Help. Alignment or Body Damage?

[TX Speed Demon]

A few nights ago I hit some construction materials (A BIG ******* ROCK) going 70MPH down the interstate. No way to avoid it unless I wanted to hit a cement wall or a van since the truck in front of me clipped it and sent it spinning right into my path.

Now I think my alignment or underbody paneling is messed up. Anytime I go over 60 MPH I get this wierd throbbing feeling in the steering wheel and cabin. At 70 MPH it's bad enough to shake the unoccupied passenger seat very visably.

I'm not sure if it's an alignment issue, it does not seem to be RPM related. I can have the RPMs way up in 2nd gear and not get the throbbing, but as soon as I cross 60 MPH it's really noticable no matter what the RPMs are at. If it were an alingment issue wouldn't it be RPM based as stress on the drivetrain/wheels/suspension would increase at higher RPMs vs. higher speed?

Is it possible the rock tore loose some of my underbody paneling and now it starts flapping when the wind speed gets up high enough. The only visible damage is at the very front of the underbody paneling underneath the bumper where it hangs straight down. It now looks like I rode over a curb there.

I've attached a few pics taken this morning. Nothing seems wrong when I peek underneath (don't have time to do a real inspection till Saturday). But I don't remember the left side of the underbody paneling hanging down lower than the right, however I never really checked. Also am I missing any pieces (look at the underbody shot)? I circled what looks like two places for some more paneling to bolt on but again I don't remember if there is supposed to be something there.

Anybody have any ideas?

 

[shaolin]

Okay just checked mine and the left side does hang a little bit lower, but not that much as in your pic. I think that you may have ripped some of the undercarriage mud protectors, but I don't think it would cause that much of a problem as you described. This same thing happened to me in my civic, and I had all sorts of rattling in my shifter and steering wheel, turned out that I had a dented B Pipe, misaligning the exhaust all the way up, and it was rattling against everything. Check into it. A good muffler shop fixed me up for 20 bucks.

The reason why I thought mine was RPM related like yours might be is because the pipes expand as they heat up and cause more friction, rubbing, and noise.

 

[AutoBox]

u may have tore up or bent a suspension arm....some plastic panels aint gonna cause shake like ur descriding

 

[TX Speed Demon]

thanks Shaolin & autobox. Anyone else?

 

[GotBoost]

u may have tore up or bent a suspension arm....some plastic panels aint gonna cause shake like ur descriding

that and probably need to get the tires balanced and an alignment. hitting something @ 70 all sorts of stuff can be out of whack. have it looked at before you puttoo many more miles on the car.

 

[ThrillRide]

for sure get the wheels balanced and alligned. i didn't look last night at your rim. is it ok?

 

[TX Speed Demon]

for sure get the wheels balanced and alligned. i didn't look last night at your rim. is it ok?

No damage to the outer face of the rim. Haven't been able to check the inside edge yet though. I'm not loosing any tire pressure and it's been 2 days so I think the rim is ok.

I was planning on rotating the tires early saturday morning and taking it out for a test drive to see if that makes any differance. I figure if it's the wheel the throbbing will feel like it's further back in the car. If the problem is still the same then the wheel probably isn't it.

After that I was going to take it to Wasabi and talk to the guys there about an alignment, new swaybar bushings and that exhaust dump I was talking to you about last night.

 

[Newf]

I have a piece that hangs down as well.

sounds like you dented a rim, or knocked it way out of alignment or something. Take the wheel off, and give it a good look.