my gf last night badly curbed the passenger side front to avoid hitting a child. the impact was very hard metal on pavement

the wheel beading was badly damaged leading to a rapid deflation of the tyre.

i put the spare on and everything feels OK, but the tracking is now off and there is a strange knocking noice over bumps

the thing is, i have recently replaced both front shocks, lower arms and the steering rack. Wobbling the wheel up/down and left/right shows no signs of play and no strange noices, but the clunking is definately there now when there used to be none

any ideas whats happened? and what to check?

It does soundlike the impact has bent a steering component, of destroyed a ball joint or simillar.

Get it checked out by a mechanic. Pronbablywont have damaged much and will be a cheap fix.

get the gf to pay for it, she broke it

Glad everythings ok though and no-one got hurt

check the shock absorber too

my gf last night badly curbed the passenger side front to avoid hitting a child. the impact was very hard metal on pavement

the wheel beading was badly damaged leading to a rapid deflation of the tyre.

i put the spare on and everything feels OK, but the tracking is now off and there is a strange knocking noice over bumps

the thing is, i have recently replaced both front shocks, lower arms and the steering rack. Wobbling the wheel up/down and left/right shows no signs of play and no strange noices, but the clunking is definately there now when there used to be none

any ideas whats happened? and what to check?

yes, i have an idea.. 1the roll bar took to much strengths and got dislocated or damaged (if its dislocated is not a biggy) just raise the car from the front again with the suspension arm free and it will fall into place(happened to me the first time i change the front wheel) and the spare is not the same size as the other tires. if its smaller try deflating a bit the tire to match the roll resistance if it bigger, inflate as much as possible (36psi)

ups i'm sorry i forgot, is not the passenger wheel it the opposite side wheel thats got the roll bar dislocated thats why you hear a knock on bumps, and again, the offset is so easy to fix, don't worry about it man, relax (i know i get nervous when something's wrong with my little felly)

thanks for all the pointers.

im fairly handy with the spanners so have had a good chance to look at it. basically what happened was the impact nearly popped the ball joint right out of the track rod end!

2 new track rod ends, nuts and a lot of swearing and its all better now. Trying to remove rod ends without a joint seperator is VERY frustrating.

i managed to knock them loose with a 10lb mallet, only to find i then had to saw through the thread because id mushroomed the end and couldnt pull them out !!! LOL!

i made sure that all the suspension components on both sides were good, checked the trueness of the brake discs and tightened everything up. Now felicity has no free play whatsoever at the font. smooth and quiet over bumps now!