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Last night i slid on black ice when doing around 30 mph round a sharp bend. There was nothing i could do and the car hit the nicely placed big kerb Front nearside wheel took the knock.
The tyre popped off and the rim now has a bad dent. To get home (3 miles) i put the space saver on. The car drove in a straight line but i did notice that the steering wheel had shifted around 20 degrees to the left.
I've had a look underneath and the n/s wishbone is bent. It looks as though they are designed to do that because it's bent next to one of the holes that are in it. This morning my partner was leaving to take the car to the local garage and noticed that the steering wheel height adjuster lock isn't working properly. It sort of holds the column but if you push down on the wheel, you can get it to give up the grip. Not ideal.
So my questions are;
Is the wishbone designed to bend in order to protect other components?
Does the bent wishbone and space saver wheel explain the steering wheel moving 20 degrees off center?
Is the steering lock problem a 'safety feature'?
Can i expect any other components to have suffered?
Any help or advice is gladly appreciated.

I had a car accident, which resulted in my rim being hit a one side. It's probably more forceful then what you experienced but the shock was bent in the process as well as the wishbone.

Ouch Noz, hope you were ok. My partner went to the scrappy today and got another wheel. After fitting it, he noticed the wheel is sitting back (towards the rear of the car) in the arch. I wonder if this could imply that the shock has indeed bent a bit too...Apparently on full lock to the right there is a scrubbing noise as well. With regards to the steering wheel being off center, is it possible that the wheel itself has slipped on the column? Or is it possible for the pinion to have skipped a spline or two on the rack? My partner says that the car drives and brakes straight and also that there is no play in any of the steering/suspension components that he can detect. He did say that both drive shafts have a little bit of play though and that the inner cv joints click a bit as you rock the wheel back and forth. He thinks this is most likely unrelated and most likely just wear.

2 years on and I still suffer from spine pains and the injury claim is on going

Straight after my accident I drove the car and everything was fine whilst driving. There wasn't a single issue other then the placement of the wheel and bent wishbone.

I'm not clued up on mechanics but it could be anything in the chain between the wheel to the steering! You do have to remember as well the tracking would be out as well.

Noz, i feel for you. Sounds like you've been and are still going, through the mill. I hope you'll make a full and lasting recovery.
Sure puts my little incident in to perspective..
We are getting the car looked at by a local garage and to be quite honest i'm not expecting good news. Trouble is, you know how it goes; insurance excess and loss of NCB means that we'll probably dig deep and swallow the expense...

Yup I know how it is as i'm even financially paying for the incident (that wasn't my fault) 2 years on with insurance etc.

It may not bee too expensivce but all you could do is hope and expect the worse lol. Wishbones ain't that expensive, you just have to hope there isn't multiple parts hindered on the car.

All the best.

If the wishbones been bent it can knock the wheel to face another angle like 20 degrees or even tilt, so its normal to see that from a bent wishbone. Bright side they are only £20 and pretty simple to change. You've prob knocked the tracking out as well.

However other items might have suffered, such as :
Hub housing
Tie Rod (£20 spare cost)
Bent the suspension strut (£20 spare cost)

You should be able to notice the tie rod and possibly the strut if they got bent. Best thing to do is get the wishbone sorted and tracking as both will not cost alot, the garage might even tell you if anything else is wrong during tracking.

As for the steering's height adjustment to not work, it seems like something inside has broken, can't really advise you there.

Thanks for that reassurance people. The car is in the garage tomorrow for diagnosis and hopefully repair, so we'll know a bit more soon. Will get back to the thread then. Cheers again.

Well... The car is back from the garage. They are convinced that (apart from the wheel) the only damage was to the wishbone. They've replaced it and reset the tracking. The wheel does now look centred in the arch but the steering wheel still isn't straight. It's not as bad as it was but before the incident it was 100% straight. The car drives perfectly well and don't get me wrong i AM relieved, just have that niggling concern about the steering wheel..

it is the tracking.

if the wheels are straigh and the car drives in a straight line and the steering wheel is to one side it hasnt been tracked very well

Cheers Kyle, i'm glad you say that. I did have a suspicion but didn't want to air it. I'll get back to the garage.

You wana make sure your havnt bent the tracking rod like i managed to

Also you have to remember the actual steering wheel can also be straightened! Remember when I had my steering removed to replace the pedal box, the steering wheel was replaced at an angle. I went back to get it put back straight.

However, this should be thought of as a resolution after wheel tracking etc has been done and you have made sure something else isn't causing the problem such as the tracking rod, bent wishbones........

The garage should've handed you a printed copy of the tracking before and after alignment. If it shows everything is straight and coloured green then the tracking is correct. The only reason it may have been done wrong is if the wrong model was chosen on the computer to get measurements from!

I went back to the garage. The guy said that even though they set the tracking from just one wheel, this will have a knock on effect at the other wheel and hence can put your steering wheel out. I pointed out that the tracking and steering wheel were 100% straight prior to the incident and that having paid him to straighten things i'd expect the same 'straightness' now. Especially as only one wheel took the knock. He just said he'll move the steering wheel a spline or two on the column at mot time. Noz, I got no printout whatsoever from him.. To be honest i'm not impressed and would rather go to a different garage but good ones aren't easy to come by are they!!!

Usually when you get tracking done you get it done for both front wheels Common sense in tracking as both wheel positions depend on the car running straight and true!!!

Best to get tracking done by a garage that has a laser tracker with a computer, which gets your specific car model measurements before working out differences.

Around London practically every tyre garage uses laser tracking. Furthermore, i've never heard of a garage to track one wheel

Also the steering wheel position has nothing to do with MOT so get the mechanic to fix it asap.