smacked a gutter

[black turkey]

ok, i wont tell you how it happened but here is what you need to know. my car was driven over one of those cement like gutters (similar to those used at the end of car park spots to stop your tires going over them (or if your low enough your bumper), its the cement ones not the ones that are attached to the gutter (if you dont know what im talking about ill post a pic). anyway my car went over one of them that was being used as a curb to separate the road to the dirt, i hit it at maybe 40-50 km an hour at the absolute maximum (it was hopefully more like 20-30). the passenger side wheel hit first followed by my side.

had a look after wards, no bumper damage only scratched the crap out of the bottom, but the front passenger fender had been hit from the bottom and has been moved backwards so the door wont open (you cannot see this damage just looking at the car), i took it for a drive and i only noticed the slightest pull to the left while driving (so little).

so anyway i looked under the car and there is only scratches on the stuff that hangs low.

what damage should i be looking for (if any) in terms of wheels, axle etc

[black turkey]

the third picture is the showing a hanging piece of whatever that may have been moved out of place.

Edited May 19, 2008 by black turkey

[black turkey]

first of these is on of where i think the gutter has caught that fender and moved it. the other 2 are of how the door isnt closing properly.

also to open the door you have to push it hard then use the handle to open it.

Edited May 19, 2008 by black turkey

[black turkey]

... and a pic of the gutter of which i hit...

Edited May 20, 2008 by black turkey

[lateralus]

well if it was me, i would get my front suspension and drivetrain (especially being fwd) checked out asap. something like that could definitely do some serious long term damage. youll probably be in desperate need of a good wheel alignment now too.

[black turkey]

when you drive it the car doesn't seem to drive much different than usual. it doesn't have any bumps in the steering or it doesn't swerve to a side enough to think it was bad. umm maybe the steering is a bit heavier but i dunno cos when ur looking for faults you are more critical in these things.

what drivetrain damage could be done? im taking it to a panel beater 2morro to have a look at the door.

[MT]

The wheels are probably all bent and buckled. Dont be suprised if you get a flat tyre in a day or 2

[selyaT]

what drivetrain damage could be done?

The gearbox could have copped it but doesn't sound like you were going fast enough

[qkslvr]

although there might be little signs of physical damage there can still be hairline fractures in place. something similar has happened to me so I speak from experience (long story, but it involves my drive shaft spleen snapping at the hub and me having no brakes at a set of traffic lights)

things to check:

1. fatique, fractures (hairline) at the hub nut (drive shaft sleen)

2. fatique, fractures at the lower ball-joint nuts

3. buckles or cracked rim

4. cracked or brocken inner control-arm bushing mounts

I'm not saying these things are brocken but you need to check asap. A 1tonne+ chunk of metal hitting a concrete barrier at 40km/h can't be good. inspect these areas yourself first but i recommend you take it to a trusted suspension place. they'll probably charge you $80/hour - it ain't cheap but it's better than your lower ball join braking or your hub seperating (leaving you with no brakes) while you're doing 70km/h on the highway.

[black turkey]

really? dammit, i guess that stuff is important enough to actualy go get it checked.

i just dont wanna tell me dad i was doing stupid stuff and smashed my car. would a panel beater be ale to tell me any problems? cos its going there soon. you guys dont think i should drive it until its checked?

[Rolla Boy]

Send the car to a mechanic for a checkover... Tell them what happened so they know exactly what they're looking for...

[wishbone]

awwww dude...im sorry to hear that!!! i hope shes all better now!!! the only downfall to owning a sports car!!! go a lil easy on her...aye

[mrs.sportivo]

The wheels are probably all bent and buckled. Dont be suprised if you get a flat tyre in a day or 2

lols wheel alignment (?) time

LOL is that how u spell it ?

[supertownace]

first of all...grow up and learn how to drive a car. its obvious from the pic of the concrete block that you hit this thing at speed (skid marks don't lie!!) you know the speed you were doing so don't kid yourself(or anyone else)you were going slower.

second......hitting things like that at speed with most certainly bend suspension components. things like tie rod ends both inner and outer will need to be replaced on the side that got hit. you will never see the internal damage so its safer to just replace them. also replace upper and lower ball joints....same deal again. take the car to a suspension specialist and get them to check your steering geometry....i will bet my left nut to the fact that SOMETHING is bent (upper or lower control arms and/or front sway bar).

thirdly......own up to your foolish driving habits to your old man. i will also bet my left nut to the fact that he did something similar when he was a kid too. in owning up and saying that you broke something will (usually with time) be gotten over by your dad and he will move on.....and hopefully you and your dad can understand each other better for the future.

cheers

[black turkey]

yeah no worries man, i did own up, and i have been very busy so i wasnt driving the car much and tommorrow she is booked in a pedders for a "full check", i told them the story and they said they will find out whats going on.

