Dang Potholes, advice for friends ride >>

[Jeff02GAGT]

My buddy got a 99 WS6 TA, and so we decided to take it out tonight. Anyways, we were on a 4 lane road, and he punched it to pass some guy going super slow in the one lane. Well, as we get a head of him we hear a loud "BANG"... He must have hit a pothole. It sounds dreadful. I seriously would have thought we bent a rim on this one... Anyways, we kept driving and the car seems to drive fine. Maybe it feels a little off now (your mind plays games when you're lookin for something)... anyways, we parked and looked at the rim. NO cracks (or so we can see), and the tire seems ok. A little of the dealership SNOT that was put on got on the rim though for the impact lol. we wipped that off. Anyways, I was just wondering, what should we look for? Is everything probably ok if the tire is still ok? How hard is to bend a factory rim? Anyone have any ideas on what to look for?

Thanks,
Jeff

[wolfdogs]

if you dont notice anything different......then chances are its ok.

if you hit hard enough to bend the rim..and the tire is properly inflated...then you would suffer tire damage, i.e.: to the belt package...possibly even a clean break.

what you did, most likely though, is throw the front end alignment off. better let her go down the road at about 50mph... flat concrete..no truck tire groves..and let go of the wheel and see if she tracks straight. or just get the alignment checked...

[Jeff02GAGT]

sounds good KEN

Ken,

I will have him try that today, however, last night we drove it and were on the highway and stuff, I even drove it to see if I could feel anything funny, but it seems as if it's driving ok... Doesn't seem to pull or anything... If the alignment was off, even if you were holdin on to the wheel, wouldn't it still start to pull in one direction? Well, I will definately have him have that looked!

Thanks
Jeff

[wolfdogs]

Re: sounds good KEN

Originally posted by Jeff02GAGT
Ken,

I will have him try that today, however, last night we drove it and were on the highway and stuff, I even drove it to see if I could feel anything funny, but it seems as if it's driving ok... Doesn't seem to pull or anything... If the alignment was off, even if you were holdin on to the wheel, wouldn't it still start to pull in one direction? Well, I will definately have him have that looked!

Thanks
Jeff

the toe out/in could be off just slightly where you wont feel a strong pull. however...keep an eye on the tire wear ...both inside and outside crown edges... granted.. the outside crown edge wears pretty rapid on f bodies anyway...especially if you like to play in corners..

[Jeff02GAGT]

Ok.. Ken more ?, sorry to bother you

But since I know you're the tire expert, I have one more question. I will try that tracking like you said... My question is though, HOW long should the car stay going straight before it will veer off to the right or left? Also, If we take his TA to get an alignment, will he need a FULL 4 wheel alignment, or just a 2 wheel alignment? I wouldn't think that this caused that much damage.. considering the road we hit this on was under construction but is a very busy road. I would bet like a 100 other people had to have hit this... Granted we were going quick when we hit it, but I don't think it could have been too deep because we looked under his bird and don't see any scrapes or anything....(bumper, etc)... Anyways, if you could just let me know about the alignment and the tracking (how long it should go straight) that would be awesome!

Thanks Much Ken!

Jeff