Hit Curb -Advice?

[GTRON]

Hey so this happened today.
Hit a curb at around 25MPH. Tire shop was like- "Take it to a frame shop".
So is this (somewhat easily) fixable, or is it new car time.
If its any more than $700 I'm probably going to buy something different, even though I don't have money for that.

Crap


Crap


CRAP


It is definitely not drivable as is.

[steelbluesleepR]

take the wheel off and see what is bent. you can get a control arm for like $20 at a junk yard, or you could get lucky and it's just a steering end link.

A few years after I got my car, I hit a light pole HARD with my front right wheel. they had to replace the entire corner of the suspension and pull the frame out a bit. That was a far harder hit than what you've done, so there shouldn't be any frame damage.

[Rilas]

Hopefully it's just the tie rods that took the brunt of the damage or the control arm. Both are easy to replace and fairly cheap. If your having a hard time telling if something is bent reference your passenger side and you should be able to identify it easily. My first Accord came with a bent passenger side control arm. Just swapped it for a good junkyard candidate.

[Fleetw00d]

I'm not sure I'm interpreting the pictures correctly. Is the steering wheel straight ahead and the wheel isn't? Is the wheel also shifted back some in the opening? Did you hit the curb straight on or slide sideways into it (don't see much wheel face damage so I assume you hit it straight on)?

A similar tale on my wagon: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=207733
Get it up in the air and in addition to what has already been mentioned, check the front crossmember for being pulled back, check whether the wheel and hub still turn true, check the mounting point for the lower control arm to see if it looks bent.

I would say definitely fixable, but potentially a lot of wrenching.

[Crankshaft]

This guys offered solid advice, they only advice I can offer is to tell us the real story on how that happened; I mean we know you were driving and that God forsaken curb jumped out of nowhere just to cause damage to your car. It might of even have been the same one that hit my wife's car , after all she was also just driving and the curve was just there according to her story; only fact I know was the hours and $400 dollars it cost me to fix that car.

[kseriescivic]

That sucks man. Put it on a lift and inspect everything. If it's not worth fixing part it out and I'll be a buyer

[masospaghetti]

You probably just bent the upper control arm, radius rod, or tie rod end (or a combination of these). Radius rod would have to come from a junkyard, but tie rod ends or control arms are cheap. The spindle and lower control arm are cast iron and probably did not get damaged.

Honestly from the picture you may have just knocked the wheel out of alignment, and maybe all you need is to reset your front toe. There are ways to do this without going to an alignment shop or at least to get it close. A toe bar is well worth the price (about $70, but then you can always reset toe yourself without paying for alignments). I've also gotten creative with pieces of string and a plumb bob, all you are measuring is the distance between the front of the front tires to the distance between the rear of the front tires.

Anyway, get the car jacked up and take the wheel off and see whats going on. Doesn't look like you need to trash the car for this.

[GTRON]

I'm not sure I'm interpreting the pictures correctly. Is the steering wheel straight ahead and the wheel isn't? Is the wheel also shifted back some in the opening? Did you hit the curb straight on or slide sideways into it (don't see much wheel face damage so I assume you hit it straight on)?

A similar tale on my wagon: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=207733
Get it up in the air and in addition to what has already been mentioned, check the front crossmember for being pulled back, check whether the wheel and hub still turn true, check the mounting point for the lower control arm to see if it looks bent.

I would say definitely fixable, but potentially a lot of wrenching.

The steering wheel is straight on. I think hit the curb at an angle, I can't see any damage to the face of the rim, so I don't know exactly how I hit it... It may be shifted back some, not positive though..
I think I might limp down the street and try to get it on a lift... The wheels still turns lock to lock.
What also sucks is literally a week ago I put new ball joints and upper control arms on, and got an alignment...

I was already looking at that thread, and you are so detailed! It's overwhelming!

[GTRON]

You probably just bent the upper control arm, radius rod, or tie rod end (or a combination of these). Radius rod would have to come from a junkyard, but tie rod ends or control arms are cheap. The spindle and lower control arm are cast iron and probably did not get damaged.

Honestly from the picture you may have just knocked the wheel out of alignment, and maybe all you need is to reset your front toe. There are ways to do this without going to an alignment shop or at least to get it close. A toe bar is well worth the price (about $70, but then you can always reset toe yourself without paying for alignments). I've also gotten creative with pieces of string and a plumb bob, all you are measuring is the distance between the front of the front tires to the distance between the rear of the front tires.

Anyway, get the car jacked up and take the wheel off and see whats going on. Doesn't look like you need to trash the car for this.

So I limped over to a tire shop to see if they could align it, and the guy that come outside and looked at it was like: "Oh that's bad, you're going to have to a frame shop." That pretty much freaked me out, since I'm a noob to begin with, and I was still in shock after hitting that.

[GTRON]

take the wheel off and see what is bent. you can get a control arm for like $20 at a junk yard, or you could get lucky and it's just a steering end link.

A few years after I got my car, I hit a light pole HARD with my front right wheel. they had to replace the entire corner of the suspension and pull the frame out a bit. That was a far harder hit than what you've done, so there shouldn't be any frame damage.

That's encouraging. It didn't feel like I hit it very hard.... Heck if I had ABS I probably wouldn't had even hit the curb.

[GTRON]

Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I'm going to try to get it on a lift and see what's up.

[BreckAConner]

Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I'm going to try to get it on a lift and see what's up.

Let me know if you need help, I'll help you wrench it back together.

[tommi]

my advise is dont hit curbs looks like yall had more snow up that way then we did down here. stay safe and keep us informed what u find out.

[sonikaccord]

So I limped over to a tire shop to see if they could align it, and the guy that come outside and looked at it was like: "Oh that's bad, you're going to have to a frame shop." That pretty much freaked me out, since I'm a noob to begin with, and I was still in shock after hitting that.

Blah...don't believe that mess. One glance and "Oh you're prtty f'd" Really?? I am sure whatever is damaged can be simply replaced.

[Raf99]

And don't take it to a frame shop. Our cars don't have frames. And also shows tire guy has no idea what he is talking about. Best of luck