Hi,

I ad a mishap whilst driving home today in my MY98 Scooby Sports. It had been raining and I obviously took the corner perhaps a slight touch too fast (althought I normally take them at this speed and not everybody will judge it as being fast) ...

I took a left turn and instead of going the correct way I ended up going off at a tangent and hitting the kerb which seats the traffic light and bollard in the middle of the road.

After pulling over and expecting minor damage - I was shocked !!

The drivers side wheel is touching the back of the wheel well, ie. car pulls to the right and wheel makes a hell of a noise if I attempt to drive it.

Unfortunately there was no other option but to drive it the remainder of the two miles home. When I got it back I noticed the wheel has had some rubber torn out of it from the scrubbing against the well.

I got a feeling the axle has been bent, everythign else seems fine - even the passenger side on the front is fine. I'm no mechanic and just wondered possible scenarios and how much it would take to fix ? both Subaru dealers and a 'normal' place. I don't want to drive it and probably will make it worse so I'm getting a tow truck(one which fully lifts the car) to arrange a pickup tomorrow.

Any suggestions / prices etc. ?

I need help !!! I'm sitting here worried cuz I'm stressed !! Please help !!

Thanks a lot !

Jai

 

first thing i would suggest is rephrasing what happened. you didnt take thecorner too fast, you went round the corner and lo and behold, a deer in the way, which you swerved to avoid

 

Hi

If your lucky you might just be looking at a new lower arm but I'd expect to see damamge to the hub, damper and you may of also pushed the suspension pick up points out of line. Your dealer should pick up on all theses points.

Good luck!

Bob

 

Sneezing fit...

Dont attempt to drive it at all... Move it with a recovery truck... must be flat back (Or all 4 wheels off the floor)

Have you bent the suspension strut top mount?? Can you see any kinks??, Chances are you have bent some of the following.. wheel, hub, strut, lower arm, anti-roll bar and associated mountings... These are the first things I would look at as long as you havent bent the mountings... shouldnt be too expensive < £1000 (depending on where you go and whether you use new parts...)

Chances are that anybodyshops wont quote without seeing the car.. But dont drive it to them.. if they want the business they will come and look at it..

Good luck..

David

 

You went round the corner and a dog ran out into the middle of the road. you swerved hit your breaks and your wheel hit the kerb.

Check your front strut. Sounds like the strut has been bent backwards. Suggest you book it into the garage and have them take a look!

Also check the your brakes are ok/and check that your spring hasn't been snapped. but the garage will do all that. You say that its making that noise well thats most likely the rubbing of the wheel and the arches due to your strut being repositioned.
I could however be totally wrong.

 

sorry to hear that mate, it would be impossible to tell exactly whats been damaged without getting a close look. Sometimes its good news, sometimes bad.

All the best of luck in getting it sorted and i hope the news is good.

John
www.jon44w.8m.com

 

Similar thing happened on my Terzo.

I didn't look at it but most people said the lower wishbone was bent. I didn't get the details from the insurance company or repairers.

Advice (perhaps a bit too late) - DO NOT DRIVE IT any more. Driving with one wheel out of kilter stresses not only its bearing but also the one on the other side. I think I drove mine a mile or two back to a public phone before getting it picked up.

Mine cost me about 2500 pounds, but this included new wing, light cluster, and resprayed door (wing touched door and chipped door when it opened, metallic paint apparently has to have the whole panel sprayed to blend it). As well as new wheel, tyre etc.

Good luck with it

BJH

 

Did something similar in a Metro many years ago. It was snowing hard, and the gritters were n't yet out of bed.

Went round a slight bend at about 10 miles an hour, the car broke away and slid sideways into the kerb. Naturally expected no damage at that speed, but had bent the lower swinging arm. Cost me a trip to the local breakers.

I'm not surprised it's done so much damage. Protected NCD???

 

It's most likely that you have bent the lower suspension arm. it has a manufactured weak spot in it (a hole I believe), so that in the event of an impact, this bends first and absorbs the impact, hopefully minimising the damage to other parts of the suspension.

I had an incident a couple of years ago, where I clipped a rock on the apex of a left hand corner (the tar went up to rock, around it, and then continued around the back of the rock). I never noticed the rock, as I was looking much further down the road at the time.

I had the same scenario, that the wheel was pushed back into the well, and was rubbing, though there was slightly more clearance with the space saver. In the end, it only needed a new wheel and tyre, lower suspension arm and an ABS sensor (died with the impact). The top mount was fine. Although the front strut looked OK, I was advised to change that as well, so swapped both front struts and springs out for a balanced pair.

The whole lot cost me under £600 including fitting etc., as I managed to get some of the parts 2nd hand at a reasonable price.