Rare Rolla

After hitting a curb in my girlfriends sunfire, I changed the wheel to the spare and inspected the car. The only other visible damage was a cracked washer fluid resevoir. So I proceeded to drive off and a loud scraping noise started. It came in and out (it wasn't constant), and got louder as I turned the wheel. Basically i'm posting this to get any ideas on what could be wrong. I think it may be either a bent fender (on the inside of the wheel well since the body looked undamaged) or a bent strut tower (which also looked visibly fine but keep in mind this happened at midnight and i had poor lighting around). I will take a look at it tomorrow morning but I just wanted to get some other opinions on it before I go out there and call a tow truck if I can't find anything. Thanks

Sousake Sagara

Could have damaged your Hub/Bearings..... I wouldn't drive it. I'd get a tow truck.

Rd1tib

u might have bent something and when turning, u may be hitting it.

tanc

Dude, do you know how many possibilites there are once you hit a curb? LOL

If we were standing there, or if you had pictures it would be much easier. We could ALL be WRONG. Next bright day, go outside lifter and look to spot the damage. If you can't see anything, take some pictures from all angles and than post up. smile.gif

guido

I would put my money on the strut mount. They have bearings in them that allow the wheel to turn. You just pounded the crap out of it.
But either way take it apart and check it out. Take all of it apart, you don't want that letting go at speed.

Rare Rolla

Sorry the follow up took so long to get posted but this morning I went out there, jacked up the car and looked under neath and there is the skidplate/oil pan guard/whatever you call it only attached on one and with the other resting on the ground. I was made of cheap aluminum that had snapped off of its bolt when impacted by the curb. It was mildly flexible so with about ten minutes of grunting and groaning I managed to bend it back into its original place and jeri rig it until I can take it to a garage and weld it back into place. It is kinda twisted so I was actually considering taking it off but I cant hurt to have something in its place for now since it did do a good job protecting the radiator and oil pan. Thanks for all of the responses, i was just trying to get some ideas to look for when I went out there and saw nothing wrong, but lucky for me, in broad daylight the problem was obvious!

HyundaiKitCoupe

you should get that checked out. that could lead to brake problems and rotor/pad wear. me thinks it's the rotor maybe bent or the brake dust guard scraping. it could also be bearing or something worse.

DTN

WOW dude.... what do the curbs look like where youre from?



This is what I think of when you say curb.







But in your area they must look something like this

Rare Rolla

Have you ever seen Philly curbs!? They are rediculously high and not veyr well marked. This particular curb is only a week old and the tow truck guy (who was camped out around the corner) said that my particular accident was the 15th so far!

SOCKS_old

i was going to say something with the splashguard, but it seems you got it all figured out now..

and curbs dont have to be high to do damage.. i slid in the rain, when i first started driving, hit the curb head on, and did about 1600$ in damage.. bent rims, ruined struts, tie rods, part of the steering assembly.. yah.. curbs suck, especially when they jump out in front of you. lmao.gif