POTHOLES!

[revilo 0]

as im sure everyone is aware, the snow has absolutley knakard the roads, leaving potholes everywhere.

i have been a victim of a monster pothole that knocked out my tracking. my car goes around left hand bends by its self!( both coasting and under acceleration) Also now handles like a bag of poo!

Prior to hitting the grand canyon it was perfect.

im due a set of front tyres soon, so want to get it sorted asasp, so i dont shag the tyres straight away

Took my car down to the garage that i use regularly to have it checked out. I managed to knock the front offside wheels so it was 7mm toe in, but still havnt found/seen anything at all thats bent.

They 4 wheels lazer aligned it to get it back to all square, took it for a drive and it was better, but not brilliant.

Back up on the ramps and they find that one of the bottom ball joints has play in it, so they replace it(the other ones fine)

then they 4 wheel lazer aligned it again, thinking that the ball joint was the problem. it isnt. Again, slightly better, but nowhere near straight.

After poking and prodding around a bit more, they discover the top bushes need replacing, not completley fooked, but bad enough to fail an MOT aparently.

thats where im at so far, its booked in to have the bushes done on tuesday. if that doesnt sort it, what next?!

I dont have a lot of experience with the mechanical side of cars, my knowledge is limited.

Which is why its al being done at the garage. im having to rely a lot on what the mechanics are saying so im looking for any ideas because the guys at the local garage are begining to scratch their heads!

[millerman 0]

you should get a quote from the garage and send it to the local council and include a pic if poss of the grand canyon too

you never know they may pay for the damage if you lay it on a bit thick !!

[revilo 0]

Thats what the garage said I should do.i just want to know exactly what damage I have done!

[yacobwood 0]

i know the feeling with these holes. when i had my mk2 golf i hit a ditch and collaped my rear suspention :(

[muppetlab 0]

What exactly gets knocked as i think this happened to me. I only set the tracking the other day but i did hit a pothole and now its worse again, does it bend track rods?

[hayesVR6 0]

Hit one a few days ago that wouldn't look out of place on the moon. Now she's vibrating like a washing machine :bad-words:

[revilo 0]

my track rods arnt bent, would imagine thats very hard to do,(i think!)nothing is thats visible from being in a pit with a 500w halogen shining up! so confused. has anyone tried to claim the repair back from local councils? or even had any joy?!

[millerman 0]

my brother did when he hit a pot hole on the a303 and got new alloys and tyres

[muppetlab 0]

About 5 years ago i claimed for a buckled alloy, damaged tyre and suspension damage from a local council after hitting a crater on the entry to a layby. They paid the full amount including labour and the price of a new audi competition alloy from the dealer

Probably harder these days as most of the roads are :censored:

[Danny B 0]

The state of the roads round my way does my nut in .......absolutley disgraceful.

 

Workmen from various companies just seem to turn up out of nowhere, dig the road up and then not seem to bother to put it back properly :censored: - I think I need to get onto 'vent your spleen thread' really.

 

The only way anything will change is if more and more claims are put in like this one and the council is hit where it hurts, that way they might start to enforce some kind of regulations on the road works........so good luck buddy, do as much as you can to get as much as you can !!

[vagman 0]

As you have said a new set of tyres will also make your car drive straighter! Worn tyres twist and distort and with the extreme weather we have had wont help.

[mistrall 0]

how strange it is reading this, exactly the same issue that i have been going through over the past month too!

it was like i could have writernt it lol :(

[Guest]

right i was watching fifthgear the other day and they explained how to claim basically

1-firstly the hole must be min depth of 40mm (4cm) if it aint they probs wont pay out

2- take good photos of the hole with a tape measure in view with the width height and depth and the surranding area, so they can see where it is

3- get a witness

4- then ring your local council and ask for the roadmaintance part (i think, im sure if you ring them and explain what your problem is they will put you onto the right people, be nice haha)

5- get aclaim number and right a letter to them with the photos and what happened and the witness statement and also get the garage to write a little letter sayin what they thought coarsed the damage and how much its guna cost to repair

6- then it might take ages but they should hopefully pay you for your damage, councils set aside a hell of alot of money each year just for this sort of thing as its cheaper they say to pay this than sort all the roads out

hope this helps you

[Critical_Mass 10]

Not sure no.3 is necessary. I managed to claim with out a witness but it wont hurt.

[mikkijayne 0]

We hit one a while back and it folded the wishbone up by 45* :mad2: Unfortunately it was on private land so we can't claim, but there are loads more opening up round our village. We're bound to come across one in the dark and damage something, especially since the 'rados lights are so dreadful.

 

To the OP: if you still can't get it to track up properly check the subframe is still on square. It can move about a little by design, and if you hit it hard enough to damage a balljoint there's a chance it could have shifted. Compare the wheelbase side-to-side very carefully, and you will see if it's moved.

[revilo 0]

will do that on tuesday when its in for the bushes, ill have to ask the guys at the garage to help me look at it though!

regarding the tyres, ill get some in the next month or so, like vagman said, its all gotta help.

Only done about 4500 miles on them and theyre about shagged, worn evenly though.

Ill get some photos of the hole tomorrow, hopefully theyve not filled it in!if they have i guess itll be my fault for not thinking to do it before! :(