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Checks after a crash
dnmalc - 28/11/10 at 10:52 PM

My daughter has slid her starlet off a corner due to mud left by a happy farmer and impacted the rear wheel and wing with a large post. I have manged to beat the wing into something that resembles the original form but I want to check to establish there is not more serious damage. I have checked the inner wings and suspension mounts for any rippling of the metal and all looks good and I was planning tomorrow to check the rear camber and have all four wheels tracked. My question is should I have anything else checked?

mookaloid - 28/11/10 at 11:40 PM

sounds about right

stevebubs - 28/11/10 at 11:44 PM

wheel balance...

daviep - 28/11/10 at 11:54 PM

Drive it and see if it feels alright, follow somebody else driving it and see if it drives straight or crabs.

Davie

RazMan - 29/11/10 at 12:27 AM

4 wheel alignment will show up any damage straight away

GMPMotorsport - 29/11/10 at 09:50 AM

4 Wheel alignment is the best thing for checking that all is ok, but would do wheel balance on that wheel in case it's buckled a bit.

nludkin - 29/11/10 at 01:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dnmalc
My daughter has slid her starlet off a corner due to mud left by a happy farmer


Was there signage up to warn of the mud? I vaguely remember a radio debate a while back where it was saying that farmers can be held accountable for accidents if they don't make an effort to warn drivers?

Ninehigh - 29/11/10 at 05:38 PM

It's illegal to deposit mud onto the road

From my HGV theory test

SteveWalker - 29/11/10 at 07:31 PM

My car was once rear-ended while stationary at a zebra crossing - as if that wasn't enough to make it clear whose fault it was, the driver admitted it in writing Anyway, the point was that the car had to have bodywork repairs done (and they were done well), but within weeks, both the exhaust and a fuel line failed - they were corroded, but I'm pretty sure that the impact accelerated failure markedly.

PSpirine - 29/11/10 at 07:42 PM

I've slid my car into a grass verge/mud bank at about 50mph (thanks ice patch on an otherwise gritted road!)

I got a 1" crack on the bottom of the bumper and that wheel got knocked out of balance (I think one of the weights got knocked off). You can usually tell if it's something serious as there will be a noticeable wobble or pull.

4 wheel alignment will definitely sort it out.

I'd say at the rear an impact is more obvious (you can see whether any of the beam mounts have bent etc.). On the front you often get a very slight bend in the tie-rod or wishbone and you can't see it until you do tracking/alignment.