Argh!! What's the issues and how dangerous to drive
 

Help!!! Hit an unknown anomaly on the the road during a rain storm today and investigated after parking, see the pics below, something has seperated on the drivers side (other side shown for reference). I was thinking it's a control arm and sway bar seperation, but not sure, anyone know?

Also, is it dangerous to continue driving? I didn't feel any difference in vehicle performance. How much damage am I looking at here? $$$$ wise. Thanks for any input pic below is the bad side, good side below that, yikes!https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...0c3871a60c.jpghttps://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...fb29896da6.jpg

Looks like the sway bar to me. Is it safe to drive? Idk for sure. I would say it's not harmful. What I would be afraid of is that it might hit other components.

Could be an easy fix. Looks like you only need a sway bar end link.

Yep, sway bar end link separated. Drive gently so the the bar doesn't flop around and damage other suspension parts. You might be able to push the bar end back into the end link.

Should be able to get them at any autoparts store or Amazon. Moog parts would be considered a slight upgrade.

Thanks, that's somewhat reassuring. Any idea what this kind of repair would cost from the dealership? What sort of driving irregularities would one expect to experience with this separation?

Any DIY guides to fix this on your own?

like those above said, its a broken swaybar end link. the factory part is about $27...aftermarket pieces range from about $15-40....probably take 15-20mins to replace so count on a .5 hour book value labour charge

Just take it to a decent shop, the dealership will charge you triple what it would cost at a mechanics shop

Thanks so much ctng37, slartibartfast, Hashim and Strokelessone, what a great community! appreciate your time and effort in answering my first-timer questions. I'll be able to sleep tonight.

You don't really need a sway bar to be honest lol. But yeah, better to get it fixed for the stability of the car; for example in an emergency situation you want your full handling capability.

You most definitely need the sway bar, handling can be squirrelly and unpredictable with one side intact and one broken. It's a pretty easy DIY fix if you're handy. Just 1 nut attaching it on each end and access is easy. Save yourself some $ by fixing it yourself. Dealership will probably charge an hour labor if not more.

Yes you do lol. Without the bar you might find yourself backwards in a ditch.

Anyways, it's an easy and cheap fix. That must have been a pretty hard hit to rip the ball joint right out.

Any thoughts on what you hit? I've not seen and endlink separate like that before. Would be a good idea to get a thorough front end inspection too, just in case something else got damaged.

It was a large metal beam sticking out of a constriction site. Similar to a curb in shape and size, I had to back off of it. It was dark and rainy. So didn't see it. I was going really slow at the time tho. Just pulling out from a stop.

Im having trouble finding a guide for this sort of fix, anyone know of one with pics/videos? Maybe I'm not searching using the correct terminology

If you crawl under the car and look at it, it's impossible not to see how to replace it. There is literally one nut screwed onto the stud on each end.

Look in the DIY forum for a sticky thread about replacing the sway bars. I posted it years ago.

Out of curiosity, has anyone done any highway driving with some tight highway transition turns before? Is it safe in this particular model if one is without a sway bar in the front? Won't be able to get my hands on new end links until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest and I gotta get to work in the morning.