Big_Mike_4488

So I'm driving to the gym yesterday, goin the speed limit, minding my own business. I go around a blind curve and right there I see an old Ford pickup halfway in my lane. My only option is going to the right, no time to stop. I make towards the edge of the road, and there is a nice big chunk missing that I hit, hard. Everything felt pretty normal on the way to the gym, and it looked fine when I got out and checked it. Fast forward 5 hours later, I'm on the interstate driving to the GF's house. I get to about 60 mph for the first time since I hit the hole. The car starts shaking and vibrating so much, I can hardly hear the radio. I took it to a tire place this morning and sure enough, the inside of my back right wheel is bent all to ****. Luckily the guy at a pretty good wheel repair shop says it is fixable. Still gonna cost me $125. Like I said, I hate potholes. (And old Ford pickup trucks)

PhotoMunkey

Well, you could have hit the truck!

I was towing a new Chevy truck up the I-5 "Grapevine" once and hit a pothole on the side of the freeway (white line was completely missing at that section!). I BENT the entire trailer right over the tandem axles, under the truck! It pulled the fender on the passenger's side of the axle down onto the tires, and was actually cutting them. I had to pull off and use some pliars to bent the sheet metal away from the tires.

Potholes truly DO suck!

BTW-I saw an RX-8 at Cardinale Way Mazda in Mesa, AZ with a broken left front lower control arm. Snapped right at the shock mount! Marks on the inside of the passenger's side tire make me think it was driven over a curb...

"Shanika"

Sorry to hear about that. How's the car feel now (allignment alright)?

dmc27

Weak!! FYI - Every municipality will cover costs of pothole damage to vehicles. It is a GIANT hassle to do, b/c you will have to go thru miles of beauracratic BS. Letter to muni clerk, appear before town council w/ documentation for all work done PLUS (in most cases) a police report from when incident happens. Obviously this part is the most irritating b/c responding to pothole damage requests has less priority than a kitten stuck in a tree. Not to mention you never can tell if there is any damage until you hit 60mph sometime later. Might still be worth the phone call, though. Sorry Mike.

Big_Mike_4488

Haha, I almost did!

Not sure about the alignment, I'm gonna have it checked after the wheel is fixed and re-mounted.

I thought about it. I might make a few calls just to find out, but I figure $125 won't be quite worth the hassles i'll have to go through. I'm just worried about being without my 8 for 4 days.

bascho

At least you'll save on gas for those 4 days Hell 4 days might be long enough to recover the $125 at current gas prices

maisis00

Dude... that sucks! sry!

vapourit

When my rim came scratched from the dealer and they loaned me a mazda3 for a week I was happy about the gas savings too!!!

toxin440

I feel your pain man I went thru something almost similar, I'm from houston and im here in dallas for an extended period for work. They have something here called "citty tittes" (slang terms for these HUGE plastic ***** (about the size of some big *****, which are designed to keep people from switching lanes. Well we dont have those in houston, so when I saw it (from my point of view) it looked like a regular little plastic reflector bump. That is until i heard the smack from hitting it doing 30mph

I didnt think anything of it until a trip home a few weeks later when I got on some deserted highway and got to open my car to to ~100mph and i noticed the exact same horrible vibration from the car.

Took my car into discount tire and they told me my front left rim was bent ever so slightly. For 125 bucks they kept my rim and ordered an OEM replacement. It wasnt scratched or flawed an any way (even though it was used previously)

Not a HUGELY expensive mistake, but still thats 125 bucks I could have spent elsewhere. It solved my problem for the most part, however when i reach 125-135mph i can still feel a bit of vibration that shoulndt be there. Not enough to make me mad and feel my car is "broken" but next time I go into mazda I'm goinig to have them try to find out whats up because I know from experience this car is silky smooth at those high speeds, ANY vibration is out of the ordinary.

Razpewton

Yep...potholes suck.

ESPECIALLY FLORIDA POTHOLES!!

Low Fly'n 8

If your wheel is "all bent to ****", I would think twice about having somebody "fix" it. I got a replacement OEM wheel from Paul at Mazmart. You could have tire problems later or other problems. Yes, potholes do suck...

drogers5

I hit a pot in my RX-7 and bent to wheels and snap belts in both tires. Glad the insurance paid for it. I hope your 8 gets fix soon.

Big_Mike_4488

I was exaggerating a little. It's bent enough to make the car vibrate, and it's noticable, but not beyond repair. The head guy said it was fixable and he garuntees it within twenty thousandths of an inch round.