So, you were driving along a dirt road the other day, when you heard a horrible clang from beneath your vehicle. You must have misjudged the depth of a pothole or height of a rock, because it sounds like something just bounced off the metal bottom of your car. What do you do after bottoming your car out on a rock? It’s probably a good idea to inspect your vehicle before proceeding with caution (though this might be a sign to turn around and take a different road). Here’s how to do that inspection.

If you’re in a safe place and not blocking traffic, turn your car off and get out.

First and foremost, is your car still resting on the obstacle? Are all four of your wheels on the ground? If not, you’ve “high centered” and you may be stuck. If you’ve continued over the obstacle, try to find it and look at it. If it’s a rock ledge and you can see it’s scraped up, covered in metal, or even a liquid, that’s an important clue to how your car’s doing.

Inspection question 1: Has your car sprung any new leaks?

Take a look directly beneath your vehicle. Do you see any liquid dripping from your engine/transmission area? What about from your axle area? What about your gas tank?

If you do have a drip, figure out what kind of liquid it is. Hopefully you just drove through a puddle and you’re just dealing with water. Look at it: is it thicker and darker than water? Does it smell sharp, like gasoline? Is it blueish/greenish and sweet smelling? These are all signs that the impact broke something important.

It’s scary to see you hit a large metal component such as the bottom of your engine or your transmission while off-roading. But no liquid is leaking, there’s a good chance that the component is alright.

Question 2: any lesser components damaged by bottoming your car out on a rock?

Next, trace the path this obstacle took beneath your car. Inspect the wheels and tires it may have hit. Look at the axles that spin them. Look at the flexible suspension components that attach the wheels and axles to the car. Don’t know if something is broken? Compare the left and the right side of the car to see if anything changed.

Finally, if everything looks good, roll down your windows and start your car again. Does it suddenly sound louder? (Might want to check the muffler and where the exhaust attaches to the engine). As you begin to drive, listen for any noises as the vehicle drivers forward or bounces up and down. Every time you accelerate to a quicker speed, give it another listen.

Proceed with caution and/or consider a slightly easier road to navigate. Next, see some common mistakes drivers make while on an undeveloped road or off-roading, in the video embedded below: