What do the guru's think

[rj2938]

Heres the deal...

Got caught in the snow that hit DC/NOVA area. Car was great...until-

Going through a round about in 6" of snow. Hit either the inside of the round about curb or something. Either way it jutted the front end out from under me. Took a hit to the right front. No body damage...hit was square flat to the wheel up against a storm drain in a curb.

Kept driving due to the weather. No faut codes thrown, trans functions fine. I assume by the way it drove, no axle or CV issues. Brakes are fine. The traction control light came on...maybe killed the sensor or active due to the front end geometry being off.

Now I haven't gotten it up on the jack yet...but the only thing I see other than the scrape on the wheel is that the RF wheel is pushed about 3" back in the wheel well.

So...

Opinions- control arms? Tie rods and ends? Could this be the extent of the damage?

Maybe going 5 mph max +/- a few...very low speed.

Thanks for any feedback.

[RPW00Mirage]

oh man, take pics for sure.


control arms, maybe a tie rod. hopefully no suspension mount points are bent.

[rj2938]

Here are a few pics...

Bent side...





Good side for comparison




Loaded from my phone...so hopefully they are in the correct sequence.

Have to move my motorhome from in front of the garage so hopefully tonight I will get it in there and pull the wheel.

So far I have found a salvage yard that has the control arms from a 2012 for something like $124. Still have to research if the 12's and 13's are the same.

Anyone have any lines on these arms new at a reasonable price?

Up against a $500 deductible...so if it ends up it didn't get the mounts, then that is my threshold. Anything under $500 I am doing it out of pocket...anything over I will call USAA. Haha!

[Hyundai_Guy]

well other then whatever suspension parts you need i think you will also need a new tire for sure looks like the impact bubbled it out on the side and if you leave it, it will blow out.

[gt800]

Looks like a control arm or possibly bent kmember since the wheel is offset. Possible even a bent strut. Very hard to say by just seeing the wheel. Good luxk with it regardless.

[x_Diesel_x]

Just looking at it hurts. My bet is control arm or tie rod.

Going the legit route and fixing it properly could push into $500-$800 if using brand new parts. Are the wheels both "straight" when the steering wheel is centered?


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[tlyons1022]

Man... that's ugly. I would guess Control Arm, and Tie rod. Hopefully there's no frame (or subframe) damage, because that is going to get expensive quick. Good luck, and keep us posted. Another thing to think about is the top your strut well. If the wheel is bent back that far, its possible the strut itself is bent, or the strut stayed straight and wrinkled the top of the strut well. Open you hood and look. Look for deformation or wrinkling around the stop of the strut well. The reason your TCS may be freaking out is that strut knuckle has moved so far that it may have upplugged (or broken the wires) to that wheels speed sensor.


However, I'm a USAA member myself and my wife and did basically the same thing to our other car. USAA forgave me under the "Accident Forgiveness". Basically they took it easy on us because she has never driven in Icy/Snowy conditions before, and we had just moved to Colorado. I didn't pay a dime out of pocket, and I have the same $500 deductible as you. USAA is pretty awesome.... if it starts looking pricey, I'd give them a call and see what they'll work out with you.

[rj2938]

Well...it's been a bit. But looks like I have hit the perfect storm...from the best we have been able to estimate, it is just the control arm. The angle that I hit and the geometry just lent itself to just taking out the arm. It has a sizeable bend on the trailing edge.

It has been close to 20 years since I have dealt with a strut front end job like this...so for giggles and if time permits I will throw up pics of my progress. I have found a control arm from a salvage job. Right now...with parts and having a friend toss the car on the rack for alignment...I should be under $300. If I can keep it to this then I will forgo the call to USAA.

[x_Diesel_x]

Hmmm. Kinda good news, although to tell you the truth.. I'd rather spend the couple hundred more and have a pro take care of it. If by any chance anything else got affected and its not appreciated at simple view.. It could be a headache in the making. The picture of that tire so far back really worries me.


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