knocked front wheel out

[Rocco13]

Hi all,

someones backed into my lovely shiny new scirocco 3 weeks after getting it! gahhhh!

No visible damage to anything apart from the passengers front wheel being bent in at the top slightly. Took it to a VW garage and they say their 4 wheel alignment failed as its out by too much and they cant visibly see anything wrong apart from that it is definitely out of line. The car drives to the right when the steering wheel is straight and an error message comes up on the display.

Any one else knocked their wheel and have any experience of this? Have arranged for it to be taken to a body shop instead.

Cheers!

[rm0rgan]

Cant help in terms of experiencing anything like this however I would be taking it back to the VW garage and asking them to complete a 4 wheel alignment - forget them checking it, you know it's out. THey just need to crack on and fix the corner that's out and then retest.

Might be worth doing it on your insurance though as I suspect a corner rebuild isn't going to come cheap!

[SMB]

If the wheel took all the impact and there is no panel damage the most likely damage is the shock absorber piston or suspension arms being bent.

[Rocco13]

thanks guys.

Yeah wheel took all the weight. what is quite un nerving is that it obviously was a slow moving impact as no mark/scuff on the alloy, its just bent backwards by 15mm and the steering lock was incredibly hard to get off when I tried to drive.

surely the metal should be able to withstand only a slow impact. Also seemed odd that the VW garage couldn't fix it and recommended a body shop down the road.

I am so nervous of how long its going to take to get mended - they are picking it up tomorrow, but I miss it already having only had it 3 weeks and been loving it!

[SMB]

A body shop will jig it to make sure the chassis is straight first. Check the suspension mount under the bonnet for any change of shape vs the other side first. I still suspect bent suspension parts first as the are designed to bend first

[uklee]

When you say the wheel alignment was out "too much" - which feature specifically ? caster , camber or toe ?

The wheel is on a pivot , so is unlikely to 'absorb' all the impact damage - kinetic force will travel through the strut ,joints , suspension and steering arms etc.
If the VW garage couldn't find the damage or even decipher what may be affected from the geometry reading - then i wouldn't go back there again -they are supposed to be trained technicians FFS !

The most likely damage from a strike to the front wheel would be the tie rods which would affect the toe readings - if you're really unlucky maybe the steering gear (rack) too. The lower control arm is bushed and fairly robust , but the ball joint could potentially be 'bruised' by impact damage. A stiff steering lock may point to column damage if the lock was engaged when the wheel was hit.

lets hope the place that you're taking it to , know what they're doing.

What warning light have you got ?

[Rocco13]

all sorted now thanks guys.

Bloody expensive. £770 + VAT for new suspension parts and labour!