Rear wheel smacked

paul_c123

Baldytyke88 said:

greyteam1959 said:

Why not try the simplest thing first before getting in a big panic ??
Put the spare wheel on & see what happens ??

Take a few photos, including underneath and post them on here?

Can you do a few photos with the wheel removed too?

sassy_one

Will take some tomorrow, will maybe take the wheel off see if anything seems obvious.

The wheel is more bent to the side not up and down if that makes sense. It actually looks okay from top to bottom of the wheel, its more bent outwards on the side, only one side.

I try changing the wheel but id be very surprised if that does anything.

Will RAC be able to give a possible prognosis? As ive never used them before, they wont go jacking it up wheel off looking will they? Or will it just be a visual inspection without wheel off

facade

If it is the 2015 on 4 link set up, it may only have bent the trailing arm, which would be a simple, if expensive, fix.

3/4" at the wheelrim isn't much, but the wheel not being flat on the floor might mean there is more damage.

I doubt if we can tell from small photos unless there is a crease with the paint fallen off or something, it needs someone to actually look at it with straight edges & rulers.

Ectophile

sassy_one said:

Will take some tomorrow, will maybe take the wheel off see if anything seems obvious.

The wheel is more bent to the side not up and down if that makes sense. It actually looks okay from top to bottom of the wheel, its more bent outwards on the side, only one side.

I try changing the wheel but id be very surprised if that does anything.

Will RAC be able to give a possible prognosis? As ive never used them before, they wont go jacking it up wheel off looking will they? Or will it just be a visual inspection without wheel off

The RAC person will see if it's possible to fix at the roadside.  If not, it will be stuck on a truck and taken to a garage.  That's about it. They will only take the wheel off if it looks like fitting the spare is all that's needed.

Altior

Broadly you can think of vehicle suspension like an egg. All the strength is in the vertical. From the horizontal, even a little tap can break it. If the wheels are not aligned on the same axle, it is broken. 

sassy_one

Ive had a little look this morning; I think this strut is supposed to be covered by plastic, correct? And its clearly not which it was before, so its broken it and moved enough to do that.
I am guessing by knowing this alone its going to be more than the control arm? As I read online struts are less likely to become damaged, but can happen if impact is hard enough.

facade

You must take it to someone so they can look at it. You cannot tell what is wrong by looking at the tyre.

If you search online for VW passat rear suspension and look at the 2015 on versions you will see that there is a tin plate  pan shaped lower control arm with the spring & shock absorber attached at the bottom of the hub carrier, and a thin goose neck shaped upper control arm at the top. Both of these attach to the car at single soft flexible rubber joints. These are stopped from moving backwards & forwards by a flat tinplate trailing arm from the body back to the hub.

There is also a tie rod at the front of the hub, which I suspect makes the back wheel steer slightly as the body rolls, like the old Fiat X19.

If you bend the trailing arm or that tie rod the control arms will just pivot at their joints and the wheel can point in at the front, the spring will bow and the shock absorber has to angle, which might shatter the dust cover, or might actually bend it.

Anyway, the bottom line is that something is bent. Cross your fingers that it is one of the weak easily replaceable parts rather than the subframe.

The only way to tell exactly what is bent is to take both back wheels off and compare side to side, or get it up on a ramp and check from underneath.

shera12

That sounds like a nasty hit, hope you’re ok. Best case it’s a bent wheel and possibly a damaged tyre. Worst case could be suspension or steering components (wishbone, hub, track rod) being bent, which would explain it not driving straight and the warning lights. Hard to say for sure until the wheel’s off and it’s inspected, but it’s good you’ve had it recovered and not driven it. Hopefully it’s repairable without too much damage.