Technical Nudged kerb whilst driving..

[jambo4]

Hey,

Just looking for some general advice here. Owing to some bad driving by a Mercedes driver, I ended up very slightly clipping the kerb at around 30ish mph before (literally a nudge owing to going too far to the left).

I expected the damage to be much worse than it appears to the naked eye - slight scoring of wheel trim. To my ear it sounded like a crunch, passenger says not (described it as 'not much, like something blunt').

It drives fine as far as I can tell. Runs straight, brakes straight, nothing unusual with the suspension. So far no unusual feel in the steering.

What else should I check for? Is it likely to have caused underlying damage?

Thanks



(05' Stilo, 3 door, 1.4L)

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Should be ok, christ you ought to see the stick my Stilo gets, I don't clout curbs, but was doing 35ish down a farm track this evening with no issues. They're tough old girls!

 

[Yellow Peril]

The only thing it might have done is knocked your tracking out. As Stilos are suceptible to uneven front tyre wear at the best of times, a four wheel alignment check might be in order...

 

[Argonought]

Best guide is the position of the steering wheel.

If it was dead level before and it still it, and you're not aware of any greater pull to the left/right then it's unlikely you've done any significant damage.

 

[jim cooper]

Get it tracked straight away. This happened to me and my left front tyre nearly wore its inside edge off in a couple of thousand miles. I couldn't tell anything was wrong from the steering wheel position or its striaght line stability.

 

[jambo4]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I have a 200 mile trip tomorrow (and again on Sunday) so I'll keep a careful eye on it (particularly the tyre wear). I might try and take it in for alignment on Saturday, if they can do it quickly. From what everyone is saying it sounds like it it likely to only be an alignment issue then? Hope so, can only just about afford to get it aligned! :bang:

How much did yours cost Jim?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I have a 200 mile trip tomorrow (and again on Sunday) so I'll keep a careful eye on it (particularly the tyre wear). I might try and take it in for alignment on Saturday, if they can do it quickly. From what everyone is saying it sounds like it it likely to only be an alignment issue then? Hope so, can only just about afford to get it aligned! :bang:

How much did yours cost Jim?

Normally free to check and any more than £30 to sort it and they're taking the mick

 

[Argonought]

From what everyone is saying it sounds like it it likely to only be an alignment issue then?

Not strictly true.

As said, if steering wheel is now off centre then something is damaged (nuts don't unscrew themselves). A realignment simply corrects the (minor) damage.

Some places only charge £13 or so for a full 4 wheel check so probably worth it for piece of mind

 

[jambo4]

Not strictly true.

As said, if steering wheel is now off centre then something is damaged (nuts don't unscrew themselves). A realignment simply corrects the (minor) damage.

Some places only charge £13 or so for a full 4 wheel check so probably worth it for piece of mind

The steering wheel doesn't appear to be noticeably off centre. I can't be 100% sure though, the steering wheel dashboard mount is at an odd angle in the Stilo so I'm finding it hard to judge. Certainly I wouldn't say it was noticeably different from beforehand, but I really did think I'd have done more obvious damage than there seems to be. I can't even really tell where on the wheel trim it hit today, nor can I see tyre damage..... Perhaps the fact that it was a left turn and so my wheels were already angled in that direction? Might be more forgiving than a straight sideways hit...

And wow, that's cheap. I think round here it seems to be more like £30 - 40+, but I'll try and get the price down. Do you think they would check for the kind of damage you mentioned inclusive of that price?

Thanks again everyone for the help. Seems like the Stilo is a rather tough little car.

 

[Argonought]

protyre.co.uk are indeed well priced but remember that price is only for checking (fixing it costs more).

I'm sure they'd be happy to point out any damage to your Stilo - after all that's how they make money