Had a little accident today

[JollyMG2]

Was driving down some back lanes earlier today and came to a part which was quite muddy at the side of the road with no definite curb (as with most back lanes), so I keeps as close to verge as possible incase of passing traffic, but disguised in the mud was a drain surrounded by raised curbstone (the only bl00dy part of the road that has a piece of curb!):banghead: which stuck out quite a bit from the rough verge, I was doing about 30mph and smack! straight over the highest point of the curb before I could see it with the passenger side :mad: thought it had done some real damage as it made quite a crash, got out and it had taken a chunk out of the rim but luckily had ot split it or popped the tyre and tyre had no chunks taken out either, steering seemed to be a bit iffy so I thought I'd get tracking checked at Kwik Fit, so I did and he said it was still ok even though I said it was wondering a bit, but he didn't charge me so that was one good thing but I'll get a second opinion at my usual tyre place as they weren't open today as I'm not happy with it, and also now it's making a "clonking" noise on the passenger side, could I have knackered the shocker as well?, checked it when up on the ramp at tyre place and nothing looked bent, any ideas?

BL00DY COUNTRY ROADS!!!! :banghead: :mad:

I should claim off the council for this!

Paul

[D87 SMW]

That's the longest sentence I have ever seen.

RE the "clunking" noise it may be the shock absorber, but as happened to dad's Astra, it could be the actual srping.

[JollyMG2]

lol, I can be known for my long sentences without breaks Steve, just forget to press the RTN key once I get going :rolleyes:

I'll get the wheel off when it ever stops raining and check it over properly, don't think the spring is snapped cos the car is still at the same even ride height and not sagging as I think maybe the case if it were snapped, but I suppose anything could have happened as it did take a fair crack, I'm sure it'll be ok for now but it'll want sorting as it seems to wallow about a bit more now on uneven ground, and the clonking will start to bug me after a bit :rolleyes:

[Alan the Vanner]

That sucks! You pay all that Road Tax and it still feels like you are driving across a ploughed field. I should know, Oxfordshire has the worst rural roads in the country (apparently).
How does the clonking occur? is it when you steer, or drive in a straight line?

[Jolly_MG_Maestro]

Cheers ATV, yeah it's clonking when going straight or round corners, worse when going over rough road though and the girlfriend has noticed it too today, steering's a bit lighter and wanders to the centre of the road when accelerating, straight at constant speed and wanders to the left on deceleration, sounds weird, deffo not what it used to do so summat not right :rolleyes: just hope it's not bent the chassis or owt cos it did hit the curb at a funny angle.

[Alan the Vanner]

Hmm, could be that either the steering arm or the anti-roll bar is bent. Otherwise, the clonking could mean the hub bearing has gone. It depends if the clonking increases with speed.

[E_T_V]

Could well have broken the shock inside.. Do the old bounce test on both sides and see if one is horribly bad, it is possibly to break them internally.

Also I'd check the anti roll bar (mounts particularly) as this might give the same problems as ATV said.

Glad you didn't do too much damage though. It may be worth approaching the council as depending on where it was and what condition they may be liable to give you a pay out. (I believe there should be a raising kerb and a dropping kerb each side of the full height one so that such things don't occur)

[Jolly_MG_Maestro]

I suppose there could be a number of reasons for it's clonking and wondering, speed seems to not be making any difference to the clonking as I found out a very minor hole at less than 5mph on a shop car park made it clonk just the once, I'm gonna get under it this weekend and have a good look and check everything that you all mentioned, like you say I might approach the council, although surrounding the drain was a raising and lowering curb either side of the drain, it is intruding the road a fair bit and disguised by the amount of mud surrounding it from the large verge and I couldn't have hit it any worse, I must have hit the highest point of the lowering curb which is at an angle, a few inches more to the verge and I would have gone straight over the straight curb piece and possibly got away with any damage, I might get some pics up if I can so you can all see how and where it happened :rolleyes:

Thanks for al your help ;)

[SimonR]

I would certainly approach the council and complain about the state of the road. I mananged to trash my raching bike by hitting a badly fitted manhole cover and they ended up buying my a new bike in the end! They have insurance for such matters anyway. You might want to do this before you get any work done to the car as well as they might want estimates. I had to get two for my bike.

If you want a replacement Maestro x-spoke alloy then I'll have three spare soon as I'm going to put 6Jx15s on F153. The old ones are not in pristine condition but I'd describe them as 'good/fair'.

SR.

[J199 HHG]

Check anti-roll bar mounting where it goes onto the wishbone. It's quite weak, and you may have snapped it. Drive the left wheel up a kerb and check it. If it has broken it'll be obvious.

Also check the balljoint hasn't come partially astray, and the track rod end.

[G Force]

Hi, it sounds like you have damaged the suspension in some way, I have come across quite a few bent front shock absorbers they seem to bend just above where the 2 bolts fasten them to the hub assembly, you do need to take off the wheel to have a good look though.

Besides the other suggestions I would also check the lower wishbone bushes are not damaged or loose.

Cheers Gary:)

[Jolly_MG_Maestro]

Cheers F153, I have just on your advice sent a complaint via the local council website regarding the road and the damage so I'll wait to see if they contact me now.

J199 & G Force, cheers for the advices, the more things I can check the better, although before I go replacing anything I'll wait for the council's response to see if I can get a claim.

Paul ;)

[Jolly_MG_Maestro]

Had a reply from a chap at the council, he says I need to now write a letter to the area highways dept, and would be a good idea to send estimates for the damage, so I'm off to the Rover dealer and a few other garages tomorrow to see how much this could cost, so with a knackered front wheel and damaged suspension, the car could possibly turn out to be an uneconomical repair :(

[E_T_V]

I may be wrong but if they admit liability you can have it repaired even if it is uneconomical to do so.. either that or take their offer of cash for the car but insist you keep the car too and repair it yourself.

[JollyMG2]

Took the car to the Rover dealer last Sat to get an idea of the damage cost, I told the chap what had happened and he said that it needs an "Optiflex" check to check all the steering and suspension components to see if any are out of shape, I said ok, he then told me how much it was, £55 - £60 PER HOUR!!!!! :eek: I nearly fell over lol and thats before they have quoted and changed any parts, I was't prepared to pay this out of my own pocket there and then so I came away with no estimate, am still going to write to the council as I'm still with a damaged car. :banghead: