V1 What to check after going over a curb?

[williamwhite]

I was driving the Goblin over the weekend and had a dumb@$$ pull out in front of me in my neighborhood. I locked up the brakes and went over a curb to avoid him. Of course, he took off and left me in someone's yard.

I looked over the car and to my amazement saw no tire, wheel, body or suspension damage. I got the car back on the road and the alignment is off. When going straight, my steering wheel before was slightly right of center and now it's left of center around 11 o'clock.

I just realigned the car, as it was slightly toed out. However, I'm nervous about driving it if there's something else I should validate before getting it to the alignment shop (20 mins away). Anything else I should take a look at?

Here are some pics of the front suspension.

 

[KSLunsfo]

Ooof.... Could have bent arms perhaps but not sure the best way to verify that unless you can possibly see cracking in the powder coat somewhere.

Being aluminum, definitely inspect the knuckles and tie rod mounts very closely for any hairline fracturing.

Just my initial .02...

 

[williamwhite]

All good callouts and much appreciated. Ill clean up the area to see if there's any powdercoat splitting/flaking on the arms.

Ill take the wheels off to inspect the knuckles as well.

Thank you!

 

[Rttoys]

What KS said. Plus pick up the front end and give everything a wiggle. Could have hurt any of the tie rods (inner or outer), hub, bracket that holds the ball joints to the knuckle, ect. Do the same in the rear. Look at the strut mount area for movement, tie rods and hubs.

did you lock up all 4 tires or just 2? Might need to make adjustments to the prop valve if only 2 locked.

 

[williamwhite]

I'll add that to the list as well when I pull off the wheels. I gave the front knuckles and tie rod mounts a good look and don't see any damage/cracks from the back side. Everything appears to be in the correct shape with no bends/bows in the metal. I haven't looked at the rear end as closely but the strut mounts and struts all appear straight and haven't moved in their mount positions

The brake lockup is definitely something that I know needs adjusted. I went back and looked at the tire marks at the scene and saw only the fronts locked up, so I need to adjust the prop valve. It was on my list of to-do items but leave it to a scenario like this to get it moved to the top. If I recall correctly, the fronts should lockup just before the rears, correct?

 

[Rttoys]

Yes. Fronts should lock before rears. It should be pretty simultaneous though.

 

[duthehustle93]

People really suck sometimes... but at least your okay and the damage sounds pretty minimal.

Was toe the only alignment angle that was off? If so, I'd start with checking the inner/outer tie rods, and the steering arm attached to the hub. Steering racks can bend too, but you'd probably have more damage for it to get to that point. I'd also be surprised if your wheel isn't bent... before you remove the wheel, spin it and look for any wobble. Anything less than about a 1/16" can be balanced out.

 

[williamwhite]

I definitely agree that people suck, but I'm not surprised by anything at this point.

I lifted both ends of the car and there was no play in the wheel when trying to move them in or out. I spun all of them by hand and did not see any bends on the inside or outside. There was no damage to the front knuckles or tie rod mounts after a thorough check.

I was able to make only minor adjustments to the toe to put tow back in spec as close as I can. I have a speed shop with a grumpy old guy that loves it when I bring the Goblin around that will align it this Friday. If there's anything I missed, he will catch it.

Overall, it seems like I got off pretty lucky, but Ill take it easy on the highway on the way to the shop just to be safe.

Thanks for all the feedback!