Popped tires and bent rims after hitting a curb

My daughter was driving my 2008 tacoma pre runner and wasn't paying attention and hit the curb on the driver's side. She hit so hard that it popped both the front and back drivers side tires and bent both rims. I was not with her so when I went to where she broke down, there was a guy who was really nice and offered to help get new tires and rims for us. We put new rims and tires on it but the steering wheel is not straight and the front drivers side tires sits funny. With the top of it under the truck and the bottom out sideways. It doesn't drive right anymore and pulls real bad to the right.

What kind of damage could she have caused from hitting the curb that hard? Where do I look for damage?
How can I tell if my lower a arm is damaged? It does look like the rack and pinion were damaged but what else could be?

 

Welcome to tacomaworld. If she hit the curb hard enough to damage the wheels like that, that's on par with an accident in my opinion. I would contact insurance and start a claim. Pay the deductible and let them get it fixed up right, because it will more than likely cost more if you pay out of pocket.

If you don't want to do that, I would start with attempting to get an alignment and see what they say. If they can't get it where it needs to be, they can probably provide some insight as to what is damaged.

 

I rather not call my insurance company so I'll take ur advice and take it to get an alignment and see what they say. Thank u

 

Was this "curb" a Jersey barrier by chance?

Spindles are usually the weak link in a situation like that, as mentioned above. But damn, hard enough to pop the rear tire too? Id expect to find more damage once someone digs into it

 

Get under there and visually look at the suspension side to side. Note the distance from the tire sidewall to upper control arm/ball joint. Is it equal side to side? A bent spindle would be noticeable in that area

Is the tie rod bent?

Get a tape measure and measure the triangle distances of the lower control arms. Ball joint to bushings and vice versa.

And I agree with above, you might think about getting insurance co involved. Nobody wants to report a "single vehicle" accident to their insurance, I get it, but if you want it repaired correctly it may get expensive.

 

I have to agree with above. If it was enough to pop both front and rear tires, its going to be expensive. More than just a spindle, most likely. In fact I would take it straight to a trusted mechanic (preferably a chassis/suspension specialist) and have them diagnose it properly. For safety purposes, this is not one to take to your corner oil change guy, where they will just shrug and toss parts at it.

 

at a minimum a spindle.

But with as hard of a hit as it was to not only pop but eff up both front AND rear rim.... just replace that whole side front's suspension... UCA, LCA, Spindle, Hub inner and outer tie rod and both front shocks. Hell depending on miles you may as well replace LCA, UCA, inner and outer tie rods and hub on the other side too as a complete freshening up (no need for a spindle on the non hit side).

As far as the rear, get under and visually inspect to make sure the axle hasnt shifted back and sheared off the centering pin, put that side up in the air and spin it to check to make sure the axle isnt out of round.



Make your duaghter pay for it all and she will likely stop texting and driving.

 

Any pics would certainly help.

Like others said: file a claim and submit the receipts from whatever you have already paid out.

 

Texting a driving strikes again.

 

I wouldn’t be so quick as to make assumptions. I’ve hit curbs and I wasn definitely not texting. Still not sure how my left front spindle and steering components survived. I didn’t knock it out if alignment. Mine was a case of heavy fog a a concrete median. Probably an 8” curb.

 

First of all, I'm glad your daughter is ok. Second, I'm sorry that your Tacoma is not. That said, the damage - based on your description - could be pretty wide ranging. Your alignment is definitely off and that could be caused by any number of damaged components.

What you really need to do is take the truck to a mechanic you can trust and let them determine what's wrong with it instead of depending on a bunch of well-meaning internet users taking educated (and maybe uneducated) guesses. Only laying hands on the truck will tell you what's really wrong and how much it will cost to fix.

 

Welcome To TW...she must have knocked the Crap out of it .....

 

Hmmm, the common sense approach. Does Tacoma world know about this?

 

Possible bent tie rod, damaged steering rack, bent spindle, damaged hub etc. And if she has a job make her pay for it, good lesson learned. I remember when I went four wheeling in high school and messed up my dads truck, took me a year of lawn mowing to put him back.

 

i had this happen when an 18 wheeler dragged me to the curb when turning illegal right on red from left lane

Both pass control arms were bent and steering rack bearing galled ( failed a couple years later along with wheel bearing )