Pothole damage

[DrJustice]

A little while ago I hit a bad pothole with the right front wheel at ca. 80kph. A violent bang that shook the car and my soul resulted. The hole was perhaps half a meter wide and ten centimeters deep (I didn't go back to measure...).

Now the steering wheel is a little to the left when going straight. There are no big ill effects that i can detect, It does not pull to one side or the other, it brakes fine and is self centering. There may be some very slight 'strangeness' in directional stability, but this could be mostly/partly psychological.

What, at a guess, are the front suspension parts that are most likely to be bent by such and incident?

DJ
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[emranvalera]

I think that would have took your traking out quiet a bit, if you want to seek compensation for that then here is the web site Potholes.co.uk potholes, road repairs, council highways, forums and click the tab "how to claim"

[DrJustice]

Thanks, emranvalera! I guess the tracking may be slightly gone, but I'm not sure which suspension components usualy gives on potholes. Claiming compensation here (Norway, not UK) is futile, I'm afraid.

DJ
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[emranvalera]

Oh s*!t, i did'nt look at your location sorry mate . If the tracking is out then all they do is adjust a bolt on the inner side of the wheel using speacial traking equipment. I just hope you don't need any suspension parts. Here in uk the council spend more on giving out compo then actually repairing our rubbish roads.

[GhostyDog]

Always wanted to visit Norway, I have a friend in Alesund, although I don't think my present girlfriend would be very happy if I suggested going to visit her

[emranvalera]

Don't worry ghostydog, just go and call it a "business trip" . By the way do you know a place in halifax called east west catering????

Check the alloy wheel and tyre for damage - the suspension often gets away with any real damage but the wheels dont. Jack it up and spin it to see if it runs true. Then get the tracking done.

[Sam O'Keefe]

Get a set of allignment gauges on it (your local garage may let you use them and check for free!) And check the toe. Im not sure what the factory value is, but there will be a set of parametres of tolerance. If its out of these then the handling will be affected.

So to summarise check your toe settings.

[DrJustice]

Thanks folks, I'll get the tracking checked out. What worries me is that something is bent. I don't think it's the wheel/spindle though, as there's no vibration. I guess any bent suspension parts should be changed, even if it is possible to adjust things. Oh, well I'll just have to get it to a specialist soonish anyway. I haven't got a relationship with any Alfa garage yet, so now may be the time to find a good one.

DJ
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[wlm8361]

Doubt anything would be bent really... except maybe your rims - and misalignment

[DrJustice]

OK, if all it takes is some adjustment that's good. I may be missing something, but I don't understand how things get out of alignment without being bent or worn or otherwise damaged. And a bent rim, wouldn't that vibrate horribly rather than induce a slight offset of the steering wheel? The rim looks fine on a visual inspection.

DJ
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[classicgal93]

I had to replace the CV joint in my car when I hit a pothole. Other than that everything else was fine.