[ThatHideousStrength]

I was driving and hit some ice and slowly hit boxed curb. Do you think I fucked up my wheel and alignment? It's the front passenger side.

I looked at it and it didn't seem bent. Just scraped the steel part of the wheel.

[bigwill51534]

Does the car drive any different? That is usually the easiest way to tell damage to the alignment. Also, the steering wheel will generally sit off to one side or the other.

If you hit it hard at all, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have it aligned again. It only costs $75, and will ensure proper tire wear. Even a vehicle with normal wear and tear becomes misaligned over time. It's just a safety measure, to prevent having to replace them sooner than needed (due to uneven tire wear).

~Will Courtier~

[ThatHideousStrength]

It drove fine @ 20 MPH but there's snow everywhere so I can't tell. I'll see when it clears up on the streets.

[Juballharshaw]

How fast were you going when you slid into the curb?

[ThatHideousStrength]

10 - 15 miles per hour.

[Juballharshaw]

Eh, it should be fine. When the roads clear, get it up to highway speeds and see if the car pulls or rattles differently than usual. If so, have your alignment done.

[MSP]

I did that a few years ago in my Protege. I think it was $300-400 in repairs.

[-=Lurker=-]

I tried to spin my rear end through a corner once. Well the tires never broke loose and I want about 30 into the curb. Broke the lower control arm (aluminum).

[Dustin]

Only way to know is to get it up on an alignment rack.

Hope you learned your lesson!

[nidex]

I was e-brake sliding in the snow a little bit ago and I didn't see the curb

[MSP]

E-braking is fun as shit. I don't dare try it in the CR-V though.

[ThatHideousStrength]

I was driving about 30 MPH and it kind of pulled right but then going 50 it seemed fine? The roads are shitty so I can't tell

I'm just gonna have my dad drive it this weekend and see.

[mechi]

even if you have an alignment issue its so small that it shouldn't bother you and defenitly wont effect your tires so your in the clear as long as there is no body damadge.

[Juballharshaw]

Originally Posted by mechi

even if you have an alignment issue its so small that it shouldn't bother you and defenitly wont effect your tires so your in the clear as long as there is no body damadge.

Uh, any misalignment can cause uneven wear on the tires.

Originally Posted by ThatHideousStrength

I was driving about 30 MPH and it kind of pulled right but then going 50 it seemed fine? The roads are shitty so I can't tell

I'm just gonna have my dad drive it this weekend and see.

Did you try going 30 on another road to see if would pull the same?

Originally Posted by MSP

E-braking is fun as shit. I don't dare try it in the CR-V though.

Ha, the CR-V's small enough that you should be able to do a low speed e-brake maneuver. Hell, I unintentionally spun my Passport a couple winters ago and the thing didn't flip.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by mechi

even if you have an alignment issue its so small that it shouldn't bother you and defenitly wont effect your tires so your in the clear as long as there is no body damadge.

WRONG.

[mechi]

ok the tire wear is so minimal that its not worth the alignment unless you get one for like $50 out around here an alignment is a good 100+ so no reason on doing it if the its not to bad.

Is bigred.

Permabanned again for smurfing. -Juball

[Zenjiro]

Allignments run about 40-50 out here in sticks provided they don't need to replace any parts.
Simple way to look at it: a minor difference isn't normally that big of a deal, might cause the vehicle to track a little wierd. (Expect up to a 25% increase in tire wear)
If the alignment is to far out its normally pretty easy to tell. However, I have seen cars that drove and looked fine that would chew threw (see this allot when cars chop the rear tires really badly) tires in under 5k miles because the alignment was off.

Since it seems like every 3 months there is a 3-5% increase in the price of tires from the manufacturer and in turn your prices are going up just as, if not faster than your dealers. My suggestion is take a look at how much 2 new tires cost versus a 40-100$ alignment. I think you will find its far cheaper to get the alignment even if you don't need it then run the risk of having to buy a couple new tires and have it alligned in a few months.

My story: Icy roads, me out fucking around (driving a 2000 Impala 9c1 at the time), managed to slide the rear end hard enough to bend the rear sway bar (7/8" high carbon steel rod, it was kind of impressive). Used a sledge to put it back in shape (mostly straight), 50$ allignment and she drove better than ever.

[ThatHideousStrength]

Just a FYI, my car is fine!

[-=Lurker=-]

^LOL.

Alignments are a big factor in tire wear. If the front wheels are out of camber that's one thing but if out of toe, that affects the tracking of the font wheels and rear wheels also. Tires arent cheap.

In your case I'd suggest you put it on the rack and do a 2 wheel alignment (cheaper) since the rear didn't seem to come into play.

"even if you have an alignment issue its so small that it shouldn't bother you and defenitly wont effect your tires so your in the clear as long as there is no body damadge.

This is not necessarily true. A slight tweak in the SAI and your handling will be off. If your SAI varies from wheel to wheel you will definitely have handling issues (usually do to bent parts). Parts may not be broken at this speed usually with steel parts, they bend throwing off the geometry.

[nidex]

Originally Posted by mechi

even if you have an alignment issue its so small that it shouldn't bother you and defenitly wont effect your tires so your in the clear as long as there is no body damadge.

Just curious, how many times have you used an alignment rack?