Help Asap!!!!

[geezerstiva]

ok, so i'm driving down the road, and i look away or something, and i run in the ditch. but not just the ditch. i hit a built up driveway, jumped over that, and came down in the ditch. some folks stopped to help me get it out (this is the south, after all) and we pushed/drove it out. i drove it on to the library (where i was going in the first place). it shakes some now, and its got a whole lot of dirt inside the front bumper/engine bay. my question is, is it ok to drive? i need to know before i leave here. the radiator is ok, and its not stopped up or anything, but i'm wondering about the front suspension/steering. is it ok? please help me!

[88FestivaLX]

Def check all the suspension. Also, for the shake, check to see if there's any dirt packed into the wheels. I put my Mustang into a ditch one rainy day and when I got it out to drive it home it felt like it was going to shake apart. Sure enough, there was a TON of dirt packed into one of the wheels.

[ejp2fast]

just watch your temp gauge like a hawk.... look at the tie rods, control arm, and other suspension components for anything MAJOR that may be broke... try to get a stick or something to clean out as much dirt as possible..... i'd say with no fluid leaks and visibly suspension is ok, you'd be ok- but just go slow and watch everything.. at least to get it back to the house so you can jack it up and look underneath..

[geezerstiva]

oh. i didnt think about the dirt in the wheels. there is some in there. i'll get that out before i leave. when i looked at the suspension, it looked ok, and the fenders dont look bent or anything. it did knock the rear seat latches off. thats how hard i hit the ground!

[ejp2fast]

you beat me on the ivory- 88Fest

[geezerstiva]

wow, thanks for the quick replies!

[rowdy roddy piper]

all solid advice here, let us know what you find. Hopefully you will get lucky and escape with minimal damage.

[ejp2fast]

geezerstiva, what was the outcome? did you make it home? curious on the update

[geezerstiva]

well, everything seems ok. i drove it to the car wash to get all the dirt out from under the car. it shook really bad all the way there, but i cleaned all the dirt off the wheels and that took care of that. it seems to pull a little more to the right than it used to, but i've been driving it around since friday and it seems good. no major harm done. dented my perfect front bumper but thats about it. thanks for all y'alls advice. got anymore for me? i think i'll probably go get an alignment done, cause it probably knocked everything out of whack under there. anything else y'all would do?

[ohsoslow]

id have the tires balanced just to make sure.