Hit a curb, what's bent?

2,243 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by tk for tu juan
The Fife
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I tagged a curb hard on the passenger side today and alignment is way off. The steering wheel and left wheel were straight when I took these pictures. Something is bent but I'm having a hard time figuring out what because nothing is cracked, scraped, or obviously damaged.

Any ideas where to start? I've done a lot of suspension work but that was replacing worn out stuff on German cars.
2007 Acura TSX





Street Fighter
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AG
You check the tie rod?
La Fours
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AG
I'm guessing you were turning left when you hit the curb?
Dill-Ag13
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AG
I'd be taking the drivers wheel off and comparing both sides
03_Aggie
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Damn chicken nuggets.
The Fife
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No, I was going straight and slowing down to turn in to the day care parking lot. The curb jogs inward about 1' towards the road at a storm drain, and I was distracted because it looked like the person behind me didn't notice I was slowing to turn in. Impact was loud enough I thought they rear ended me.

I have a bunch of pictures of the driver vs passenger side and can't see any differences besides the direction the wheel is pointed. Bushings don't look deformed, nothing obviously bent. Steering arm geometry is the same on both sides.

I was thinking about a few suspension upgrades and lowering the car a couple of inches but wanted to do all this on my own schedule.
La Fours
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AG
My wild ass guess is to check the rod in your second image that blocks the view of the top of the jack stand. The one that goes from left to right angling down.
La Fours
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AG
Or the piston in the brake assembly. But that's another wild ass guess.
The Fife
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Here's the road where it happened, right where you turn to enter the day care parking lot. The tow hook underneath the car is what carved out the big gouge and the black mark on the side of the wheelseems like tire rubber somehow. It doesn't seem to be out of true and the sidewall is definitely chewed up.

I think I'm going to pull underbody and wheelwell panels to see if I can get an idea of what's going on. Would an alignment place be able to diagnose what's wrong?
03_Aggie
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I would think, at the very least, an alignment shop would indicate what was wrong through process of elimination. They'll put it up on a rack and realign to spec. If they can't get it back to spec they should be able to tell you which adjustment they aren't able to make (which should indicate which part bore the brunt).
The Fife
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Thanks, I'll have to phone up a local place that's done good work for me in the past. It's close and I'll be able to keep it at or below 45 on the way there.
MouthBQ98
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AG
FOR sURE that curb should have some bright reflective yellow paint on it.
Absolute
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AG
Cannot tell anything from the pictures, other than the wheel. Daughter hit/jumped a curb last year missing a dog. Wobbled like crazy. I started with the wheel, it wasn't fixable, but replacing it solved the issues. The wheel repair guy said many times the wheel absorbs most if not all of the damage.

Which reminds me I need to get her car aligned......
Brad_97
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AG
When the wife did this the strut itself was bent
The Fife
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I could see that happening, I adjusted the toe in to the best of my abilities this morning and the steering wheel straightened out a lot but not all the way, and the car feels a little weird when going over speed humps in the neighborhood.

It has an appointment at a trusted alignment shop on Friday morning so we'll see then I guess. Depending on what all needs to be replaced it could be time to look into that 2" drop I've been thinking about.
Mr. Dubi
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Swap tires left to right to see if it pulls opposite direction-you could have a tire separation. Also check ride height left to right.

That car does not have struts, those are coilovers, which could only affect ride height, unlikely the cause, but not impossible to cause a pull.

Other causes are shifted cradle, bent control arms, bent unibody. Tie rods or rack problems should not cause a pull, but could put the steering wheel off center.
The Fife
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The tire impacted does have separation on the sidewall, I can feel a small goose eggt adjacent to a gouge showing a few cut cords. Replacing that tire is next on the to-do list after going to the alignment place tomorrow morning and ordering whatever parts I need to order.

Another thing going on is that it feels like the brake caliper on the affected side is not releasing as much as the opposite. Could just be caliper pins needing grease though.

Gap between the wheel and fender is 1/2" less on the affected side, and overall ride height is the same difference.

There steering wheel was severely off center after the hit. and the front right tire had very noticeable toe in. That's part of the reason I messed around with the tie rod on that side, so I could make the car safely drivable to the shop tomorrow. Overall it feels ok but the steering wheel is maybe 10 degrees off and it could be my imagination but it feels like speed humps affect the car a little differently from one side to the other.

If I'm going to have to replace parts I'll be doing an entire coilover kit, bushings, ... because it's all stock.
TSJ
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AG


Here is some inspiration for where to take yours.
The Fife
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Forgot what was bent but it came out to $375 all-in. It helps knowing an honest shop instead of running off to Firestone and coming home with a $2,500 estimate!
tk for tu juan
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