GS - 2nd Gen (1998-2005) Discussion about the second generation GS300, GS400 and GS430 (1998 - 2005)

Hit A Pothole!

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Old 04-06-07 | 08:39 AM
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Default Hit A Pothole!

I was driving at night and out of nowhere i came a pothole 1.5feet deep and there was not enough time to swerve the car so the passenger front and rear side of my rims including the car SLAMMED onto the road while going over the pothole at 60Km/h. You could imagine the sound of the impact of the car! It still very disturbing to my ears.

Came out to look at the car, there were no scrapes on the TTE Lip, lower chassis and rims! I drove home an hour later, there was no vibration on the steering wheel nor difference in the handling!

Guys, how do you know whether your rims are bent or suspension was damaged? I can't seem to find any indication, please i need your comments
Old 04-06-07 | 08:47 AM
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Vibrations and bouncing in the tires at mid speeds 40+? IM GUESSING...
Old 04-06-07 | 09:02 AM
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jack up the car and free spin the wheels, that's easy way to see if it's bent or out of round
Old 04-06-07 | 09:49 AM
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be sure to look on the inside/inboard edge of rim also...it seems the wheels are easier to bend there. OUCH I hate pot holes...especially when they jump in front of you....
Old 04-06-07 | 12:13 PM
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You should be getting some sort of vibrations if the wheel is bent. It sounds like the chassis took most of the hit though. Darn thing must have been HUGE!

I lost two PS2s ($300 tires) and Two wheels to a piece of steel the great city of Atlanta decided to leave in the middle of the road... I feel your pain! Though it sounds like you might have gotten away easier than I did. Have it checked out by a tire shop and see what they say. If the wheels are still in balance and there are no visual bends you should be good.
Old 04-06-07 | 12:36 PM
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1.5 FEET? thats not a pothole, thats just a HOLE! haha. thats pretty sick. i hate nasty roads. Similiar thing happened to me exiting the 110 fwy. I guess they were doing construction, and the uneven road just dropped a foot or more. it was ugly
Old 04-06-07 | 12:57 PM
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i believe you can sue the city for pothole damage to your rims and tires. i know this is true is san francisco but the process to get reimbursed takes hella long.
Old 04-06-07 | 01:29 PM
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forgot to mention the tires may have been damaged, one way to tell is if there are bulges/bubbles in the sidewalls or the tread. That would mean the tire has separated and has broken belts inside the tire. I've had that happen to me before...set of toyo's.
Old 04-06-07 | 07:47 PM
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I feel your pain hey you could have hit a Beaver like me
Old 04-06-07 | 08:00 PM
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even if a rim is bent you won't always get vibration. i blew three tires when i hit a square speed bump in mexico; not in the GS, but my maxima. when i went to buy new tires and left the shop my car was vibrating like crazy. went back to the shop and told them that my car was shaking. what happend was they did not balance the wheels with the new tires, but they showed me the wheel on the balancing machine and oh yeah these wheels were F@$KED UP. drove home and i did not get any vibration after wheels were balanced, so it was all good.
Old 04-06-07 | 08:03 PM
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believe me you will know if your rim is bent! I hit a railroad track going 60mph through boston and bent two of my rims, my car shook like was going through crack withdrawl
Old 04-06-07 | 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by ReLexin
believe me you will know if your rim is bent! I hit a railroad track going 60mph through boston and bent two of my rims, my car shook like was going through crack withdrawl
well, just in your case. a bent wheel or out of round wheels do not necessarily mean vibration right the way. it depends on the bent, tire, etc... believe me, you might NOT feel it
Old 04-07-07 | 07:08 AM
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Thanks a lot guys,

I went to the tire shop today to check the status of the affected wheels. Fortunately that the affected wheels and tires that hit the ground last night, had no problems bubble/dent/bent whatsoever.

Instead, the other front and rear side (driver side) wheels that was not affected, had minor bents on them as the tire people rotated the wheel in the machine. very strange. But in overall, the 4 wheels are still driveable.

Anyway, I did the balancing and alignment for the car and the driving was back as normal.

Just one question:
like when we use negative camber on our GS2, the ground clearance will go lower slightly; but will an negative adjustment of the toe affect the height of the car? After the alignment was done, it seems that the rear camber became slightly positive as the wheels are now closer to the fender

Thanks for the comments again guys
Old 04-07-07 | 07:49 AM
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Glad everything is back to normal.. i guess you can say that you got lucky and watch those pot holes... The caster may have gotten out of alignment when you hit the hole..Now it may look different because its corrected unless there is a visable difference on each side..
Old 04-07-07 | 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by LEXUS_KID
I feel your pain hey you could have hit a Beaver like me
if you seriously hit a beaver i gotta hear that story


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