My drunk friend hit divider at 45mph and now his wheel shakes. What could be broken?

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May 22, 2005 | 02:58 AM

Jimbo2828

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From: California

My drunk friend hit divider at 45mph and now his wheel shakes. What could be broken?

my friends just went over the center divider and cracked a piece of his rim offf. he hit that like 45mph . i wasnt ther though but thats what he told me. plus he was a littel buzzed but any ways my other call me to go and drive for him after putting on the spare. the car felt weird. the steering wheel shakes a lot .and the brakes are making a weird sound also. can it be that the control arm be bent or something is really ****ed up with the steering????

May 22, 2005 | 04:32 AM

Inabj2

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From: Arizona

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo2828

Why dont you look under the car for the obvious? If the control and steering arms do not appear to be bent... then get an aligment. But im betting something steering related is wrong.

Also brake discs could be warped, take a look at them to see if there are any obvious signs for anything on the caliper or pads sticking to the rotors.... It could even be debris from wheels or broken parts sticking there. Start looking for obvious signs first.

And last smack your friend really hard for deciding that its ok to drive drunk. I hope he learns his lesson. He should be ashamed of himself and glad that he didnt hurt anyone else except his car.

May 22, 2005 | 07:31 AM

GS300Rich

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From: Florida

At least he didnt kill someone. Maybe there will be a lot of damage and he will learn not to drive drunk.

Definately look under the car for it is probably something obvious that is causing the problem

May 22, 2005 | 01:41 PM

mmarshall

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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inabj2

And last smack your friend really hard for deciding that its ok to drive drunk.

He should be ashamed of himself and glad that he didnt hurt anyone else except his car.

I agree with this one....BIG TIME. Kick the biggest boot you own right up the back of his pants.

If he cracked off a piece of an alloy (as you say), that could explain at least part of the shimmy...the wheel is probably out of balance. But....FAR more dangerous........a cracked alloy wheel can fail at any moment...and in most cases it cannot be repaired like a regular steel wheel. REPLACE it ASAP.

Last edited by mmarshall; May 22, 2005 at 01:48 PM.

May 25, 2005 | 12:46 PM

Jimbo2828

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From: California

well i looked at the car today but the control arm dont look bent. what else can it be that the steering shakes so much while drive????

May 25, 2005 | 03:14 PM

mmarshall

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From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs

Have the tires taken off and inspected inside as well as outside...by a competent tire shop. Tires can have belt damage from impacts or other problems inside that cannot be seen or readily detected from outside. Belt damage will often make the steering wheel shake when no other apparant or visible damage does.

May 26, 2005 | 01:47 AM

babyGS3

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From: SF, CA

45mph!!! gosh.. I hit my GS at 25mph on a center divide... the rim broke... and the tire was pushed into the cabin!
ur friend's car...I'm sure the alignment is off. Misalignment can cause shake and shimmy... there's a lot of things that can be wrong esp if it was the front end that was hit. look at the car from its side profile... check to see if the front wheel was not pushed back a bit... even if the control arms weren't bent, the subchassis could have been bent and the wheel is sitting too far back from where it is supposed to be. gonna cost a lot of money! my car cost around 8,000 to fix. good luck..