Wooderson Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 So, the GF and I were on our way to see a Christmas light display. I was doing about 60 on the expressway and hit a huge pothole with both the front and rear drivers side tires. Both tires blew. Besides the blown tires and possible/likely bent wheels, are there any other things I should look for? I want to make sure any damage is paid for by insurance or the road commission. Oh, and after I hit the pothole, I was sitting on the shoulder waiting for the tow truck. In the 45 mins I was there, 5 other people had hit the pothole and blew out tires. Although it looked like I was the only one who blew 2 tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underpowerd Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 wheel bearing/hub assy takes the brunt IME. control arm, strut, strut mount, ball joint, maybe even axle should all get a look. you'll likely have to get it on the alignment rack. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim1969 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 I recently cracked and bent a rim on a pot hole. Tire was fine. My assembly was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drcaveman Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 The Subie is pretty robust, but that sucks. You can also be certain that your alignment is completely out of whack, if the other mechanicals are OK, find a good alignment shop ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molal24 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 I dunno what I would look for. At least your okay. I would just look all around, raise her up and look under I guess for anything looking out of the ordinary. You're lucky. I've experienced that twice. Last year I was driving my Accord down the street and hit a pothole the size of frickin Texas. This thing was huge. Blew my front passenger tire and grew a deformity in my back passenger tire. I ended up changing all 4. This year in my LGT, 3 days ago actually, was driving and approved a massive pothole, i did a quick swrive around it and actually spun my Legacy around in a 180 because of the ice that was around it. Moral of the story, watch out for randomly huge potholes and don't think you're invincible with AWD. I'm glad it was 2:30 in the morning with no one around or I could probably be in the ICU right now...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 So, the GF and I were on our way to see a Christmas light display. I was doing about 60 on the expressway and hit a huge pothole with both the front and rear drivers side tires. Both tires blew. Besides the blown tires and possible/likely bent wheels, are there any other things I should look for? I want to make sure any damage is paid for by insurance or the road commission. Oh, and after I hit the pothole, I was sitting on the shoulder waiting for the tow truck. In the 45 mins I was there, 5 other people had hit the pothole and blew out tires. Although it looked like I was the only one who blew 2 tires. Damn that sucks...I second what the other people say on here hopefully just need an alignment though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addison Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 you get the city/state (whos ever road it is) to pay for damage. After all you pay taxes to upkeep the roads. just start making phone calls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 heh, yea right, asking the city/state to pay for the damage when they wont even take care of the road.... A similar thing happened to me but the tires didnt blow. It busted the radials however and dented both rims. When you get your new setup definitely have them check the rims for any denting and HAVE AN ALIGNMENT. I lost my replacement tire almost because my front driver side was like this / after hitting it. I'd say if they have any trouble with the alignment or balancing (a good shop should check the other components for damage as well) thats when you need to worry. Good luck, sorry to hear about this. I am on my 3rd set of tires on my car in less than 60k miles. None of them have really worn out. They have all been destroyed by bad roads. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06gtleg Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 a friend of mine hit a pot hole and called who ever owned that road. they transfered him to so many people. after being dodged he decided just to fix it himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molal24 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Make sure you get the warranty on the tires. Cause if they blow out, you can always get a new one for free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 I am always on the lookout for pot holes. I live in the middle of nowhere in Maine, and the roads are horrible. The thing I keep in mind: Stay as close to the center as possible Don't go through puddles. You don't know what is in them. If there is a puddle its probably because there is a hole to collect the water. Especially if its icy look way ahead to avoid them. You get good at spotting them. And if it's a road you drive everyday you'll know where they all are anyway. But hitting them does happen. I messed up my alignment and put bubble in my tire. Fortunately they were bald and needed to be replaced anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow05gtRI Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 this just happened to me two days ago. driving home on xmas eve for christmas and all of a sudden i'm in a minefield of potholes in the right lane on the highway. seriously 100+ yards of potholes right where the tire tracks would be. i avoided a few but ended up hitting one and put a bubble/leak in my front passenger tire (though i thought i escaped without getting injured). didn't realize it was damaged until last night, as i was driving home from my aunt&uncle's i noticed my steering wheel was vibrating when getting over 45-50mph ....checked my pressure when i got home and only had 8 lbs ! refilled it and noticed the bubble show up in the sidewall, still vibrating steering wheel when driving as well. hopefully that 40-50mile drive with very low pressure didnt do too much damage to the diff. today, called almost every tire shop within an hour drive and only found one (sears) with 4 snow tires in 215/45/17. just got back from buying them/having them put on and they also did an alignment. car felt fine on the way home so I think I should be alright. it's not pulling to any side when i let go of the wheel and no funny feelings/noises. got some bridgestone blizzak ws-60's (would have ordered a performance winter tire off tire rack if i had time...but i need a vehicle