Small disagreement with a pot hole...

[bewA]

Last Friday on the way home a nice tractor decided he needed more space on the road and crossed over the middle line which unfortunately meant that I was unable to slow down and I had to move over to more my side of the road and as a result I made friends with a large pot hole at around 45mph.

There was a very large bang and the car jolted so i immediately pulled over to inspect for damage on the passenger side front wheel although luckily it appears visually all is fine and no tire pressure warnings etc etc.

 

However I am getting some vibration (it's not severe but it is noticeable) going from 65/70mph which would only increase as speed would increase. The car doesn't pull to either side and stays straight (with steering assistance disabled of course).

I've given the front wheels a wobble to see if there is some undesirable play or clunking. Also in EV mode I'm not noticing any untoward sounds.

I've not been under the car to check.

 

I'm thinking the tracking requires some correction, does this sound like a correct assumption?

[bruce e]

Get the dealer to do a check, mine carried out the check foc

[Gerg]

Hi, 

I wouldn't expect a tracking issue to cause your symptoms. 

I think it would be prudent to get the inside and outside tyre walls closely inspected. The impact * may even * have lightly deformed the alloy wheel rim - more likely if your car doesn't have 16" wheels fitted. 

Alloy wheels bends can be repaired by a specialist, but I've no personal experience of getting this done. 

[bewA]

ok i'll get it checked out! 🙂

[bewA]

booked in for next Friday 🙂

[DeTomato]

It sounds like the tracking has been put out.  Sometimes the track control arm gets bent slightly.

[Cbatoday]

Sounds more like its thrown a weight off the wheel and has sent the wheel out of balance

Pop to a tyre fitters and ask them to check the balance of wheel. Will only cost £5 to get them to do it

[bruce e]

If you can go back & get a forensic pic of the pothole showing diameter & depth you may have a claim against the council

[bewA]

Hopefully it's either tracking or a wheel weight but I'd rather just get it checked over properly as it's the first time I've ever hit anything like that in the 17 years of driving :-)

Either way I'm sure Toyota will look after me [emoji41]

[tooSavvy]

https://www.gov.uk/report-pothole

😉

2sav

[bewA]

https://www.gov.uk/report-pothole
[emoji6]
2sav

Thanks and reported :-)

[PeteB]

A few years ago a colleague of mine had just such an incident and successfully recovered the cost of a new wheel and tyre from the council.

[bewA]

Well if it's trivial I wont bother but if it's a lot then yes I'll be claiming!

The pot hole was pretty long at the side of the road and had a sheer drop on the beginning and end which is why I had such a bang! But as I mentioned in the OP I wouldn't have touched it if the tractor hadn't crossed over the centre line, which he didn't need to do!

[Cbatoday]

Did you take it to the garage and what was the outcome

[bewA]

Did you take it to the garage and what was the outcome

It's next Friday (11th) :-)

[bewA]

The verdict is that the alloy is buckled! :-(

[Cbatoday]

wow thats bad

[bewA]

It'll be fixed tomorrow but I will be attempting to claim from the local council!

[DeTomato]

Wow. You may have trouble claiming under Section 35 because they tend to argue that if the pothole was there you will have been able to drive around it , whatever the circumstances. I've had this outcome in 2009 on a former car when the pothole blew two tyres! Council said no claim. You can try it, but it is a difficult claim to make with witnesses.

The only other way I've seen these wheel rims straightened is with a specialist who can do this.

[bewA]

Well all I can do is try.
I've paid for a new one and it could be repaired I guess but it's hassle!

[rafletcher]

Repairs at a reputable alloy wheel specialist would be easy enough, probably around the £90 mark. As to pothole and claims, if th3 council are aware of it, ie it’s been reported but not repaired, they are liable. If it’s not been reported then they can’t be held to be responsible.