Pot-holes... grrrrr!

Hit a massive pot-hole yesterday - only at about 30 mph (it was on a derestricted road where I would normally be doing 60) - and there was a huge crashing noise from the front nearside corner. I was convinced I had broken the alloy or worse, so I pulled over, but couldn't see anything obvious so I carried on (only a mile from home). Forgot about it until this morning and tyre didn't look right - turned out to be down to 15 psi after 24 hours. Pumped it up, but it really doesn't feel right at all: It is a good 6 or 7 miles before I get onto smooth(ish) tarmac and I have a bit of a wheel wobble and it feels a bit strange on roundabouts... It seems to pull up straight (but with some steering wobble) and track straight - otherwise I would suspect damage steering rack. Anyone know what the damage is likely to be? Is it possible that a tyre could lose 20+ psi just in the impact? Or is it possible that I have cracked the rim and it's leaking air (they are split rim sport designs and the visible edge doesn't look damaged. Anything else vulnerable to this on a 996? Track rod ends? Bent wishbones?

One other question - anyone had any success in claiming off the council for anything more serious than a puncture as a result of road damage? PS. They filled in the pothole this morning!

Sounds about right the BAS***DS quick enough to take car tax or fine YOU if it tickles their fancy, but when the shoes on the other foot !! :x :x My mate hit a pothole in an Astra BOOM wheel wrecked,complete with tyre

I did the exact thing about 2 years ago. I suspect you've either cracked or dented the rim and it will almost certainly need replacing. I bought a brand new wheel for about £700, but in hindsight, it would have been much cheaper to get a second hand one. Best bet is to take it down to a tyre fitters for an inspection. It will only cost about £20 and you can then see what the problem is.

Wattie, the pressure can fall instantaneously when the tyre wall to rim seal fails - so you may be ok if the depressurisation happened when you hit the pothole. If you jack the car up, put an axle stand under the car to protect yourself and spin the wheel you'll be able to see if it is buckled by placing your finger or a stationary object in close proximity to the rim. If you get the wheel balance checked at a garage it will show if the tyre is out of balance - I suspect it is. I successfully claimed for a new tyre and a rim refurbish against St Albans Council but I took pictures of the pothole and damage with a strong letter to support my case. Good luck Ray :judge: :sad:

Wattie You obviouly checked the outside of the wheel rim, have you looked at the inside rim of the affected wheel? My daughter in law had a similar thing happen and I found that the inner rim was slightly buckled that affected the seal and gave some other peculiarities. Regards big Bob

Haven't had a chance to look at that yet - that's a job for the weekend I guess. :roll:

I'd agree with this - I had some buckling of the inner rim on one of my Jag alloys which looked perfectly OK on the outside (probably also caused by a pothole). Very bad luck, but I hope that the bill isn't too bad. It's sometimes possible to fix a ding in the rim if it's not too severe & hasn't affected the integrity of the wheel.

+1, hence jacking up the car :thumb:

So, I took the wheel off today to have a look and the rim is bent :sad: A bit of soapy water soon revealed this to be the cause of my slow pressure loss, so looks like I am going to need a new wheel :frustrated: There is also a slight crack nearer the centre of the rim, which is not leaking air at the moment, but would put me off an attempt to simply refurbish the wheel. Anyone got a single Sport Design 18" wheel going spare by any chance? Fortunately a neighbour spotted me photographing the wheel and it turns out they took a photo of the pothole (it was filled in a few hours after I hit it, and before I realised any damage had been done). So a claim will be made to the council as soon as the full extent of the damage has been assessed! I have a nasty suspicion that I have also knackered the wheel bearing in the process, as it's howling like a banshee now :evil:

I feel for You man, I wouldn't want it. I paid £1600 for after market wheels & You never know how easy it would be to get a spare if this were to happen to Me. :x

The state of our public roads is dreadful. Get the wheel and tyre sorted. Be aware though of any further damage that may have been caused, particularly to the track rod. Check front tyre regularly once back on for adverse wear indicating if the alignment is out. Once your happy that its right bang your claim into the responsible party. I have experience this exact problem, thankfully for me the alloy suffered no damage, but a new tyre track rod end and alignment check burnt hole in my pocket.

What a PITA mate, feel for you. :evil: And you'll have to clean the other 3 wheels to match now :hand:

Clean isn't the word for it I'm afraid - major refurb required I think... 4 years and 65,000 miles on Sport Designs is an absolute no go... :nooo:

Feel for you Wattie. I did precisely this in my dad's XR3 back in the 80s. He would not believe that I didn't do something stupid with it despite me pointing out that it was the inside of the rim. In the end, I had to buy the new rim or stop driving his car whilst I was rebuilding the engine on my Renault 5 Gordini.