20" rims hit a pot hole at night - Suspension/alignment seem okay however.....

[MCS]

So the lady and I were driving back from dinner Saturday night and we hit some of Canada's FINEST road repair work. Seems like someone partially filled in a hole they dug for water main work; the asphalt that was used also seems to have sunk (probably a temp job due to winter coming) so hole wasn't even with the rest of the road.

I've got 20" rims and 35 sidewall tires; needless to say it was a rather loud bang.

Nothing seems damaged; the wheel seems fine, the alignment doesn't seem to pull one way or the other so that seems okay however this kinda stuff bugs me until I KNOW it's fine! Any method folks use to test whether or not they destroyed something without taking it into a shop and pulling the wheel off?

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[erocker]

Pull the wheel and check it and your steering components for any bends or whatever.

 

[MCS]

Pull the wheel and check it and your steering components for any bends or whatever.

LOL so the short answer is "No, you have to pull the wheel". Got it, thanks. More money gone to the dealership :( Should send the bill to the city for their shitty workmanship.

I took it for a drive yesterday and had no vibrations, no noises, no pull in one direction or the other, but I guess I'll take it to the dealership before storing it in November.

 

[JAM486HP]

Ahh, comforting to know our friends north of the border have same quality road maintenance as US.

Happens all the time rounds my area. If the tire is holding pressure, no vibration and the car doesn't pull, all is good!

 

[roket]

LOL so the short answer is "No, you have to pull the wheel". Got it, thanks. More money gone to the dealership :( Should send the bill to the city for their shitty workmanship.

I took it for a drive yesterday and had no vibrations, no noises, no pull in one direction or the other, but I guess I'll take it to the dealership before storing it in November.

it might be a worthwhile investment to get a decent low profile jack and a 1/2" electric impact with a 21mm thin wall impact socket. if you get a good impact, it should be able to take the lugs off and let you remove your wheels at home either to switch them out for summer/winter or do a rotation. just be sure that when you put them back on, you use a torque wrench to torque them to 150 lb-ft.

 

[MCS]

it might be a worthwhile investment to get a decent low profile jack and a 1/2" electric impact with a 21mm thin wall impact socket. if you get a good impact, it should be able to take the lugs off and let you remove your wheels at home either to switch them out for summer/winter or do a rotation. just be sure that when you put them back on, you use a torque wrench to torque them to 150 lb-ft.

That's the plan. Slowly been building up some stuff that wasn't required before but I've spent a ton on the car recently (tools, car parts, washing products and gear) that I've been cut off for a few months LOL

 

[smurfslayer]

Any method folks use to test whether or not they destroyed something without taking it into a shop and pulling the wheel off?

check the tire psi and keep an eye on it for a slow leak.
turn the wheel to full lock and examine. Move forward and check the next portion of the wheel / tire for damage ; repeat until you’ve laid eyes on the whole wheel.

Use a bright light so you can spot anything out of the ordinary. Look for tire/rim discoloration, bent wheel, broken wheel, etc.

I feel your financial pain. I trashed one of my wife’s 21” Lincoln wheels on I410 in San Antonio. I knew as soon as we hit the wheel was done for, so swapped to the psi display on the dash for the rest of the ride home. It never lost pressure, but the wheel edge was destroyed, broken from the wheel itself for about 3-4 inches. I was surprised it didn’t deflate. About 500 USD to replace that stinker.
The tire took a big hit too but didn’t seem to be that much the worse for wear.

If you start seeing tire psi go down on that wheel unexpectedly, get it checked ASAP.

 

[MCS]

check the tire psi and keep an eye on it for a slow leak.
turn the wheel to full lock and examine. Move forward and check the next portion of the wheel / tire for damage ; repeat until you’ve laid eyes on the whole wheel.

Use a bright light so you can spot anything out of the ordinary. Look for tire/rim discoloration, bent wheel, broken wheel, etc.

I feel your financial pain. I trashed one of my wife’s 21” Lincoln wheels on I410 in San Antonio. I knew as soon as we hit the wheel was done for, so swapped to the psi display on the dash for the rest of the ride home. It never lost pressure, but the wheel edge was destroyed, broken from the wheel itself for about 3-4 inches. I was surprised it didn’t deflate. About 500 USD to replace that stinker.
The tire took a big hit too but didn’t seem to be that much the worse for wear.

If you start seeing tire psi go down on that wheel unexpectedly, get it checked ASAP.

I did a cursory examination the other day after we got back and I got in the garage and I didn't see any physical damage on the outside service of the wheel. I will be doing a full wash on the car again tomorrow after my dashcams are installed so will take your advise above and do stop to stop and inspection on the fronts.

I took it for a drive Wednesday night (an hour+ drive around the city) and did check the PSI levels; they were all within range of each other for regular driving.

According to Ford Pass they are all at 34 except the front left (not the wheel that got hit) which is at 35 LOL - yes, my OCD kills me sometimes.

I think I'm going to check them with my actual tire pressure gauge and bring them down to 32 or 33 PSI to make for a bit for a software experience. I'll need to do a search on here to see what others are running their 20" Nitto NT555 G2s at LOL

 

[Wiley Marmot]

While you might not have damaged a tire/s; it's possible you've incurred a hairline crack in a wheel (hope you haven't!).

Happened to me in '21 in my Focus RS; no post "bang" shake wobble, pulling left/right, etc; everything seemed fine. Time went on; eventually (a yearish later) I developed a slow leak in the tire which I couldn't find. Had the wheel/tire dismounted at a nearby shop only to discover the tire was fine but the hairline crack in the wheel had been getting worse over the miles.

 

[smurfslayer]

I think I'm going to check them with my actual tire pressure gauge and bring them down to 32 or 33 PSI to make for a bit for a software experience. I'll need to do a search on here to see what others are running their 20" Nitto NT555 G2s at LOL

Be careful you don’t go too far. with lower psi the tire will compress more or give more and potentially hit the rim instead of the tire absorbing most of the sharp impact. You may have only partially hit the pothole, the one I hit in my wife’s car swallowed the whole wheel/tire at speed. There was a noticeable vibration afterward, subtle, but there.

While you might not have damaged a tire/s; it's possible you've incurred a hairline crack in a wheel (hope you haven't!).

Happened to me in '21 in my Focus RS; no post "bang" shake wobble, pulling left/right, etc; everything seemed fine. Time went on; eventually (a yearish later) I developed a slow leak in the tire which I couldn't find. Had the wheel/tire dismounted at a nearby shop only to discover the tire was fine but the hairline crack in the wheel had been getting worse over the miles.

yeah, I can totally see that being possible and that’s why it’s a good idea to get it looked over. An external inspection is ok for now but keep it in mind to get it looked at more thoroughly.

 

[MCS]

I grabbed a second Gorilla Lug Key today (like having one in the car and one in my tool chest at home) so while I was out I stopped by a friend with a lift for lunch.

Took the wheel off. Did a thorough inspection. We couldn't find anything.

We were looking in there with lights, zoomed in on a camera and everything except an atomic microscope; only cause we didn't have access to one.

I think I got lucky. THIS time.

Nothing looks bent but neither of us are suspension experts so it was more "It doesn't look like anything is twisted or snapped so that's good".

The last few years the road work has started to resemble more and more like the roads in Calcutta.

 

[smurfslayer]

It’s a Mustang. Built in, and tested in and around Detroit, Michigan.

Have you ever seen or experienced the roads around Detroit? It’s like being on pavement that’s been shelled with artillery.

You’re probably fine.

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