drove onto a sidewalk...

[penguin_hash]

Oh well, I managed to drive my car onto a sidewalk going at some speed. It hit about a 45 degree angle with the right wheel on the sidewalk and the left wheel still on the road. No damage on the outside.

I've now noticed a ticking sound/feeling when I turn the wheel, about six to seven ticks when doing a u-turn. Also while on the freeway, there's a periodic, but constant, low hum and whine... probably matching the wheel rotation. Strangely, the wheel alignment appears fine. It's a lowered car.

What's the probable damage and about how much would it cost to fix, before I bring it into a shop? Thanks.

[adowding]

You more then likely damaged the tire and wheel to start with. If your wheel is damaged replace it immediately or you will have to pay much more later.

[Nanotech9]

under normal circumstances i would say the clicking noise/feeling is a CV joint going out... but since you hit the curb, it may be different.

you may be rubbing on something - a dust cover may have come loost, or a hose thats rubbing. you may have even damaged a wheel bearing, which could definitely transfer a click noise/feel to the wheel.

[Thunder]

get the alignment checked...you can't always "feel" bad alignment...

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by Thunder
get the alignment checked...you can't always "feel" bad alignment...

Yup, that's true...

But really, it depends on what vehicle you have. Worst case scenario, you will need your front-end completely replaced. Depending on the vehicle, that will run from $1,000 (this is a low estimate) and up.

[penguin_hash]

Well, I tested out the alignment by letting go of the wheel and it went about the same as beforehand. Is there some other damage misalignment causes other than destroying tires at a faster rate?

It seems like boot damage at this point.. except I don't know if just running onto a sidewalk can cause that. I'm hoping it's just some piece of plastic out of whack :) I'll bring it in tommorrow to get an estimate.

[coleslaw]

So, please tell us, how exactly did you manage to drive onto a sidewalk? I'm sure we all would like to hear! :P

[penguin_hash]

Another one of those accidents that happens less than 5 miles from home. This one was actually about .5 miles :/

Anyways, raining in the middle of the night, cold temperatures (don't think it was freezing though)... coming off an off-ramp doing a left turn. Now, normally, I'd hit this at a pretty good clip, but since it was raining, I decided to drop it a couple notches. Well, I must've still been going too fast. Felt the wheels glide on the steering wheel. OK. Da. Da. Da. Hmm.. why haven't I got contact again? ... still gliding.. oh crap... still gliding... F*CK.. crash. The intersection was six lanes across, so it was a lot of slipping and sliding.

Well, at least I "warned" the truck behind me to slow down... didn't even stop.

Yes, I was going too fast I suppose and I guess you can't estimate wet road conditions despite driving over the same rainy road many times before.

[Ladogaboy]

Well, atleast you didn't run over 17 children. :disa:

[Blu]

It might be a bubble in the tire tread. It's not terribly dangerous, but you run a high risk of a blowout...

[penguin_hash]

Oh well, I haven't brought it in yet (tommorrow!), but the guy on the phone is guessing it's an axle problem. Does ~$270 sound about right for this? Are there any other things I should get fixed while this is being done to save on labor costs (i.e. springs, shocks, etc)?

[Blu]

Originally posted by penguin_hash
Oh well, I haven't brought it in yet (tommorrow!), but the guy on the phone is guessing it's an axle problem. Does ~$270 sound about right for this? Are there any other things I should get fixed while this is being done to save on labor costs (i.e. springs, shocks, etc)?

Nah, I don't think you'll be saving enough money to justify it. The labor for springs/shocks/struts/what-have-you-located-in-the-wheelwell is usually minimal, it's the parts that kill you...

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by penguin_hash
Oh well, I haven't brought it in yet (tommorrow!), but the guy on the phone is guessing it's an axle problem. Does ~$270 sound about right for this? Are there any other things I should get fixed while this is being done to save on labor costs (i.e. springs, shocks, etc)?

It all depends. If they haven't taken a look at your car, they won't know exactly what is wrong with it, and they shouldn't quote you a price. $270 actually seems a little low. They might be trying to just get you in there, and then charge you out the butt in the end.

Make sure you get them to put down all the charges in writing BEFORE you let them do anything to your vehicle.