Illinois Pothole Got Me

[MidLifeCoyote]

Went to do a spring detail to my 2024 GT and found a small tire sidewall bubble on my passenger front. Jacked up the car and spun the wheel to find a subtle, yet noticeable bent wheel in that spot on the inside.

Not sure which pothole over winter did it, but never noticed any leaking air or steering wheel vibration outside of assuming I needed a rotation and balance.

Going to have the suspension and alignment checked out tomorrow. Had to put my stock wheels back on today in the meantime, as the casualty was one of my 20" x 10" Velgen Classic5 V2's. Now, to be clear, I am not blaming the wheel as an illinois winter can tear up anything and I have received only top notch customer service from Velgen. Just a sad day is all. Will have my remaining three inspected by the local tire shop to make sure they didn't suffer any damage as well.

Now to figure out my next steps. Replace the wheel and 2 tires, move on to a 19" setup for more pothole cushion, or some other upgrade that someone suggests. Open to ideas!

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[DarkHorsePremium]

Feel you. CA has some of the highest fuel prices, gas taxes and worst roads. Driving here is like navigating a mine field obstacle course. Hope its only one wheel. Good luck.

 

[24GTBadlands]

Went to do a spring detail to my 2024 GT and found a small tire sidewall bubble on my passenger front. Jacked up the car and spun the wheel to find a subtle, yet noticeable bent wheel in that spot on the inside.

Not sure which pothole over winter did it, but never noticed any leaking air or steering wheel vibration outside of assuming I needed a rotation and balance.

Going to have the suspension and alignment checked out tomorrow. Had to put my stock wheels back on today in the meantime, as the casualty was one of my 20" x 10" Velgen Classic5 V2's. Now, to be clear, I am not blaming the wheel as an illinois winter can tear up anything and I have received only top notch customer service from Velgen. Just a sad day is all. Will have my remaining three inspected by the local tire shop to make sure they didn't suffer any damage as well.

Now to figure out my next steps. Replace the wheel and 2 tires, move on to a 19" setup for more pothole cushion, or some other upgrade that someone suggests. Open to ideas!

Completely unrelated, but I bought my 24 last year down in Peoria, 3 hour drive south, seemed like a nice area, I am near the WI border, I also had to replace a wheel cuz it was titled to Ford, and they beat the crud out of one of the wheels. Peoria coincidence... probably not.

 

[smurfslayer]

I sympathize. A couple years ago I nailed an absolute crater in my wife's Lincoln. It has 21" wheels.
It was my fault, no excuses. I was lining up to pass someone and just didn't have time to react. It was a hard enough hit that it jolted the car, so I found her TPMS screen and watched for what I thought was the inevitable, but the tire held. The wheel was shagged. The outside lip was destroyed for about 4", creased and broken.

I am reasonably certain I broke the rear wheel on the same side with that hit, as we had a wheel start mysteriously leaking. I dismounted, checked for leaks and struck out. Had her take it to discount tire, the wheel was cracked inside on the barrel(?) so when they submerged the whole wheel / tire, it was obvious. This was some time after the initial hit, probably ... almost a year, but she swears she didn't have any hits, potholes, speed bumps, etc. and she's pretty good about 'fessing up.

 

[schuvwj]

Went to do a spring detail to my 2024 GT and found a small tire sidewall bubble on my passenger front. Jacked up the car and spun the wheel to find a subtle, yet noticeable bent wheel in that spot on the inside.

Not sure which pothole over winter did it, but never noticed any leaking air or steering wheel vibration outside of assuming I needed a rotation and balance.

Going to have the suspension and alignment checked out tomorrow. Had to put my stock wheels back on today in the meantime, as the casualty was one of my 20" x 10" Velgen Classic5 V2's. Now, to be clear, I am not blaming the wheel as an illinois winter can tear up anything and I have received only top notch customer service from Velgen. Just a sad day is all. Will have my remaining three inspected by the local tire shop to make sure they didn't suffer any damage as well.

Now to figure out my next steps. Replace the wheel and 2 tires, move on to a 19" setup for more pothole cushion, or some other upgrade that someone suggests. Open to ideas!

I feel your pain! We lived near and drove to Peoria daily for 42 years. The roads there are absolutely horrible!
The potholes are so big they have there own Zip Codes!
We replaced tires and wheels on every car we owned!
The only solution is move south!

 

[MidLifeCoyote]

Had the dealer check out the suspension and do an alignment this morning. Clean bill of health.

Just gotta get the other 3 wheels checked now.

 

[135Hoser]

Feel you. CA has some of the highest fuel prices, gas taxes and worst roads. Driving here is like navigating a mine field obstacle course. Hope its only one wheel. Good luck.

"I'm not impaired officer, I was dodging potholes"

We have similar issues where I live with potholes. The winter months really fuck the roads over. I popped a tire twice in my SL55. Once it fractured the garbage niche rims the car came with, and the second time on stock alloys it was just the tire that was ruined. City refused to pay out the second time, asking me dumb shit like "Did you take a photo of the pothole?" "No, the pothole is on a major freeway and it would be entirely unsafe to do so. Also it was 3 feet away from another pothole I reported a week earlier" "oh well because its not that specific pothole our insurance won't cover it"

Anyway I digress.

 

[Charger68]

You might consider filing a claim with your insurance carrier. It is a collision claim, and probably chargeable.

 

[GooberDH]

Ya, 19s already feel catastrophic to me when hitting bumps and bad pavement, I can't imagine how bad 20+ wheels are.

 

[smurfslayer]

Ya, 19s already feel catastrophic to me when hitting bumps and bad pavement, I can't imagine how bad 20+ wheels are.

Jarring.

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