Had an incident with a parking pole in a tight parking garage last night.
As i was pulling out of a small spot my front driver side wheel which was fully turned to the right smacked a concrete parking pole pretty hard.

I got out and looked for damage and didn't see any to the body, so im guessing the wheel took the brunt of the force.

Long story short i drove off thinking nothing had happened since these TCs' are tanks and i get on the road and immediately feel my steering is much less responsive and my steering wheel is wanting to tilt about 30 degrees to the left.

When i get the car up to 30mph I lose most of my traction and the tires just scream (loudly) down the road. The car gets less controllable as my speed increases and any flaws in the road are now felt x10.


Today I pulled the front wheels off and looked for any obvious control arm/tie-rod end damage and didn't see any.

I know this is very specific, but if anyone has had a similar experience or any ideas and wants to chime in i would appreciate it. This is the last stop for me before i drop it off at a local mechanic.

Stabilizer bar?
Bent axle?

TIA

 

Sounds like your alignment's way off. look for bent control arms and/or a tierod. Though unlikely you may have effed you steering rack. There may also be play in your ball joint and tie rod end but those shouldn't cause your problem. The bearing may also be a problem.

Fix what's obviously broken, get an alignment, and if you still have problems take it to a mechanic. there really is a lot that can be broken.

 

its ur alignment is off due to the pole hit. The toe mighy just b off on that side, i c it alot at work

 

thanks im taking it to a local cheap repair/alignment shop to get confirmation. Im in San diego too by state. Are you a tech?

 

I have the same problem.. My tC has had 2 front in collisions. and I barely get on it now and I smoke the tires and Also same im doing 70mph OMG you can fill every thing. The whole car is shaking steering wheel and all.. So I guess I have a alignment off.

 

A few (more like 6) years ago my mom ate a curb with her corolla and popped a tire. We also started to feel a vibration at speed and the alignment was off. After several attempts sears was not able to do the alignment(they said the did it every time but the car still pulled left) we gave up. We finally went to a reputable shop to do the alignment and they said that they can't do the alignment because there is play in the left inner tie rod end causing the wheel to wobble. After replacing the tie rod end all our problems went away.

Moral of the story: go to a good shop, and there may be stuff wrong that doesn't show itself instantly.

 

Bent lower control arm and screwed up the toe alignment

$200 later its fixed.