Hit a curb....now what?

RoadTrippin · 03-08-2008, 04:25 PM

Coming home yesterday I caught a patch of ice as I was turning a corner and my right rear wheel grabbed the curb pretty hard then the tire went flat within a minute. Go to grab a new tire today since the gash in the old tire was too bad to be repaired, mounted it only to find it sits very very very slightly at an angle. The top of the wheel points out just ever so slightly. Drove it around for a while, no wobble, no pulling to one side, nothing along those lines. My question is would a simple alignment take care of this or is there something I should be looking to see if its bent? Im going on a trip next week and would like to get this taken care of ASAP

I should add that it looks like the camber is positive a little so Im thinking I just knocked it out of alignment and dont really notice it because it is barely out and it is the rear wheel vs the front. I would assume that since the wheel did balance fine the chances of having had enough force to bend any components would have been minimal. Looks like Ill probably be getting an alignment in the next day or two.

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rkramer · 03-08-2008, 04:49 PM

if it is visibly angled, you bent suspension parts and an alignment isn't going to help.

RoadTrippin · 03-08-2008, 05:56 PM

It is angled but not to the point where only 20% of the tread i touching the ground I would say the only way it is even noticeable that it is out of alignment is from about 20 feet back, the wheel leans about maybe 1 or 2 degree to the outside.

jetskibucky · 03-08-2008, 08:54 PM

Probably a bent control arm, or maybe even two. Don't try to fix a gunshot wound with a Bandaid. There are many used suspension parts posted in the appropriate forum, it won't cost too much to fix it right. But hey, it's your car.

dbrunner · 03-09-2008, 03:06 AM

Try to bend it out by hitting a curb the other direction.

Nah, I've been in your situation before and I ended up replacing suspension parts that looked "okay" by the naked eye when really they were not okay. Ended up being the knuckle and the strut, so that was my excuse to upgrade to STi struts/springs

RoadTrippin · 03-09-2008, 01:33 PM

Well I guess Ill be taking a better look at it today then...hopefully it wont be too bad.

RoadTrippin · 03-10-2008, 10:15 PM

Well after having a good look, and letting this subbie tech I know look at it, and taking off a few pieces for closer inspection I didnt bend anything, it was just horribly out of alignment. Got an alignment and everything is back to normal, its nice when things work out for the cheaper sometimes

AfterburningTurbofan · 04-14-2008, 04:06 AM

I'm in a similar situation where I caught my RR wheel on a curb while sliding across an off-camber left hander. My wheel lip was bent and the rear end was very squirlly after that. Although I didn't see any support arm bends or anything obvious, an alignment shop told me my strut was bent. Long story short, I've just finished up my new D-spec strut install and can see an obvious thrust angle issue on the RR. (toed out causing a battle between my rear tires) Could that be my lateral links even though they are not obviously bent?

Note: Where is the best place to get a thorough evaluation? Body shop or my local independent Suby shop where they can do alignments?

DirtstyleWRX · 04-29-2008, 05:28 PM

Check your strut as well to see if there is any damage there.

03-08-2008, 04:25 PM	#1
RoadTrippin Scooby Newbie Member#: 161175 Join Date: Oct 2007 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: Mountains....	Hit a curb....now what? Coming home yesterday I caught a patch of ice as I was turning a corner and my right rear wheel grabbed the curb pretty hard then the tire went flat within a minute. Go to grab a new tire today since the gash in the old tire was too bad to be repaired, mounted it only to find it sits very very very slightly at an angle. The top of the wheel points out just ever so slightly. Drove it around for a while, no wobble, no pulling to one side, nothing along those lines. My question is would a simple alignment take care of this or is there something I should be looking to see if its bent? Im going on a trip next week and would like to get this taken care of ASAP I should add that it looks like the camber is positive a little so Im thinking I just knocked it out of alignment and dont really notice it because it is barely out and it is the rear wheel vs the front. I would assume that since the wheel did balance fine the chances of having had enough force to bend any components would have been minimal. Looks like Ill probably be getting an alignment in the next day or two. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads. Last edited by RoadTrippin; 03-08-2008 at 04:49 PM.

04-14-2008, 04:06 AM	#8
AfterburningTurbofan Scooby Newbie Member#: 172063 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Aurora, CO Vehicle: 2004 WRX Wagon Silver	Next step? I'm in a similar situation where I caught my RR wheel on a curb while sliding across an off-camber left hander. My wheel lip was bent and the rear end was very squirlly after that. Although I didn't see any support arm bends or anything obvious, an alignment shop told me my strut was bent. Long story short, I've just finished up my new D-spec strut install and can see an obvious thrust angle issue on the RR. (toed out causing a battle between my rear tires) Could that be my lateral links even though they are not obviously bent? Note: Where is the best place to get a thorough evaluation? Body shop or my local independent Suby shop where they can do alignments?

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03-08-2008, 04:49 PM	#2
rkramer Scooby Guru Member#: 118209 Join Date: Jun 2006 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: North Dakota Vehicle: 2002 WRX Sedan	if it is visibly angled, you bent suspension parts and an alignment isn't going to help.

03-08-2008, 05:56 PM	#3
RoadTrippin Scooby Newbie Member#: 161175 Join Date: Oct 2007 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: Mountains....	It is angled but not to the point where only 20% of the tread i touching the ground I would say the only way it is even noticeable that it is out of alignment is from about 20 feet back, the wheel leans about maybe 1 or 2 degree to the outside.

03-08-2008, 08:54 PM	#4
jetskibucky Scooby Specialist Member#: 136694 Join Date: Jan 2007 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: Orange County, SoCAL Vehicle: 07 STI LimitD #242 SPW Stage 2+	Probably a bent control arm, or maybe even two. Don't try to fix a gunshot wound with a Bandaid. There are many used suspension parts posted in the appropriate forum, it won't cost too much to fix it right. But hey, it's your car.

03-09-2008, 03:06 AM	#5
dbrunner Scooby Specialist Member#: 122171 Join Date: Aug 2006 Chapter/Region: NWIC	Try to bend it out by hitting a curb the other direction. Nah, I've been in your situation before and I ended up replacing suspension parts that looked "okay" by the naked eye when really they were not okay. Ended up being the knuckle and the strut, so that was my excuse to upgrade to STi struts/springs

03-09-2008, 01:33 PM	#6
RoadTrippin Scooby Newbie Member#: 161175 Join Date: Oct 2007 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: Mountains....	Well I guess Ill be taking a better look at it today then...hopefully it wont be too bad.

03-10-2008, 10:15 PM	#7
RoadTrippin Scooby Newbie Member#: 161175 Join Date: Oct 2007 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: Mountains....	Well after having a good look, and letting this subbie tech I know look at it, and taking off a few pieces for closer inspection I didnt bend anything, it was just horribly out of alignment. Got an alignment and everything is back to normal, its nice when things work out for the cheaper sometimes

04-29-2008, 05:28 PM	#9
DirtstyleWRX Scooby Newbie Member#: 18212 Join Date: Apr 2002 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: California Vehicle: 2002 WRX WRB	Check your strut as well to see if there is any damage there.