Ran over a rock
 

I ran over a rock a couple nights ago. The car is already in the shop. The mechanic claims the wheel hub is bent. This is after the tire popped and the wheel bent under the force of impacting the rock.

Is this common for a wheel hub to go when running over a rock? They also say its possible the spindle needs to be replaced if the car fails an alignment test.

I have some mechanical aptitude. I could probably replace the spindle myself. What I really want to know is if I'm getting jerked around by this mechanic. I did manage to spot some notes on their paper work and it said "possible" wheel bearing. So they of course want to order the part, install it and test it on the alignment rack. When I pressed them for information he said the mechanic heard what sounded like a bad bearing. So far my friends have all seemed kinda shocked that a wheel bearing would go in this situation. They seemed to think right away that the control arm would probably be bent (MAYBE).

Thoughts?

how big was this rock? lol

That was some rock. Yes all of the above could be damaged.

It was bigger than my fist. It also had a bit of a point on it. I have tire and wheel insurance so that stuff is going to be covered. But I'm gonna be on the hook for the suspension parts and labor (unless I do it myself).

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry to hear that you hit a mean rock.


Those parts are not that tricky to DIY. If you DIY; get an alignment after.


Good luck!

Should have played paper instead of scissor! jk,

Is it possible to get a second opinion from another shop?

Well... They're probably gonna try and get me on the hook for the hub and attempted alignment. But what they probably don't know is they didn't make me sign the revised estimate to include the hub and alignment ;p. So I could probably get another opinion from a shop or at least use that statement to get them to wiggle the figures around a bit.

But when it comes to something like the spindle/knuckle or control arm I'm probably just gonna have it towed home and do the work on it this week. I'm hoping to get this wrapped up in 4 hours.

Braden.

lol. how dare you.

inb4

https://i.imgur.com/yXShycEm.png

whoa... nice manual. thx!

Yeah, that's some rock. My bet is it just bent the wheel. Thus making everything out of whack.

Not mine. Just spreading the word. :D

I recall a thread on here about a C7 Vette being totaled for hitting something similar. Small gash under the unibody but enough to declare a total loss.

Very extreme case but probably worth making sure your car doesn't have any damage like that.