Slid on ice into Curb.....advice!?

paulb06

Hi Guys,

Wondering if you could shed some light on this, I was going approx 15-20 mph while turning a corner in my estate and car started to slide sideways, nothing I could actually do but let the car slide...

I ended up hitting my front drivers side wheel off the curb and now the wheel is buckled and car is veering to the right pretty badly.

Is it safe to drive at a low speed? It seems ok once I hold the wheel in place, Ive not money at the minute and need my car for work! I brought it to a garage and was told i needed a new wheel (obviously) and wheel bearing for it too. He put it on the ramp and had a good look, never mentioned any other problems with it. There are no strange noises coming from the wheel area etc. It's just veering to the right quite a bit.

Thanks!

daveharnett

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Wondering if you could shed some light on this, I was going approx 15-20 mph while turning a corner in my estate and car started to slide sideways, nothing I could actually do but let the car slide...

I ended up hitting my front drivers side wheel off the curb and now the wheel is buckled and car is veering to the right pretty badly.

Is it safe to drive at a low speed? It seems ok once I hold the wheel in place, Ive not money at the minute and need my car for work! I brought it to a garage and was told i needed a new wheel (obviously) and wheel bearing for it too. He put it on the ramp and had a good look, never mentioned any other problems with it. There are no strange noises coming from the wheel area etc. It's just veering to the right quite a bit.

Thanks!

Wouldn't recommend it. Driving along on the warped wheel will put a lot of stress on suspension components that were lucky to survive in the first place.

And to be honest, I wouldn't fancy your chances on three good wheels, given that it's already gone pear shaped with four.

faceman

You were lucky OP. I had a nasty slide on the ice in similar circumstances and now I need a new bonnet and grill.

The worst part about it is the feeling of helplessness. Nothing I could do to avoid it at the time, besides not have been out in the first place! (I wasnt even going as fast as you!)

paulb06

There was literally nothing I could do, it was horrible! No control whatsoever, just lucky there was no car coming in the opposite direction. What could be causing the car to veer to the right though? Could it just be the buckled d/s wheel thats causing it? You can see it as the car is moving (guy in the garage drove it and I could see clearly it was buckled!)

woody33

Put on the spare wheel? Put the damaged wheel on the back? Of course if the bearing is gone that wouldn't help much. Good luck, at least no one was hurt.

myacm

just make sure the wishbone is ok not just the wheel

Hal1

woody33 wrote: »

Put on the spare wheel? Put the damaged wheel on the back? Of course if the bearing is gone that wouldn't help much. Good luck, at least no one was hurt.

I wouldn't use the spacesaver :pac:.

Sitec

Your Wishbone or Track Rod or both are bent. Get it repaired asap. Not good conditions to be chancing anything.

jalopeen66

Sitec wrote: »

Your Wishbone or Track Rod or both are bent. Get it repaired asap. Not good conditions to be chancing anything.

Yes, I agree,it could well be your track rod.

Exact same thing happened to me before Christmas. I hit the curb travelling around the bend in my housing estate as I slid on the ice, doing about the same speed. It was dangerous of me to keep driving into town with my steering off and my car going to the right. Got it checked out - tracking was off and I had a big dent in the track rod. I was told NOT to drive as my tyres would wear extremely quickly and could easily just give up especially in these conditions.

It cost me 200 euro to get the track rod replaced.

Best of luck

DJ Hafez

Happened to me on Christmas Eve. Wishbone had to be replaced, New wheel + Tyre, Tracked... Expensive stuff

GreeBo

paulb06 wrote: »

What could be causing the car to veer to the right though? Could it just be the buckled d/s wheel thats causing it?

If the car is FWD then the passenger side has more traction than the now buckled drivers side, this will cause your car to skid turn, like a tank.

antodeco

DJ Hafez wrote: »

Happened to me on Christmas Eve. Wishbone had to be replaced, New wheel + Tyre, Tracked... Expensive stuff

I might be looking at the same. How much did it cost?

.Longshanks.

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Wondering if you could shed some light on this, I was going approx 15-20 mph while turning a corner in my estate and car started to slide sideways, nothing I could actually do but let the car slide...

I ended up hitting my front drivers side wheel off the curb and now the wheel is buckled and car is veering to the right pretty badly.......

This every nearly happened me on Wednesday. I was probably only going about 5mph so luckily I had time to straighten the wheels back up so i hit the kerb straight on and simply bounced up onto the empty footpath.

no1beemerfan

Hal1 wrote: »

I wouldn't use the spacesaver :pac:.

Do you ever watch the WRC when they are rallying in Finland / Norway etc?

Their wheels are no wider than spacesavers.

The narrower your tyre in these conditions the more control you have.

itarumaa

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Do you ever watch the WRC when they are rallying in Finland / Norway etc?

Their wheels are no wider than spacesavers.

The narrower your tyre in these conditions the more control you have.

Something like this:



I would advice not to use those tyres in public roads tough:)

Dancor

This happened to me last year. Get it checked out again. Make sure wisbone, steering rack and barrings are ok. Dont drive anywhere, get it towed.

A-Trak

Exact same thing happened to me yesterday morning. Clonked my passenger side rear wheel on the curb after gracefully skating round a kerb.

ASR gave up and car instantly threw up a "Total VDC Failure" before turning into a shopping trolley.

Car is with the mechanics at the minute but at the very least I'm looking at a new track rod, and I only had the wheels balanced and tracked on Monday:(

It'll be a bumper January for track rod manufacturers it would seem though:)

axer

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Wondering if you could shed some light on this, I was going approx 15-20 mph while turning a corner in my estate and car started to slide sideways, nothing I could actually do but let the car slide...

I ended up hitting my front drivers side wheel off the curb and now the wheel is buckled and car is veering to the right pretty badly.

Is it safe to drive at a low speed? It seems ok once I hold the wheel in place, Ive not money at the minute and need my car for work! I brought it to a garage and was told i needed a new wheel (obviously) and wheel bearing for it too. He put it on the ramp and had a good look, never mentioned any other problems with it. There are no strange noises coming from the wheel area etc. It's just veering to the right quite a bit.

Thanks!

Considering it was not safe to drive with a perfectly good car then driving a car that is pulling to the right will definitely not be safe.

Think its bad now wait til you car spins and hits another car or god forbid a pedestrian. How much will you be paying out for insurance then? not to mention the possible dangerous driving etc charges you will be hit with for driving a car that was unfit for the road.

The conditions are too bad for chancing your arm.

Either take out a loan and get your car fixed or travel by other means.