[wishbone]

first of all...grow up and learn how to drive a car. its obvious from the pic of the concrete block that you hit this thing at speed (skid marks don't lie!!) you know the speed you were doing so don't kid yourself(or anyone else)you were going slower.

second......hitting things like that at speed with most certainly bend suspension components. things like tie rod ends both inner and outer will need to be replaced on the side that got hit. you will never see the internal damage so its safer to just replace them. also replace upper and lower ball joints....same deal again. take the car to a suspension specialist and get them to check your steering geometry....i will bet my left nut to the fact that SOMETHING is bent (upper or lower control arms and/or front sway bar).

thirdly......own up to your foolish driving habits to your old man. i will also bet my left nut to the fact that he did something similar when he was a kid too. in owning up and saying that you broke something will (usually with time) be gotten over by your dad and he will move on.....and hopefully you and your dad can understand each other better for the future.

cheers

hey dude....go a lil easy one him yeah?? i mean afterall he did tell us wat happnd...if he didnt want to tell us...he didnt have to....so jst give him some slack mate....im sure we have all done some rash things once before!

[wishbone]

yeah no worries man, i did own up, and i have been very busy so i wasnt driving the car much and tommorrow she is booked in a pedders for a "full check", i told them the story and they said they will find out whats going on.

thats nice to hear man...i hope she makes a full recovery..(hopefully she doesnt need too much cash for it).....good luck bro...and how did it all go?

[black turkey]

just needs a slight wheel allignment. the guy said im lucky nothing happened. i ended up taking it to my dads mechanic. he only said that i need to fix the major flat spots in my back tyres and get a wheel allignment.

[qkslvr]

looking at the picutres of the gutter, you're lucky it was an angled gutter. that's probably the reason you don't have more damage. My incident involved running up a standard gutter at the exit of a round about at 60+km/h. the round about had been rebuilt and the gutter placement had been changed (I used to be able to take a straight line through the roundabout without slowing down). anyway, it was dark and i took my usual line and BANG! car almost went airborn. I inspected the car for damange and didn't seem anything obvious so drove around for a while and that's when my hub seperated leaving me with no break.

[black turkey]

yeah well thats what the guy said, i was lucky that it wasn't one of the vertical gutters. what did u pay to get that fixed? i forgot to mention, the whole door panel underneath of my car lifted causing the door to be out of place, im wondering how or who can fix this for me? would a panel beater do it?

[qkslvr]

yeah well thats what the guy said, i was lucky that it wasn't one of the vertical gutters. what did u pay to get that fixed? i forgot to mention, the whole door panel underneath of my car lifted causing the door to be out of place, im wondering how or who can fix this for me? would a panel beater do it?

I got a new drive shaft/CV joint from the wreckers and put it in myself. $50 for the part and $80 for the tools. Lubemobile quoted me $1,500 :o

a panel beater should be able to sort you out. good luck with it.

[wishbone]

just needs a slight wheel allignment. the guy said im lucky nothing happened. i ended up taking it to my dads mechanic. he only said that i need to fix the major flat spots in my back tyres and get a wheel allignment.

tht doesnt sound too expensive at all.....congrats mate....take it easy now aye!

[wishbone]

yeah well thats what the guy said, i was lucky that it wasn't one of the vertical gutters. what did u pay to get that fixed? i forgot to mention, the whole door panel underneath of my car lifted causing the door to be out of place, im wondering how or who can fix this for me? would a panel beater do it?

yeah a local panel beater will do the job for real cheap...i reckon 500 or so....where do u live again mate?

[black turkey]

i live in Darwin. and yeah i suppose i should take it a lil more easy. There is someone around my area who is selling their 1989 celica for 500 dollars, it probably isnt road worthy at the price or is poor physical appearance BUT he says the motor is all good and well. Can anyone smell cheap 3sge? i was wondering if a gen 1 3sge if rebuilt with forged internals and stuff be a **** load better than my 5sfe?

[qkslvr]

i live in Darwin. and yeah i suppose i should take it a lil more easy. There is someone around my area who is selling their 1989 celica for 500 dollars, it probably isnt road worthy at the price or is poor physical appearance BUT he says the motor is all good and well. Can anyone smell cheap 3sge? i was wondering if a gen 1 3sge if rebuilt with forged internals and stuff be a **** load better than my 5sfe?

The 5sFe is a torquer engine than the 3sge but the 3s is more tunable than the 5s - meaning the 3sge can be tuned to put out loads more HP (IF you're willing to spend the $$$)