Well, it finally happened. I had an accident in my beloved Subie! I was able to drive away from the shunt, but now I need help determining if I broke anything. It's currently dark and storming, so I need advice on what I need to check tomorrow.

I entered a corner at just over 50mph and then the front end broke loose. I applied a little hand brake in order to get the rear end to step out a little and get me stabilized into a slide heading the way I needed to go. I had recovered control of the heading of the car, but I was still sliding sideways and quickly running out of road beside me. Realizing I wasn't going to stop skidding before impacting the curb, I turned the car to hit the curb head-on rather than taking it sideways and possibly rolling the car. I hit the curb at almost 90 degrees with an amazingly loud bang from the front end. It was enough to make my teeth click. The front end bounced up into the air and we skidded in the grass until the rear wheels hit the curb and the car stopped. I backed the car out onto the road and checked for damage.

We had hit the curb somewhere slower than 50mph, but I'm guessing faster then 30mph. The curb (since I know these vary by location) was about 8" high and a 90deg vertical edge. Doing a quick visual inspection in the rain, nothing seemed to be wrong. Driving away slowly, there were no unusual sounds or vibrations. Performing a few progressivly more aggressive stops, there appeared to be nothing wrong there. Slaloming the car side to side at low-mid speed didn't seem to reveal anything amiss either. On the freeway, the car tracked straight and true, although I think there might had been a slight vibration that I wasn't used to. I could also have just been paranoid.

All in all, I'm amazed that it survived in a drivable condition, let alone with nothing obviously wrong!

So, what do I need to check out on it tomorrow or have a mechanic check out?

Ty

 

Yeah, you probably broke something. Take it to a shop.

And the next time maybe you won't drive so irresponsibly in the wet.

Welcome to the site.

 

^^ Easy Sin... Lets not lay down the Iron fist... We've all done our share... When you drive it... does it roll fine? the wheels, etc? anything wrong with it that you can FEEL?

 

Get suspension check before driving again. This is imperative! Check your tires and wheels as well. Make sure no chunks are missing. I wonder if gassing out of the skid would have been effective cause it happened to me, but it was more luck than skill to get out of an uncontrolled slide. Hope it goes well.

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong that I can feel. No pull to the side, no wobble, no vibration. I had it up in the air last night and no scrapes on the bottom. It would seem that I got off scott free.

Ty

 

park the car on a level surface in neutral with the hand brake on, try to roll the wheels with your had and see if there's any play.

 

taking a curb at any speed head on my first guess is you might have bent a rim slightly, aluminum tends to bend a hair before breaking...