Ok so first time post long time NAM member well not that long. Ok sometime in August it had rained pretty bad and i was driving down the road and there was this puddle that i just drove through and i ended up loosing control and hitting a curb that had broken off and it was pointing towards the road..anyways when i hit it, it semi bent my rim and deflated my tire (i changed to my spare in about 6min my personal best ) anyways i got that fixed, it just took a few beatings from a hammer to reshape the rim and to keep the tire inflated. A few days later i was doing my usual walk around the car and i noticed somethind different about my RF tire it was a little scooted back than my LF, theres nothing you could tell just by driving my car i.e no noise, no pull, no crooked steering wheel, ext. And right now im just brushing it off since theres nothing bent or anything i've seen different from LF side..but i've been looking to get new rims and tires and that keeps popping up in my head so im just wondering, is this just a simple front end alignment?

 

Looks like you bent something. Get it to a shop & have the suspension checked for damage. Replace what you bent & then align.

 

should i fear the worst?

 

Suspension is pretty weak compaired to the frame, so, if something is bent, it is a part that is probably easy to replace. That bend absorbed a lot of impact and saved everything in the car (and you) from more serious injury. So, it isn't really the worst thing that can happen. Also, the repair should be straight forward unlike many other issues. Once replaced, it will be 100% again.

 

You can expect each of the following to be bad.

strut
strut guide support
control arm
control arm bushing
inner ball joint
outer ball joint
steering knuckle
wheel bearing
stabilizer bar
stabilizer bar endlink
And possibly the sub-frame.

I'm surprised there is no pull or crooked steering wheel. I had a similar accident in snow on the front left 6 years ago. The wheel had to be turned 20º to the left to go straight. Everything listed above had to be replaced except the stabilizer bar and the sub-frame. My wheel was visually not as bent back as yours. But hey, my car is fine now and there is no trace of the damage.

 

I'd guess at least the lower control arm & possibly a tie rod. Until it gets lifted & looked at by a competent mechanic it really is just guessing on our part.

I wish you all the best.

 

@nabeshin that sounds like it'll cost me an arm and a leg but with time i'll get it fixed if its that much but for now i'll just take it to my mechanic to see what he has to say

 

LMAO WoW ..... and No. I guess if you are involving insurance and screw them over...


The control arm is designed to give in an incident, so that is most likely was has been bent out of shape. Rock auto.com sell them in the neighborhood of $100 for each side. Swapping the one out wouldnt take hardly anytime at all even if you are semi handy with hand tools.