87 Toyota FX-16 making noise from front end while driving

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

Hi all,
My 87 Toyota Corolla FX-16 2 door hatchback began making a noise after I slid on ice into a granite curb last week. The noise occurs while driving, and comes from the front of the car. The passenger-side front wheel hit the curb, hard. The wheel bent slightly when this happened (a spot on the inside of the wheel was slightly contacting the front wheel guard), so I thought that was the problem. I needed new tires and an alignment anyway, so I bought the tires and had it aligned. The car aligned okay, and the mechanic indicated that the front end checked out okay.
He also put the bent wheel on the rear per my request, to see if that at least transfered the noise from front to back. The wheel isn’t the problem, it doesn’t make any noise where it is, and the new tires and alignment didn’t change the noise.
The car steers straight after the work was done, with no problems steering, and no vibration in the steering wheel. Braking is normal, no shudder or pulling, stops fine. But the front end noise is still the same, and pretty loud inside the car, and there is SOME vibration, just none in the steering wheel: the dashboard makes rattling noises between 35 and 45 mph. None of this happened before I hit the curb.

The sound is a fairly loud thumping noise and a loud hum. It gets faster as I speed up, and a little louder, until I hit around 50 mph., where it actually is a little quieter. I gets louder as I make a right turn, and it goes away entirely when I make a left turn. It does not change if I put the car in neutral while driving, or when I brake.
Hope that is enough info.
I plan on replacing the bent (now rear) wheel, but I doubt that is the problem. The noise is definitely coming from the front end. I suspect I damaged the right front axle, but am not sure and would like to see if anyone has any other ideas before I do this replacement (it’ll be a lot of work for nothing if I’m wrong). Also if you think I need to do this yesterday because the problem is dangerous.
Thanks for any advice!

2

I take it that this isn’t the infamous AE86 model so popular with the drifters since you mentioned front axle. I’d have someone look at the triangular sheetmetal block that the lower control are attaches to. Check where this block attaches to the body and see if there are any cracks in the sheet metal around the welds. If so, I’m afraid your car is totaled and way to dangerous to drive.

If you check my record, I am seldom an alarmist and usually go the cheap answer first, but this is a weak point in some Toyota’s of that era and it needs to be checked out before you spend any money on it.

3

Thanks, Keith, I’ll have it checked out before doing anything further. By axle I meant the halfshaft assembly, which includes the wheel’s drive shaft, cv-joint, etc., not accurate, just how I think of it. I was thinking of this since the sound speeds up as the car speeds up, and since turning makes the sound louder or causes it to go away. But I will definitely inspect the lower control arm and the plate you mention.