I crashed into a pillar...

[Rob.Vegan]

Leaving dinner with a couple friends I was parked in a parking garage with no cars near me (besides my friends camaro).

Well I look behind me and hit the gas...

CRASH ! ! !

I swore i heard glass shatter and fenders buckle. I didnt see a car behind me (as thats where i was looking) so I didn't know what happened. I look ahead and i'm crooked so I look to the side and my driver side fender is against this huge yellow pillar.

I pull forward and only see a dent in the fender. We decide to drive up to the spot down the street where we hang out so i get back in and start leaving.I get to the end of the structure and realize something is wrong...

I get outside and check my wheel again to make sure it's not flat, and my alignment is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO off I start panicking...

I get to the structure that we were all planning on meeting and with my wheels straight my steering wheel is almost upside down. My friends and I have all grown up around cars so we get underneath and realize it's just the alignment so im incredibly happy.

but I had to park it at my friends house and driving is a joke with my wheels like that, they start to buckle around turns and while braking (or just slowing)

Ima get an alignment this afternoon after school if i can scrounge up enough money...Ill get pictures asap, right after school ima walk back to my car snap some pics, get some money, get it fixed and let you guys know how it goes...

[adidas2go]

Sorry to hear about your luck bro. You gata pay attention to stuff while driving.

BTW- I will be really surprised if its the alignment. Ive never seen an alignment be off enough, to turn the steering wheel upside down. Sounds like you bent a control arm or something, but lets hope not.

[Rob.Vegan]

Well the way I hit it was pretty much my tire. My wheels were turned right and the left one hit almost straight on to the pillar so we were guessing that the wheels were just pushed farther than the steering. or something like that, im not too good with the mechanics of the steering column or anything like that so that was the first thing we assumed.

How much would you expect i'd be paying in order to fix it if it was the control arm ???

thanks

[Scandinavian Flick]

im thinking its the Tie Rods, or the center link between them.

[Rob.Vegan]

Any price quotes from you guys ???

If its going to be expensive im going to need to loan some money from my parents considering im all out, but if it turns out to be fairly cheap then i was planning on just borrowing from my brother until i have enough to pay him back.

i dont want to get my parents involved since i didnt involve anybody else in the "wreck" and it is a potentially "cheap" fix...

please and thank you for all your help so far

[jungleboogie]

whoa! hopefully it's not that bad (although from the way you described it, it does seem rather serious)

[Hussain]

Sorry to hear about your luck bro. You gata pay attention to stuff while driving.

BTW- I will be really surprised if its the alignment. Ive never seen an alignment be off enough, to turn the steering wheel upside down. Sounds like you bent a control arm or something, but lets hope not.

i hit a curb going about 30 mph with my expedition and the steering wheel was upside down and it just needed alignment...... well, alignment and a new rear axel cuz the back tire broke off lol but after replacing the rear axel the steering wheel was still upside down and it just needed alignment, car drove fine with the steering wheel upside down though lol

[jungleboogie]

i hit a curb going about 30 mph with my expedition and the steering wheel was upside down and it just needed alignment...... well, alignment and a new rear axel cuz the back tire broke off lol but after replacing the rear axel the steering wheel was still upside down and it just needed alignment, car drove fine with the steering wheel upside down though lol

not helping lols

[KGNickl]

Unpainted aftermarket front bumpers mounted on a car will sometimes cause a car to drive into other cars or objects.

[Dr4gonCoupe]

good job.

is this all coming out of your pocket?

[Rob.Vegan]

Unpainted aftermarket front bumpers mounted on a car will sometimes cause a car to drive into other cars or objects.

So i've heard.

Well one of my friends got in a wreck and was pretty much TBoned and just needed an alignment on a highway crash.

I don't think I hit so hard as to bend to arm but I am going to "drive" over there after my next class and go see what they can do. I have been freaking out ever since I hit. I've drove .2miles yesterday and like 1/2mi today so I am really really hoping it's the alignment so I can get back on the road.

I couldn't get pics of it yesterday i only have some low quality phone pics that turn out really small so ima try and get my hands on a camera again today

...keep ya posted

[Rob.Vegan]

Ok so I grabbed a phone pic of the pillar thing to show my tire marks. The tire mark wraps around the side a bit (tire hit on right side and scraped around to left). I'll get some of my car today though

[jungleboogie]

Ok so I grabbed a phone pic of the pillar thing to show my tire marks. The tire mark wraps around the side a bit (tire hit on right side and scraped around to left). I'll get some of my car today though

!!!!!!!

[Rob.Vegan]

Ok grabbed some pics of my car, ill give you guys some brief detail of what is what... Once again I don't have a camera so they are all on my phone, so please bear with them.

This is my front-passenger tire (i hit the left) with my steering wheel facing up ("straight")



This is my driver side wheel with my steering wheel facing up.



