Is driving this car dangerous?

tomstickland

You need to ascertain whether the bodywork is distorted or it's just suspension components. If it's the latter than it should be cheap to fix.

scheming_gypsy

phone altham breakers in Accrington for the hub and take it to a local garage for fitting. Should cost about £100 in total... well it did for me when i did it.


oh and it's not 'that' dangerous if it's just bent the hub. Chances are it's just bent it a bit and not enough for it to cause it to be too fragile.
When garages say the word dangerous it can usually be translated as 'you'll have to leave the car here right now and we'll fix it'.

cpu

Bodywork is fine, no distortion.

Garage did say hub was bent.

He's actually getting a new car in around 4-5 weeks time so he's reluctant to spend money on this one but I don't know if the car is usable for that length of time without getting the hub seen to.

scheming_gypsy

mine was fine. I drove from Carlisle back to Preston and then to work and back till i got the replacement was delivered.
Just depends how badly bent it is and how much driving he does, if he hit it at some stupid speed it could be badly bent but the angle of the wheel will tell you. if it's only an inch or so out chances are it's not been hit hard enough to cause major damage.

cpu

Just in, been away all day doing car stuff. Turns out the rear axle is badly bent and a whole new axle replacement is required. Garage say a new one will cost around £400-£500 and not worth doing because of age/condition of car.

The bloke advised looking for a part from a breaker's yard so I hunted one down from a main dismantlers and they have got one for £52. Only problem is it's going to cost £170 to fit. Suppose it's still better than £500.

He reckons it'll be ok to drive back and foward to work for the very short term (not too far but not on a bus route) as long as he drives slowly.

tomstickland

The main danger is unpredictable handling if pushed on; having said that rally drivers manage to drive on 3 wheels.

GabbaGabbaHey

tomstickland wrote:

having said that rally drivers manage to drive on 3 wheels.

Yes, but with a somewhat stiffer chassis than your average road car!

tomstickland

I was referring to a case where in the rally UK a wheel fell off and the chap drove back to service. He was charged with dangerous driving by the police, went to court and presented video evidence of him driving with 4 and 3 wheels and noone could tell any difference!