Have I buckled wheel?

Question

whilst driving tonight, I hit a kerb (the side of the road) I glanced off it more than head on.....At first the car seemed to drive ok however later the steering juddered badly above 45 miles per hour....I can't see anything to the naked eye, however Im not sure what I am looking at... I drove the car over 25 miles home and it was ok when I went below 45mph..... I plan to take it to tyre wheel aligner tomorrow rather than garage, simply because Im not sure of any garages around here.

Answer 1

make sure and tell them what you did so they know to inspect the wheel, they can break :(

Answer 2

You could have done any number of things. You could have bent a wheel, broke a wheel, bent a spindle, damage any part of the suspension or even damaged the steering mechanism.

Be sure you get a thorough inspection and drive the car to a point well above 45 MPH as soon as you get it back after the alignment. In fact ask the mechanic to test drive it after the alignment. This could be as simple as knocking something out of alignment to as serious as a fatal accident waiting to happen.

Get it fixed and soon. Your car could be VERY dangerous to operate.

Answer 3

I would bet that you have separated the cord on the tire. The faster you go, the more the tire expands. If you have a small separation it might not be easy to see, but when you get a little speed up the centrifugal force will make it expand making your tired be out of round.

Or you may have knocked one of the balancing weights off.

Answer 4

You may have bent the wheel, strut, knuckle, tie rod or control arms. Have all of them and the alignment checked and the wheel balanced.

Answer 5

You're looking at the wrong part. It's not the wheel, it's the tie rod.