. I agree with motorob that the lower control arm will bend first. The problem with my car was a bent control arm (bent almost 90 degrees from normal) and a bent rim. There a much easier way to check for a bent rim. Just put your spare on and drive it to see if the vibration will go away. If so then a bent rim. As for the tranny problem i have no idea. Let us know what you find.

[This message has been edited by ScoobyJoe (edited February 12, 2001).]
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Old 02-13-2001, 09:32 AM   #11
SnooPSter
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Well thank you guys for all the advice (and fear) that you instilled in me... haha. I took my car in to a tire shop and they drove it around and told me that my problem was a bent wheel. Just like a couple of you had predicted. They put the spare tire on and it worked like a million bucks! THANK GOD. They told me that for them to get a new wheel would run around 100 dollars, and I told him nah; I actually just bought a set of 16" wheels and tires off of i-club!(I have an Impreza L). As for the clunking and all the noise, it's totally gone! Completely! I tried to drive it like I had before and *NOTHING*. IIIIIII dunno you guys... kind of weird. I'm thinking that it just had to do with that bent wheel or something was just really frozen from driving thru the storm.
In any case, if something comes up with the trans i'll keep you up to date but it seems like all is clear. Thank you guys for all your help.

p.s. How long is it safe to drive on that dinky spare wheel?
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