This is embarrassing, but what should I do about this? I got distracted for like half a second because I thought I saw something on my mirrors, which caused me to veer a little bit onto the curb of the road. The car jumped a little (I don’t think I mounted the curb just hit it or grazed it). I was going roughly 60km/h.
Instantly embarrassed, I went to park to look at the the car and didn’t notice any damage (didn’t hear anything off too). It’s an old 1998 Corolla II, so it’s light and small as fuck. Should I go to the mechanic anyway? I assume something misaligned even if I can’t tell.
I don’t really have money for it until the end of the week though (no credit card either), and probably can’t book anything till next week. Will it be fine until then?
first, is it driveable? Did one wheel impact more than the others? When you drive, does it pull to one side? If you apply brakes does it pull one way or the other? Does it ‘crab walk’ like it’s no longer traveling straight down the road but sort of points either left or right at what appears to be a few degrees off? Does it gyrate? Do you feel wobbles, at high mid or low speed? Do you feel wobbles when you apply the brakes? Does the steering wheel turn the same distance in both directions? If you look at the car front on, do any of the wheels appear to tip inward or outward at the top? Does one appear to turn in further than the other? Be cognizant, tires do have a little tip in at the top, but on the order of a couple degrees only. Like barely perceptible. Look at the car side on now. Pay attention to the gap between the tire and the fender. Is the gap equidistant all the way around? Check both sides.
Take your foot and push on the top of the tire (@12 o clock position). REALLY push hard. Does the whole thing seem firm, does it seem sorta wiggly and sloppy when you do so?
I am asking in attempt to eliminate issues with the front clip. Bent tie rods, broken A arms, strut towers etc.
You drive a car without a whole lot of inertia, and at a low enough speed head on, the tire will absorb some of the jarring impact without popping. It’s possible you skirted disaster.
This is about what I was gonna post, but much better. The only thing I would add is to check the rim and tire that hit the curb. See if the tire is holding pressure. I’ve hit a curb in a rented Corolla (much newer) at similar speeds with no issues, so this might just serve as a good reminder to stay alert.
so this might just serve as a good reminder to stay alert.
I feel like I total idiot, I tell you hwat
Yeah I drove a bit more to my parking space and didn’t notice anything off, but that was at lower speeds. I’ll have to update you all later when I do a proper check.
Is there anything else I can check?
Without putting it on a rack, and doing a bit by bit inspection, not really IMO. But, if you feel inclined to take a bright flashlight, pop the hood and walk the beam along suspension parts and have a good look. Slow, methodical, and only look at what is under the beam (for people who aren’t sure of what they’re looking at, sometimes it can help to focus your attention to one item at a time and keep from becoming overwhelmed by a bunch of stuff you can’t rattle off the name to).
Just because it was slow isn’t irrelevant. Slow speeds will show stuff like a bent CV joint, a bent rim, etc. you’ll just have to pay attention more because it’s slow but that in and of itself isn’t negative.
Go slow. If that feels ok, speed it up a bit more. Rinse and repeat.
Y’all are awesome
thank you for the tips
Take your foot and push on the top of the tire (@12 o clock position). REALLY push hard. Does the whole thing seem firm, does it seem sorta wiggly and sloppy when you do so?
I managed to drive home fine.
I did the thing you said here and I didn’t really notice the wiggly-ness. I think it’s fine?
Yeah, it’s probably just fine, comrade. It sounds like fortune was on your side this time.
Hopefully. I think I will schedule something just for peace of mind.
Might be good too, I’d like to get more kms out of this old box
Don’t be embarrassed just take it as a learning experience and be happy nobody was standing there when you gave the curb a kiss.
Hopefully you got lucky. I would probably plan to schedule a wheel alignment in the near future when you can afford it just to be cautious. That is, if I were being all super responsible and stuff. Likely I’d just chill and pay extra close attention to how the car behaves while driving, get yourself confident that it is holding a straight line at speed.
check the side of your tire wall for bulging
I’m no big city mechanic but it should be fine. If you have a jack maybe crawl under it and see if anything looks damaged if you’re concerned about it, but if nothing seems off and you don’t see any fluids leaking while it’s parked I would assume it’s good.
Not much the mechanic can do until you notice an issue. Just let it ride.
That’s my classic solution to life’s problems: ignore it and it doesn’t exist
From your description, I think you should be completely fine. Like another poster said, press on the wheel at the top super hard—it should not tilt with the strength of a normal person. If it does tilt, have it checked. If it doesn’t, drive it a bit and you’ll know if something is wrong pretty quickly.
I think you’re fine though!
Even if nothing is obviously wrong, I’d get an alignment whenever you can afford to. If something is slightly bent it could cause uneven tire wear, or sketchy handling.
