F@CK!! Hit a curb and bent rim - how bad is the damage (pics included)?

[Atomini]

Just want to note that i've had bent rims before from hitting curbs but not as bad as this.

So i'm on the way home from a workout at the gym when about 2 minutes from my house this asshole (probably drunk too) pushes into my lane for no reason at all, and he would've hit me if I hadn't decided to make a split-second decision to make a left turn onto a street at that moment to get out of his way. Because I made the turn so fast, it was a pretty sharp turn. With the temperature dropping at this time of year, my all-seasons aren't faring so well and I ended up getting into a typical front wheel drive understeer slide going forward, unable to turn to the direction I want to go (left). I tried to downshift in an attempt to slow down with something other than the service brakes and that didn't cut it, and it was too late to pull the E-brake to try to get my rear end to swing out so that at least the front end wouldn't be aimed towards the curb. Bang! Into the curb, and the front right end of my car is sitting on the curb at this point.

So I get the car back on the road, get out to do a walk-around inspection. Everything looks fine, but the wheel is visibly bent, but not so bad. I try to drive off, and it feels like the front right end of my car is driving over a speedbump after every rotation (causing wobbling in the steering wheel). At higher speeds, this turns more into a vibration through the steering wheel. I was thinking of calling a tow truck but I was so close to home (literally a minute and a half drive away) that I decided to just drive home. Some things to note:

- There is no pulling of the vehicle or steering wheel to any one side when driving in a straight line, everything seems fine in terms of alignment from what I could tell driving home.
- There is a rubbing noise associated with the wobbling and 'speedbump' feeling I described earlier.
- At some points during the rotation of the wheel, I need to give a bit more gas than usual to get the thing moving (seems to be at those 'rubbing' points I described). This happens at slower speeds, of course.

Going to take it in to the shop tomorrow, but here's some pictures:

[Atomini]

I hate front wheel drive. I'd rather have oversteer than understeer issues in a slide.

[gixxerboy1]

Id be surprised if nothing else is bent. U will be lucky if its just the rim.
I learned this lesson before. I let rhe other person hit me

[SportbikerKid]

I have a friend who totaled a car like this. Hope you have better luck then he did!

[Shol'va]

With any luck at all you will slide by with just an alignment and a new tire and wheel.

[Atomini]

I've had this happen before and all I needed was a new rim, not even an alignment. This one was worse, but not that much worse.

Know what else sucks? Almost all shops are closed on Sunday tomorrow... GOD DAMNIT!

[BlueWaffle21]

Get a rim and you're good to go! Craigslist FTW

[MickeyKnox]

Worst case scenario is your rotor is bent and that's what is rubbing on the calipers when the wheel is rotating.

Those steel rims are cheap (inexpensive). Easy to find another.

[FONZY007]

I hate front wheel drive. I'd rather have oversteer than understeer issues in a slide.

Done the same before change out the steelie rim and you should be fine, you might need a wheel alignment

Just seen you where giving this info, go to a used tire shop and get a tire and rim for like 40-50 buckskins go from there

[DSM4Life]

That's like a 40 dollar rim. Lol. Your good.

[Soar]

My roommate curb rashed a full 1/4 on one of my 20's... Thought I was gonna make him eat my tire.

[Fllifter]

That's like a 40 dollar rim. Lol. Your good.

I thought they were 22s you don't have a spare to throw on there atomini ?

[Times Roman]

............and the moral of the story is FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK!! =)

[Atomini]

Worst case scenario is your rotor is bent and that's what is rubbing on the calipers when the wheel is rotating.

Those steel rims are cheap (inexpensive). Easy to find another.

Yeah nothing else in the pictures looks busted. Seems like it's the rim that took most, if not all of the damage.

I thought they were 22s you don't have a spare to throw on there atomini ?

Funny thing is winter is here and the snow will be coming soon... I was going to switch my all-seasons off for my winter tires (they all already have rims in them, I just need to throw them on), but I was going to wait until the first major snowfall. Maybe I should just get it done now lol.

I still want to take it in to the shop to get it looked at just to make sure nothing else got damaged. Hopefully its just the rim. Problem is auto shops are never open on Sunday, so i'll have to wait until Monday to take it in. I wonder if I should get it towed over, despite the mechanic being just around the corner... I don't want anything to worsen.

[lovbyts]

That's like a 40 dollar rim. Lol. Your good.

$40 new maybe. lol I would not pay more than $20 on CL but you can probably find one for $10.

The rest looks fine, no damage to underside and at worst yeah you knocked your alignment out so it may need re done.

Drive to the shop but take it slow. You made it home so more than likely it will be fine.

[Bonaparte]

I'll be honest: when I heard you talking about "bending a rim" and then saw you had stock steel wheels, I thought you were joking.

[MickeyKnox]

C'mon up to where i live, i have a coupon for a free alignment and oil change. Its worth 120$ - you can have it

[banehallow]

man! I would've just let the car hit me and let him pay damages. This is just too much hassle, esp here, you really need wheels to go anywhere. Hope its nothing serious and just replacing the rims. rim like that cost around $30.

[lovbyts]

C'mon up to where i live, i have a coupon for a free alignment and oil change. Its worth 120$ - you can have it

Speaking of alignments; If you ever buy a car you are sure you are going to keep for quite a while and drive a fair amount it's a good idea to buy a lifetime alignment. I bought one for my 3000GT VR4 in 1994 for $99 and I can get it re aligned anytime I want for free. I have had it done at least 6x so it paid for itself many times over.

[Bryan2]

Dont skip out on the alignment you deff need one.

