i did something really stupid today. i made a right turn too fast and too tight and end up hitting the curb with my right rear wheel. there is a 5 inch scratch, mostly shallow except two spots with > 1/16" deep. i thought the car runs a little rough at times since then.

do you guys think i might have damaged the wheel bearing or am i just halucinating? the rough ride occurs when slowing down and only happens intermittently.

 

Could be a number of things, including a bent wheel. The easiest way to check a wheel bearing is to lift the offending corner, grab hold of the wheel at 6 and 12, rock back and forth (push 12 as you pull 6, then vice versa). If you have slop, you got a bad bearing.

 

thank you.

 

how would you rock the wheel back and forth if you have a Lsd.. would you then lift both sides to check if you had a lsd?

 

Face the wheel, pushing 12 oclock and pulling 6 oclock.
Rocks the wheel but doesn't spin it.

 

Could be bent wheel, bearing, or axle or A-arms. Start with the bearing, then wheel, then axle, then A-arms...

Oh yea, and don't feel too bad, your not the only one that has ever done something like that.

 

If you would have damaged the wheel bearing in this type of incident you would have chipped either the bearing race or one of the bearings themselves. In any event, you would most likely NOT have play in the bearing, play comes from a "worn" bearing and race. What you would have is a distinct growling noise from the affected wheel. This noise "usually gets louder when the wheel is put under a load, such as when you go around a bend in the road at a moderate speed. To confirm this I would simply go to your favorite twisty, (NOTHING EXCESSIVE HERE) and drive at a normal pace through turns. If when you turn left you hear a growling/humming noise from the right rear wheel you have most likely damaged the right rear wheel bearing.
I think it would be advisable to take the car to a qualified shop and simply have the suspension and the wheel checked for damage and ensure the wheel alignment is still in good shape. These cars are pretty tough, and would be surprised if you did any damage, other than the cosmetics damage to the wheel.

 

+1.
Get a wheel alignment. (a must).
Those techs should be able to tell if anything else is bent including a bad bearing.
C.

 

thanks again for all your inputs.

my car will need new rear tires in about 1k mi. i will have things checked out at the time.

 

That should be about right. If the bearing is damaged as you described, it will typically fail in about 1000 miles or so depending on how hard you drive. If it's still good when you have the tire changed, it's unlikely it got seriously damaged.

 

Good call Lobuxracer, Though we often disagree on some "technical" matters, I think you are right about the problem taking about 1K to rear it's ugly head. OP, the reason for this delay is that bearings when placed under an excessive side load usually chip, that chip now floats in the bearing and comes into contact with other bearings, and damages them. By the time the damage to the bearings and bearing race had hit 1k miles the noise should be loud enough for you to hear.

 

i love it when i got it right for the wrong reason.