Something hanging down under my car? (picture)?

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AlyC

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the other day I drove over a curb at a very sharp angle by mistake and the bottom of my car made a scraping noise. I didn't notice any damage except for these two rods hanging down now. they occasionally scrape the road when I drive (like on bumps and such). I want to know what these are and if it's a big deal to get it fixed. 99 ford escort.

I took a picture so maybe I can get some better advice:

http://i54.tinypic.com/2hf1hxy.jpg

thanks
 
that is a sway bar. the ends should be attached to your suspension, possibly directly or possibly with end links (with rubber bushings either way).
a sway bar helps keep the vehicle from leaning or rolling in the corners, as the outside tire is pushed up it transfers some that force to push the inner tire down. while not a major deal on that vehicle, it does negatively effect your handling.

fixing it should be well under $200 at max, with labor charges. possibly as little as $20 if you do it yourself, and its an easy job to do.
 
That is called a sway bar, it keeps the body of the car from rolling excessively in corners. A garage would charge roughly 115 bucks to repair it with new bushings included.

I would suggest also making sure to look at the spots it attaches to make sure no structural damage has been done.
 
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