Ok, my mom's car was hit from the passenger side. It was hit almost squarely on the front wheel. The suspension didn't look damaged, but the shock absorber was bent and the CV boot was torn, the joint is possibly messed up from the impact too...

Anyways, I changed the shock absorber just so I could put the wheel back on and test to see if the transmission still worked fine by jacking the front up and putting it in drive.

Problem 1: With the car in park, I can spin both wheels by hand with not much resistance. Sounds like the transmission is gone?

Problem 2: When I put it in drive, the car vibrates and I hear this kinda grinding noise that comes in and out.

Sounds like the tranny is gone?

 

alright... I put the car on the ground and drove it around the block. It shifts fine and when i put it in park, the car doesn't move. Just need to install the new axle and it should be good to go

 

When a car comes into our shop hit in the wheel, especially hard enough to bend the strut we always replace the control arm, axel and hub. The hub is actually a softer material and should absorb some impact by bending slightly, especially on hard hits. The control arm usually always bends and needs to be replaced to insure your cars camber and caster will be correct.

 

The alignment is off a bit, but I took the car up to like 40 and it didn't vibrate or anything...

What should I look for when I inspect these parts?

Here is what the car looked like:



I took the fender, fender liner, and headlight off. looks pretty ghetto now.