My co-worker was so impressed with my I30, he bought one. Last week he was hit in the passenger front fender and door. We put the car on a lift to check for under damage and noticed his front tire can be wobbled from side to side and top to bottom. It was obviously clipped in the accident. Is this an indication of axle damage, wheel bearing damage, or both? The car drives and makes no noise at all. If we had not put the car on a lift, we would not know of this damage.

 

Neither. The axle doesn't hold the wheel in place, it just spins the wheel. If the bearing were damaged you would hear / feel it. Does the wheel on the side that was hit move significantly more than on the other side?

The wheel (which is attached to the hub, which is then attached to the knuckle) is held in place at the bottom by a ball joint on the control arm. The ball joint could be worn. At the top the knuckle bolts to the strut which bolts to the body. Not much slack in there.

The wheel / knuckle is held in place side-to-side by a ball joint, connected to the tie rod, which connects to the steering rack. With the car off the ground it should not be difficult to turn the wheels side-to-side quite a bit before the steering column locks. Even then they may still move somewhat.

You can check the various ball joints for wetness (leaking grease) in which case they can be replaced. Otherwise, if all looks well and there are no strange sounds or vibrations when the car is driven, it's probably fine / normal.

 

Thanx for your answer. The wheel wobbles significantly around 360 degrees. The other side is solid and does not wobble. I will check out the ball joint. Thanks.