In Mexico, drove super slow over speed bumps but scraped several times. What is the lowest point that we most likely hit? What type of damage might be caused? Concerned about the hybrid battery
Nothing to worry about... Cars are designed to scrape at the lowest point without causing significant damage.
If there's enough room, take the speed bump at a 45 degree angle if possible. Going over this way, at least one wheel on each "axle" is on the ground. This is how those lowered cars take on speed bumps. SM-G781V ?
Lowest point? Going over a speed bump, which I assume is longer than the width of the car. Perhaps the lowest point is at the pinch weld area of the rocker panels. Or at the bottom A-arms of the front suspension, at the front rubber/ plastic air dam, or at the rear suspension lower shock mounting brackets. FWIW: As mentioned, I too would not be concerned about the hybrid battery area. I agree with post 2. If the bump was more of a point or mound/ hill, then yes, the impact could be in the center of the chassis and cause some damage.
If anything connected to a wheel or axle touches a speed bump, you have more things to worry about than the speed bump. On an OEM car, the most common thing to meet a speedbump face to face is an exhaust system or crossmember.
Well after we hit, we got low power. When it runs it’s not charging the hybrid battery and not running on full power. It only runs on reduced power.
funny videos!! and too dumb to think about having the passengers get out of the car to minimize the suspension compression......
Most of these cars have almost zero suspension travel. Getting every one out of the car every time you need an extra 1/8th inch of lift ain't worth the hassle.
There are components of the hybrid system under the car, but they're well protected and won't be damaged in a scrape. But if the hybrid system has been disabled by the car to protect the system you should have a bunch of warning lights on your dashboard and those warning lights have stored error codes that will tell us what happened. Any auto parts store will read those codes, or you can buy an OBD2 code reader for less than $30. Great tool that lets you use phone app to find out what's wrong with your car. You can keep in glove box so you can clear the codes and get your car back to full power without having to disconnect 12v for a few minutes or wait for tow truck The guy who made Dr. Prius App reccomends these devices: Panlong OBD2 adapter: https://amzn.to/3rkAV9G Veepeak OBD2 adapter::https://amzn.to/2Z6nI6g But I don't buy at Amazon, only at Ebay.
Best way to find out what's going on is to get codes read (if you have warning lights) or inspect the bottom of the car if you don't have warning lights. Although not likely, perhaps exhaust tubing got crushed? I've seen some cars that have O2 sensor wires that hang down a bit lower than they should, and would likely be damaged if bottomed out.