Doesn't look like there is any suspension damage but replace the rim and have it aligned and you should be good. The very worst is the lower control arm is bent but it looks fine from the pics. You need new tires anyway from the pics your tread is pretty much gone.

[Atomini]

I'll be honest: when I heard you talking about "bending a rim" and then saw you had stock steel wheels, I thought you were joking.

Hahah those steel rims can take a beating! Imagine if they were aluminum rims!

C'mon up to where i live, i have a coupon for a free alignment and oil change. Its worth 120$ - you can have it

Sure, i'll just drive 200km on up to where you live with a crippled car wobbling up the highway before I have the rim changed lol. By the time I get there that coupon won't cover half the repairs the car will need lol.

[>Good Luck<]

Eh bro... Just throw on a spare tire or your summer tire and see how it feels. Drive that to the shop or "Canadian tire" for us canadians and grab a new rim if it drives fine. If you feel a pull while your driving, there is damage that requires more than an allignment. If you need one, there is damage and parts MUST be replaced. The ONLY time you should need an alignment is after front end work.

I had a similar situation which actually wrote off my car and it looked fine. The frame had hairline cracks and was nolonger safe

[warmouth]

lol! Atomini, are you driving around on the spare?

[Far from massive]

Whats up Atomi, used to be a mechanic about a hundred years ago LOL

Anyway in regard to your saying you have to give it a little more gas at one point to get it moving. Is the wheel itself hitting the outside of the brake caliper or caliper mounting? In one of the pictures it looks like I can see a little scrape ( brown mark ) in the inside of the wheel...this could be rust from the caliper.

If so this would be great since its a lot cheaper than the rotor causing the problem. Since this would usually indicate damage to the hub assembly causing the rotor to run out of line or be bent, its unusual to just bend a rotor by itself.

Thank god for steel wheels, they often bend easily without fracture or damaging other components, aluminum due to less ability to deform without fracture needs to be built stronger so other parts are often involved.

By the way if you don't have a spare just rotate the bad tire to the back and the rear tire forward this will allow you to see if the problems resolve and make the drive to the shop less aggravating.

[JD250]

No worries, it'll buff out.

[Atomini]

Jeez, it never occurred to me to throw the spare on and drive to the shop with that! I'm going to do that tomorrow. In fact, I should've thrown the spare on right after the whole ordeal happened, it would've saved my car wear and tear on the way home...

[Fllifter]

Jeez, it never occurred to me to throw the spare on and drive to the shop with that! I'm going to do that tomorrow. In fact, I should've thrown the spare on right after the whole ordeal happened, it would've saved my car wear and tear on the way home...

That's what I was saying ! Haha

[Far from massive]

Jeez, it never occurred to me to throw the spare on and drive to the shop with that! I'm going to do that tomorrow. In fact, I should've thrown the spare on right after the whole ordeal happened, it would've saved my car wear and tear on the way home...

Thats alright Atomini, you are far too important to have you thinking about shit like that, we need you to continue to keep your entire focus on the well thought out threads you post!!!!

[Noles12]

Hydroplaned once and smacked a curb hard. Drove off not thinking much of it because there was no visible damage. The next day I noticed my alignment was off so I take it in. I had completely folded up the rear stabilizer bar as well as a few other things. Ended up being a couple hundred in damages. I would say to get it checked out before assuming its just the rim

[Atomini]

So I threw the spare on today and drove over to the mechanic. Steering and alignment are absolutely fine, car drives like normal. When I took the tire with the bent rim off, I could see no damage anywhere else. Looks like I got out of this one with minimal damage. Ordered the new rim, and the guy told me it should be in later today.

$60 for the rim.
$15 for balancing and mounting.

Not bad.

[< <Samson> >]

You need 26"s brotha. . . . You can't roll deep on steelies.

I cracked my 20"s at least 4x. I just seen my bud's Tahoe again. He's got 26's, he has a chip on one about the size of my head.


Steelies, lol

[Atomini]

You need 26"s brotha. . . . You can't roll deep on steelies.

I cracked my 20"s at least 4x. I just seen my bud's Tahoe again. He's got 26's, he has a chip on one about the size of my head.


Steelies, lol

Hahah I WISH I could put 26"s on my car!

On second thought, the alignment does seem ever so slightly off. Taking it in to get realigned tomorrow.

[MickeyKnox]

So I threw the spare on today and drove over to the mechanic. Steering and alignment are absolutely fine, car drives like normal. When I took the tire with the bent rim off, I could see no damage anywhere else. Looks like I got out of this one with minimal damage. Ordered the new rim, and the guy told me it should be in later today.

$60 for the rim.
$15 for balancing and mounting.

Not bad.

Im glad this turned out ok and inexpensive bro.

[Atomini]

Just got the car realigned. Here's a scan of the data:

[reiss c]

Now this is a thread I can relate to.

Nothin but trouble at min with my 19s 4 crack 3 in 1 rim 1 in another so annoying!!!!!!!

[< <Samson> >]

What kind of car is this steelie on? I say Camry. . .

[Atomini]

2003 Corolla.

[< <Samson> >]

So close. . . . Damn I'm good.

[AdrenalineJunkie]

Dang when this happened to me it tweeked my axle plus the rash to the wheel. $75 id say you definitely got lucky.

[Knockout_Power]

Too bad you're not around Edmonton. I have tons of wheels for Japanese cars. Think theres still 20+ sets in storage.

I purposely bought a beater for this winter cause I was sick of fixing rims after avoiding someone else doing something dumb. This year, I will let them hurt their insurance.