Around 12:40 today, while going downhill in Heavy rain at 30mph a white van pulled out in front & stopped in the middle of the road in front of me.
I managed to stop after skidding down hill for a while, around 2-3m between me & van in the end.

Brakes seemed fine, tryes seem fine but steering seems to have twisted.
The car went stight to start with (during braking) but then suddenly wheels when right and car went left but steering wheel remained in the same place. now the sterring wheel isn't matching up with the wheels

Can't afford any repairs and the van p*ssed off

Anyways doesn't anyone know how bad the damage is likely to be? i know it's differcult without seeing the car but im looking for Genuine advice from someone who knows that their talking about

Safe to drive on motorway? any checks i will need to do more often now?
Cheers

oh yeah.
1997 mk1 55 s 1.1L
No power steering or abs etc
Basic un-modified car

Well personally i wouldnt drive it until you know either how to fix it and have done, or that a certified mechanic says that it is safe to drive imo
Do you mean that when the steering wheel is straight that the wheels are off to one side?

If the wheels went into any undulation in the road surface while the brakes were hard on, you would have had very little suspension movement left and the resulting shock (which would have been absorbed by the spring) would have transferred into the suspension.

You probably deranged your tracking.. (same as when your bike handlebars were pointing in a different direction to the front wheel, when you were a kid).. so you just need someone to re-align it.

Most tyre places can also adjust the tracking.. about £30?

Really don't just remove the steering wheel and attach it again in the "straight ahead" position.. and do not listen to anything else that anyone who suggests that, tells you..

Check the tracking whenever you think it's out (the steering "pulls" in one direction or another over bumps etc.) and whenever you change the front tyres, since dodgy tracking will wear your tyres out unevenly (you get a bald shoulder), put pressure on the steering components (since one wheel is pointing in a different direction to the other) and likely make the car difficult to steer next time you jam the brakes on..


Ralf S.

a suspension fault - front right shock blowing up leaving a light oil on road & driveway happerned just last week so that might have been the cause?

Anyways, drove it again today. it feels a little odd but it feels safe still. im only likely to be doing 80 miles next week any way - motorway driving - no breakdown cover, so fingers crossed

Damn insurance costing so much i can't offord anything else

The steering should not fall apart under heavy braking so TBH the car is probably not safe. Wet roads would reduce the forces involved (less grip) so this makes the car even more dodgy to use.

Get cheap breakdown cover and a crash hat, but at the very least get under the car and check it out.

MadMan0 said:

a suspension fault - front right shock blowing up leaving a light oil on road & driveway happerned just last week so that might have been the cause?

Anyways, drove it again today. it feels a little odd but it feels safe still. im only likely to be doing 80 miles next week any way - motorway driving - no breakdown cover, so fingers crossed

Damn insurance costing so much i can't offord anything else

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If the wheels don't line up with the steering wheel, then your tracking is "out". If one of your dampers had previously failed, then (apart from you should have replaced it) that could have contributed to the heavy bottoming out which led to the tracking being knocked "out".

You really should not drive the car with a shot damper, since you need its damping to keep the wheel on the ground (handy for steering and also braking efficiency). An undamped wheel takes longer to stop... your car will tend to skew left or right when you brake.

If you drive with the tracking out, then you will be putting pressure on the steering rack (not an immediate problem) and the tyres, since they'll be pointing in slightly different directions probably, and so one of them will be travelling slightly sideways. You'll wear the tyre shoulder (not an immediate problem) but also generate heat in the tyre, especially at sustained high speed (motorway).

Dude, get the beast fixed.. but in the meantime make sure that the tyres are pumped up and keep your speed down...

Ralf S.

cheers for advice
I'll get it, it's major (overdue) sevice & fix the car when i get the money

Breakdown cover seems to be £29 cheepest... i simply down have this money yet, should get some in a few days. (Dont really know why im driving to be honest paying for everything means i've no money for when things go wrong )

Know any easy fixes for the car being a bit low at front?

The suspension suddenly went out of line under heavy braking but it seems there was no impact involved, so its highly likely there is something seriously wrong going on.

At the least get under and check it out. That's free at least. If you must drive £29 is a tiny fraction of what recovery will cost if the steering breaks while out on the road. Not to mention the risk of injury to self and others while out on the road. Hopefully its insured.

Preachy maybe, but saving money is not always about avoiding spending any money.

And - the car has already given a strong hint that its not happy in the steering department