Hello guys,

I recently bought a 2008 Toyota Tacoma access cab TRD sport. Today on the Beltway 8 feater road a cop pulled right out in front of me and forced me off the road to avoid a collision (after breaking to about 15-20MPH). It was a pretty rough ride but after comming to a stop about 30 feet from the road the cop came over to make sure I was ok and to apologize. I was pretty mad but after getting back in the truck and driving I was amazed that nothing seemed to be off. Visual inspection showed not scuff or anything on either of the front 2 tires or rims. There was no sway left or right and no vibration (i even took it up to about 90mph to see). There is about a 1 degree left tilt in the steering wheel while it is going straight but i don't remember if it was like that previously. Am I being completely paranoid (brand new truck) or do I have reason to be worried?

I was under the impression that no vehicle was made to take curbs like this (hit curb at about a 30 degree run (from road parallel)) with left front first the right front after. I guess my question is "How rugged are the TRD sport suspensions?". Should I take this in for a suspension check just to be sure?

David

I would have it all checked out to be on the safe side. I'm betting that the your alignment will be off from that curb hit.

I'll be taking it in Tuesday for an alignment check. I was just wondering if anything else results from something like this. What are the signs of suspension damage? I only ask because my friend hit a curb in his BMW M3 a while back (at about 20 miles per hour) and it did him hell by bending his strut and control arm etc... The again, his car's tire was flat and the rim was bent too, yielding it too damaged to drive. I understand there is a great deal of difference between the suspension/tires of these 2 vehicles but it got me thinking. What are the symptoms of suspension damage?

Lock your steering wheel, jack the front of the truck up and put your hands on the tire in the 9 and 3 o'clock positions and try to move it left and right, do the same with your hands in the 6 and 12 positions and try to move it in and out. There should be little or no play. And you can take a drive and the freeway and make sure there aren't any "out of the ordinary" vibes. Also check to make sure the alignment is still OK too.

I have driven it 3 times since this happened at about 2pm. The truck seems to drive as it always did (both at low and high speeds). I'll try the tire trick tomorrow.

Id take it to an alignment shop just to make sure.

I jacked it up today, the wheel was **** steadfast on both sides. I'll still have them check for alignment on Monday (When I take it to Toyota dealership.

Just to satisfy your curiosity, you could take a tapemeasrue and measure the distance between the tires (measure the front and back of the tires).
Its nowhere near as accurate as a computerized alignment, but if they are off you will know just by measuring the distance between them.