Hit a pot hole

[lorriman]

Hit a massive pot hole last night and now the steering wheel's sitting at a jaunty angle when going straight ahead. It's not much, but noticeable.

I've had a quick look at the front nearside wheel and tyre and can't see any damage which will be amazing if it's true 'cos it almost broke the windscreen it hit so hard. And driving down the motorway there wasn't any more vibration than usual.

I'm taking it into the dealer on Monday, but does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing and is there anything else I need to check before suing the local council? I've already reported the incident to them and they are sending me a claim form. Said they would take a photo before the repaired it as it's such a dangerous road I don't fancy trying to take one myself.

Thanks in advance.

[Roadrunner]

You'll have bent one of the track rods, or possibly (more unlikely) one of the steering rack ends. The steering wheel angle is evidence that something has changed. This will undoubtedly put uneven wear on one or both of your front tyres (if you hit the pot hole with only one wheel, the damage will likely be to that corner and it's that tyre that will wear unevenly).

If the impact was that severe, I'd also have the wheel checked out at a tyre depot (easiest way is to ask them to run it up on their wheel balancer) to see if the wheel is still "round". Although there may be no visible impact damage, it may have deformed the entire wheel. This wouldn't necessarily put the wheel out of balance, and the tyre may still hold air, but I prefer my wheels to be round ;)

Brian

[lorriman]

Thanks Brian

Sounds as if it might be more than just a wheel alignment then?

Thanks for the information. I really need to make sure I document what the garage does so I can attempt to claim some or all of it back from the council.

Cheers.

[Roadrunner]

The problem is essentially wheel alignment, but caused by damage. It may be possible to correct it by simply adjusting the track-rod end on the affected side but you'll still have a bent track-rod and, if you've got an opportunity to get it replaced at the council's expense, I would go for that.

Brian

[lorriman]

The car's less than 2 years old, so I don't just want it repaired.

I'll be pressing for the council to pay up if indeed it's that serious.

Cheers

[Japmetal]

My only word of advice would be to MAKE SURE you get a picture [from wherever] Since it's too late once you find it's filled in and the council merely replies with "Ooops, sorry sir but we forgot !"

Then, you probably wouldnt get anything since evidence of a repaired pothole will not be enough to help your case ! Not suggesting you taker it yourself, but maybe you can meet a council representative there to sort it for you or something ?

[Physician]

My only word of advice would be to MAKE SURE you get a picture [from wherever] Since it's too late once you find it's filled in and the council merely replies with "Ooops, sorry sir but we forgot !"

Then, you probably wouldnt get anything since evidence of a repaired pothole will not be enough to help your case ! Not suggesting you taker it yourself, but maybe you can meet a council representative there to sort it for you or something ?

I totally agree with you Japmetal. My experience with Councils and Local Authorities is that they won't give a damn and, as you say, if they don't take a photo AND give a copy to lorriman he is screwed (for want of a better word.)

If it's dangerous lorriman ask the wife to take a photo for you :D

[lorriman]

If it's dangerous lorriman ask the wife to take a photo for you :D


Now why didn't I think of that?

They had repaired the pot hole by the end of the day, but I have a record of my call to them on our phone system at work, so they shouldn't have any excuses.

Just to cap it all, when washing the car at the weekend (for the second time 'cos it rained on Sunday and made a mess of my good work on Saturday) I noticed a great big nail straight through the tread of the same bl**dy tyre!

The garage has it now and I've borrowed my wife's FTO for the day.

Thanks for all your help guys!

I'll write this up when I get it all sorted.

Nige

[lorriman]

Latest on my 'I hit a pot hole saga'.

Took the car into the local Mitsi dealer and also reported that there was a nail in the nearside front tyre, so expected them to fix the misaligned wheel by checking the suspension and tracking and also repair the tyre.

Well, the car was in there all day and at the end of it they didn't even bother repairing the tyre and the steering wheel was still not centred.

Took it to the local tyre place and they repaired the tyre and then went about adjusting the tracking. Both the fronts were out by over 30sec (that's half a degree, so well beyond spec).

Drove it away with a bee in my bonnet about the dealer charging me £35 for doing nothing and noticed that the steering wheel was now even further out than before.

So, took it back this am to the tyre place and they said the steering wheel must have slipped while being held in place during the alignment. 1 hr later and the car was finished.

Drove it away and noticed the wheel was better but still about 15 deg from horizontal when straight ahead.

Yet another trip to get it fixed. What a waste of time.

Why can't anyone do a proper job nowadays?

[Lurch]

Because no-one knows what they're doing anymore..

Had afew cars FUBAR'd by people in the past.. one guy forgot to put the bonet down on my Celica that I had it flew off while on a test drive.. ripped it off, damaged the roof, fendors...

"oh sorry"

... then they didn't put the new belt on correctly and the engine was slipping when driving..

I could go on for hours... ;)