so no time to wait for tires to come in). i would have kept the re92's through the winter and until i needed to replace them...oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooderson Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 So, here is the update... The wheels are NOT bent. The tread on the one newer tire I had measured almost the same and the new tires. So I ended up replacing 3 tires and getting a 4 wheel alignment. Now, even though the alignment report shows everything is within spec, the car still pulls to the right a little bit. Also, the steering wheel is slightly cocked to the right. So when I have the steering wheel straight, it turns the car slightly to the left. Does this sound like something may be bent, or did they just do a crappy job on the alignment? Something doesn't seem right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow05gtRI Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 bad alignment job it sounds like. the pull to the right could be due to crowning on the road, but the steering wheel not being straight is an alignment thing. could be lower control arm damage? I'm not sure. I had that problem a long time ago in my old car where i had to turn the wheel about 30 degrees to the left to go straight. no one could align it i ended up having to replace some parts.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 If you hit that hard, hemmoroids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfang Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 So, here is the update... The wheels are NOT bent. The tread on the one newer tire I had measured almost the same and the new tires. So I ended up replacing 3 tires and getting a 4 wheel alignment. Did they measure the tread depth or did they measure the overall circumference of the tires mounted on the wheel? There is a difference and the results are different. Anything more than 1/4 inch in circumference is bad. Now, even though the alignment report shows everything is within spec, the car still pulls to the right a little bit. Also, the steering wheel is slightly cocked to the right. So when I have the steering wheel straight, it turns the car slightly to the left. Does this sound like something may be bent, or did they just do a crappy job on the alignment? Something doesn't seem right?Like it has been said, they did not center the steering wheel before they made adjustments. Also did they inspect the struts and control arms? If they were bad enough, the alignment would have been way out and they may or may not have been able to get it in. [SIZE=1][URL="http://public.fotki.com/blackfang/"]Pics[/URL] [B]08 KawasakiZZR 600- exhaust and other mods 98 Camaro Z/28 HT- some mods......street/strip car 07 Legacy 2.5i- SPT exhaust...daily driver[/B][/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drcaveman Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 If your car is pulling I would bet you caster is out of spec on the side you hit, but unfortunately Subaru's don't have caster adjustment, at least the Legacy's don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfang Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 If your car is pulling I would bet you caster is out of spec on the side you hit, but unfortunately Subaru's don't have caster adjustment, at least the Legacy's don't. Not always the case, but partly a part of it. You can have a car that pulls even with the alignment in spec. This is usually the result from the difference between the right and left camber and caster settings(cross camber/caster), both can crate a pulling even if they are in spec. That is why you want to get them close to dead on as you can verse just getting them in spec. [SIZE=1][URL="http://public.fotki.com/blackfang/"]Pics[/URL] [B]08 KawasakiZZR 600- exhaust and other mods 98 Camaro Z/28 HT- some mods......street/strip car 07 Legacy 2.5i- SPT exhaust...daily driver[/B][/SIZE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm_jim Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 if you notify the town and they dont fix the pothole within 24 hours they have to pay to have your shit fixed for free. just take pics. and if you got an alignment and your car still pulls you could have bent the strut or lca or its just a shitty alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drcaveman Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Not always the case, but partly a part of it. You can have a car that pulls even with the alignment in spec. This is usually the result from the difference between the right and left camber and caster settings(cross camber/caster), both can crate a pulling even if they are in spec. That is why you want to get them close to dead on as you can verse just getting them in spec. Thats whats happening in my car, I have the alignment sheet from the shop, Phoenix Performance. My Camber is -1.25deg in the front, -1.12 in the rear, which is were I had them set it. The Toe setting is 0.0" all around My Problem is the Caster, My Left is +6.59deg and my Right is +5.86deg, until I get some caster plates, there's pretty much nothing I can do about it. To: Wooderson the original poster can you get the print out for your car I always make it a point of getting the sheet most places will give it to you if you ask. If they do have a copy stored on the computer post up what the numbers are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooderson Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 To: Wooderson the original poster can you get the print out for your car I always make it a point of getting the sheet most places will give it to you if you ask. If they do have a copy stored on the computer post up what the numbers are. I did get a print out. I'll try to scan and and post it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 If caster isn't adjustable, how does it get out of spec? Bent parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooderson Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/ll433/gifsssss/picsssss/alignment_0001.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drcaveman Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 The image is blurry, but can you confirm the left camber is -0.6 the right is -0.4, the left caster is 6.5 and the right is 5.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooderson Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 The image is blurry, but can you confirm the left camber is -0.6 the right is -0.4, the left caster is 6.5 and the right is 5.7 Yes, that is what it reads. Edit: And I rescanned it so it is more readable. Check the pic again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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