Hit a curb in the rain, worried about potential damage.
 

A couple days ago, I slid in the rain and smacked a curb with both left wheels at a low speed (maybe 25 mph, at an angle). The car seems to still drive straight, but I hear a kind of rubbing noise whenever the car's weight is shifted to the left (e.g. when turning right).

Is it possible I damaged the suspension? The wheel bearings, perhaps? What should I look for, and would it be a good idea to take it to a shop or dealer to get it fixed or should I try doing it myself?

Finally, what's the best course of action to take as far as the wheel damage? I had my OEM wheels on, see the attached pictures. Is this fixable or should I just replace the wheels?

Thank you for your help!

I personalty would just live with the wheels but you can usually find them dirt cheap so replacing would be much cheaper than fixing.
There are several things tat could be damaged by smacking a curb so if you have a noise I would get it checked out. Better to catch it now then have a major failure down the road.

Hello MurphLAZ3R and welcome to ye ol forum - :clap:

Too bad you skinned up your wheels - :(

Looking on the bright side, you did that on wet roads, just think what could have happened after the snowstorm ya'll just had - :eyebulge:

As far as the cosmetically skinned up rims, I'd suggest you just dress them up with a Dremel and some sandpaper and maybe some touch up paint.

Now, the suspension could be another matter. I would suggest that you take the car into an alignment shop and have it inspected and have them try to do a 4 wheel alignment. They will tell you if any parts are broke or bent.

Depending on how hard you hit the curb, any damage could be a slight as your skinned up rims OR as bad as requiring lower control arm, wheel hub and/or various other suspension parts.


humfrz

Like other said wheels got the curb rash. Pure cosmetic damage. Unless you start to notice air leaks then it's time for a fix or replace.

As for suspension,
If you don't know what to look for you'll never find and fix it yourself.
Just like others said take it to get the alignments checked out.

The rubbing sound could be as simple as your fender liners.

Given the fact you haven't said anything about jacking the up and taking a look, I would let the pros look at it.

I wacked a curb at 45+ mph in a turn, it damaged the rim but that was it, these cars are pretty resilient. Most likely you broke a few clips in the fender well and its sagging. If he car drives straight look in the fender well and see if it has dropped down a bit

YIKES, that must have been a itti bitti curb - :D


humfrz

I would take it in. Multiple possibilities for damaged parts like @Tcoat said

I hit a curb just wrong while turning at 15mph. It cracked the rim, bent a tie rod, and I guess bent a strut (I think that is what the tech said. If you are comfortable wrenching on a car and have a torque wrench you should get the wheel off and check that the main suspension bits are still torqued to spec.

OH DAMN!
I just saw that second picture in a larger than phone size format. Replace that wheel. Sooner than later. Even a slight drop in air pressure and that sharp edge is going to cut into the sidewall. Almost a guaranteed blow out not a slow leak.

Of course you should go get it checked. Most places should be able to do that at no cost, presuming you get them to show you the actual damage so you aren't spending $ on things that aren't necessary. As others have mentioned, an alignment is your first safe bet. If it doesn't solve it, go to a suspension shop and let a tech drive the car to figure out if something else is out of wack. You might be able to salvage the wheel. Again, have a wheel shop look at it and tell you if it is safe or not. Or just replace it. You should be able to find used ones online.

A panel van sent me into a curb once. Thankfully I knew it was going to happen so I did my best to straighten out before going into the curb, so it was more like jumping the curb then hitting it direct from the side. A big chunk of rubber got taken out of the curb guard on my front MPSS, which is thicc BTW, and a bit of the rim got scuffed. It was loud and felt fucking horrible. The traction light was flashing for a few seconds after I stopped, and I imagined my tire dangling off of the suspension.

The car drove fine as I chased the dude down because I thought we did hit. Later I noticed my steering wheel off center about 1-2 degrees and had to get an alignment to deal with some bad vibration at speeds over 70 mph. I'm guessing the curb did affect something, but there wasn't any new noises.