This is what my steering wheel looks like when I am going straight



This is the dent from a distance (right above tire), its not too bad



This is the dent up close



Let me know if you guys want any more pics.I went to a repair shop and he said it could just be the alignment, or a tie rod, or a suspension problem but it would have had to of been a bad wreck, i have confidence that mine wasn't that bad. But he was booked for the day and didn't have time to check it out. i am deathly afraid of driving my car though because if somethings wrong i dont want it to get worse.

thanks for your guys' help so far

[adidas2go]

Meh, I cant see the pics at work. I hit a curb in my BMW trying to pull off a "drift park", like the audi commercial, going maybe 15 mph at the time of impact. I bent the hell out of lower control arm. $800 repair.

[Dr4gonCoupe]

it aint that bad

[Scandinavian Flick]

Meh, I cant see the pics at work. I hit a curb in my BMW trying to pull off a "drift park", like the audi commercial, going maybe 15 mph at the time of impact. I bent the hell out of lower control arm. $800 repair.

damn, bmw know how to charge for parts dont they,

anywho, id be more pissed about the fender then the alignment, also how is the wheel itself?

[iiiskylll]

Oh man that sucks! Were you peeling out of that parking lot or what? Hah. Hopefully it's just alignment.

[adidas2go]

damn, bmw know how to charge for parts dont they,

Yea, I don't remember how much parts or labor costs individually, but I was in San Fransisco on vacation at the time. So I had to take it to BMW to have it fixed. They charge like $135 an hour for labor. `

[Rob.Vegan]

Oh man that sucks! Were you peeling out of that parking lot or what? Hah. Hopefully it's just alignment.

Not peeling out but i did accelerate faster than usual, i thought i was clear since there was only two cars in the garage that were even close to me and none in my way of driving.

damn, bmw know how to charge for parts dont they,

anywho, id be more pissed about the fender then the alignment, also how is the wheel itself?

Ok most recent update. I had my brother come down and look at it (mechanic at toyota) and he spotted the problem... My Rack and Pinion (i believe it was called) was broken. On the upside: There is no leak...also, My friends brother works at Buena Park Nissan and can get me the parts I need for employee prices. and if he can't do the install there for free, my brother (next door) can do it for free once traffic at the dealer slows down.

Now I wanted someone to come with me while i drive down there just in case something happened, but ran out of time and now my friend at nissan is off work. hopefully tomorow my car will start being under repair.

The tire itself is fine, no bubble its not flat or anything of the sort it just got tweaked.

[adidas2go]

Holy christ dude! Are you kidding me? You have to replace the rack and pinion

and, -20 for trying to rock an unpainted body kit

[08altima35]

he's not trying dude. he is rocking the unpainted body kick for all it's worth. good thing you didn't damage that too man.

[LegendRacer]

for the guy who was worried about hte fender and not as much for the alignment..u are a joke

cosmetics is second to mechanical, and especially in the front end of a car. With ur wheel turn that great, ur probably bent the lower control arm. I did this to my integra before (goin 100km and hitting a round curb, thank god it wasnt a 90 degree curb, or my car was over).

Lower control arms cannot be fixed, only replaced, almost impossible to bend htem back to normal

And for the fender, at most it cost 600 to replace + paint, but the mechanical parts i would look into more carefully

[altimacoupelvr]

how in the heck did you not see that pillar.... i thought you had back into it....it was with the front of your vehicle. did they just install that pillar while you were outta the vehicle?

[Rob.Vegan]

how in the heck did you not see that pillar.... i thought you had back into it....it was with the front of your vehicle. did they just install that pillar while you were outta the vehicle?

well i know it's no excuse and this was completely my fault, the pillar started out in my blind spot and i was looking behind me. So in order to be able to leave i turned my steering wheel to the right, that swung my front end to the left and there you have it.

As for the rest I am going to head down to the dealer today and see how much this is going to cost me. Im so grateful that i know mechanics in both nissan and toyota. it is making this ordeal alot easier

[adidas2go]

I doubt this will be an easy ordeal dude. I hope your ready to replace major steering/suspension components

[Scandinavian Flick]

for the guy who was worried about hte fender and not as much for the alignment..u are a joke

cosmetics is second to mechanical, and especially in the front end of a car. With ur wheel turn that great, ur probably bent the lower control arm. I did this to my integra before (goin 100km and hitting a round curb, thank god it wasnt a 90 degree curb, or my car was over).

Lower control arms cannot be fixed, only replaced, almost impossible to bend htem back to normal

And for the fender, at most it cost 600 to replace + paint, but the mechanical parts i would look into more carefully

i must me the one you referred to as a "joke"

let me explain why i would be more pissed about the fender, and i will even use the info you provided.

like you said a new fender with paint and install- a potential $600.

i have a hard time believing a new lower control arm would cost $600, so from a financial stand point, i would still be more pissed about the fender.

[Rob.Vegan]

Ok my car goes into the dealer tomorow afternoon.the price estimated so far is around $700

I can't wait to get back on the rode i miss driving sooo bad

[adidas2go]

Esitmated $700 just for the fender or suspension, right? No way its for everything. Especially from the dealer...

[midgets]

I did the same thing in my Formula Firebird, jumped into the car looked behind me to back out cut the wheel and took out the front fender.That pole just came out of no where, I recommend having that pole removed so it doesn't hurt anymore automobiles, well maybe an Accord would be ok. Good luck