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Is this my strut that i damaged?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SlimeballCruz, May 11, 2023.

  1. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    I have a 2007 Prius. Over the winter I hit a patch of ice and slid into a guardrail going about 20-25 mph. Tried to stop but didn’t quite make it . My right front wheel I think was turned when it made contact with the rail and I damaged up my front bumper a little.

    If I turn too sharply or hit a bump, It sounds like my right wheel is bottoming out. Like squeaky scrape sound. Is this my strut? If so what’s the cost for fixing her back up?
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Sounds like your wheel may be rubbing the fender liner that may be bowed and sticking inward or outward as the case may be towards the tire and when you get it turned going extreme right or what have you It rubs mine's doing this right now and never has hit anything It's just because all the plastic is deteriorating and coming apart there's no more places left to attack it or hold it together with zip ties or what have you I need to just remove it all. It is possible your strut spring assembly could be damaged but before you worry about all that if the car is driving in a straight line and the steering wheel is still pointing straight ahead and when you turn gently following the road your car's not all over the place I would say you're probably in relatively good shape bashing your wheel directly into something will usually bend some camber and knock the toe out quite a bit and the steering is not so good and then of course the wheel may be slightly bent and so you get wobble or warble. At a given speed etc
     
  3. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Can you take a picture of how it looks? Does it look “normal” compared to the other side?

    I’ve bent the rack and pinion steering before. The strut is pretty tough….
     
    #3 jzchen, May 11, 2023
    Last edited: May 11, 2023
  4. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    first picture is the damaged side, middle picture is that bumper, last picture is the non damage front tire. Honestly can’t really see much of a difference in these photos.
     

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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No I don't either but you how it steers and when you're sitting in the car is the steering wheel still straight when the wheels are going straight ahead and when you're rolling slowly and or a little faster rip that plastic off or trim it back or tape it or something so it's not just flapping in the breeze making a racket zip tape is your friend that stuff is expensive per roll but a few little pieces in is held for A year or two almost.
     
  6. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Yes definitely can’t really tell from the pictures. I’ve been reading your first post over and over did/do you think the tire/wheel impacted something or just the bumper?

    As noted you probably want to secure that front bumper because it’s gonna flap around, and a good quality tape may be the solution for that as mentioned. If you drive at night I believe the bulbs in that broken lamp will prematurely fail, good idea to replace that. (You don’t want to keep replacing bulbs that can get costly).

    One thing you may want to do especially if the tire made contact with something is to get an alignment. If they can’t align it then something is likely bent. IF you decide to replace the struts better get the “quick strut” type that include the spring. This saves on labor cost/time. I see the spring has rust on it so might as well replace it as a package, no spring compressors necessary.
     
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    If your tire is rubbing it will leave evidence on your tire.
    Clean the tire and see what happens.

    If you knocked something out of geometry then there's a fairly easy test:
    Get out on a highway and let go of the steering wheel for a few seconds. ;)

    As excellently recommended above.....zip ties, tape and lamps.

    Good Luck!
     
  8. ColoradoCrow

    ColoradoCrow Active Member

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    If you drive on the highway and the car tracks straight...your alignment could be off but isn't horrible. The clunking when you hit bumps is the strut worn out. Does the other side do it as well? an 2007 with about 117K or more probably has original Struts. I've replaced all 4 shocks with the KYB Strut Plus by myself in a day. If yours are worn out I would do that first THEN go get an alignment done.. how many miles on the car?
     
  9. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    I would say my wheel isn’t straight and it doesn’t seem to want to drive straight and a little shaky. The bumper doesn’t flap too much in the wind, surprisingly. I plan on getting it taped. But it’s not the bumper that’s making the sound I’m hearing when I hit pot holes or turn too sharply.
     
  10. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    I believe my wheel was turned because I was tapping the breaks and turning my wheel to try to slow down and avoid impact as best as I could. Was just too much ice to be successful plus….a Prius ya know.


    So my wheel made impact on rail and I slid down a little scrapping up my bumper. It also ripped out my intake resonator. It just sounds like a metal piece in my wheel hit my fender every time I hit a pot hole.
     
  11. SlimeballCruz

    SlimeballCruz Junior Member

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    Nope it’s just the right front side.
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Get it in to an alignment shop? Dealership would be best bet.
     

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  13. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Not the best around here, at least, says the guy who fixed a caster issue by eyeballing it…
     
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