A few weeks ago I was driving in Skokie, one day after the last signficant snowfall, and I came upon an object in the road which looked like a soft pile of snow. My tire hit it and it sounded like the car exploded. What I thought was snow turned out to be a large block of ice. It must have fallen off of a snow plow or something. Nonetheless, the impact was so hard I could have swore something was damaged (axle, rim, etc). To my amazement nothing seemed wrong. The car drives straight and it seems like everything is fine. I looked closely and from the outside I cannot see any cracks or damage. It is hard to believe.

My question for the experts is:

Should I take to the dealership just to check it out? My concern is if I tell them what happened they will make up something that is wrong just to get my money.

 

If nothing is wrong, Id say not to take it in. It could of just kicked the ice up into the wheel well or somewhere on the car. Or hit your rim, but ice against metal most likely will just make noise. If you feel a thudding or pull, it might have bent a rim, but since you didn't no worries.

 

Thanks. I was more concerned with the shocks / struts etc because when the tire hit I could feel it get slammed up into the wheel well.

 

To close this out, I had the wheel and springs looked at last week. No damage, rim looks fine. Had the wheel rebalanced. All is good.