need to pick your brain(s)

[CHOPS]

Recently my wife swerved to miss a dog and jumped the curb on the passenger side of her car. Damaged the 2 rims (front & rear), which we have replaced all 4 with aftermarket wheels & tires. I also bought another set of wheels with snow tires for the front.

Anyway... the car sits about a 1/4 lower now on the right front. And also makes some pretty bad noise when turning in and out of our driveway and or hitting bumps, even at very, very low speeds.

Going into the shop tuesday, but I thought maybe someone might have a suggestion as to what to tell the shop to look for specifically.

Broken shock mount, or shock....strut.....sway bar....ect?

[UptownSport]

Spring?

Could run your hands up around the tire & feel

[srebik]

my money is on something being bent

no other driveability problems other than turning in and out of driveways?

no pulling to one side or the other even after alignment (assuming you got an alignment with all 4 new rims and tires)?

no noise when turning and driving down the street?

any pulsing in the steering wheel?
" " brake pedal?
" " gas pedal?
" " clutch pedal? (if applicable)

is there a way to describe the noise it makes when it makes it?
is it like a sharp pop or bang and its done or does it sound/feel more like grinding?

be as specific as possible....
the more detail the better....
espically when dealing with written/typed words.

off the top of my head (using the current knowledge) the only things that come straight to mind with vehicle being lower(ed) would be spring, strut, or lower control arm.
depending on the length and type of noise. could just be something out of alignment due to something being bent.

[Carl48]

The lower control arm and associated bushings and joints seems to be a weak link but you won't really know until you get it up on a lift and turn, flex, and inspect things...could be any or several things.

[UptownSport]

It's pretty EZ to bend an inner tie rod-

I've seen steering knuckles break, mostly on the OLD '95 four bolt Neon.

as Srebik said, there's only a couple things that can lower vehicle.

[CHOPS]

Alignment was done after the new wheels were put on, doesn't seem to pull, but the alignment could be hiding the problem.

Its the wifes car & I really don't drive it, she says its sort of a "clunking" or "rattling" noise going in & out of the driveway. Says its also noticeable if she hits a dip in the road or even driving on a "rough" road .... even while going straight.

I let the guy know looking at it, what some of the things you guys pointed out as weak links are.