Potholes!!!

[Rusk]

Hello all,

Well my baby is damaged There was a massive deep pothole that was hidden just after a width restriction so by the time I saw it is was too late to break and no where to avoid

I now get vibrations from the front left. Turns out it has buckled my left front alloy. I was recommended to speak with Shadow tyres in Reading who deal with alloys. They gave me two options and I want to see what you lot think.

Option 1 - move the alloy to the back and that will solve the vibrations. This I cannot believe will work. Surely it will still cause vibrations I just won't feel them through the steering wheel but from the back in general ride comfort.

Option 2 - They fix the alloy. They took a look and only the inside edge is damaged so they can fix it for £40 this is done by heating up the damaged inside and remoulding it back to the right shape. Also because it is the inside I don't have to worry about respray and all that.

Do either of these sound ok to you guys? Will heating it fix it or cause me problems down the line? Any help would be great.

Cheers,
Russell

[A4 Lad]

Sticking it on the back may make you feel it through the whole car or you might not feel it at all.
£40 sounds the best way to go.
To be honest, they would have to warrant it I would have thought so for me it would be a no brainer

[Sportwag]

Don't think Option 1 will mask the problem - if you feel it through the front, then it is highly likely that it will vibrate on the rear as wheel.

There are plenty of alloy wheel repairers out there - get a few quotes/opinions before choosing the repairer (check customer feedback if you can). They can do all sorts of things to repair alloy repairs these days - I had two alloys on the wife's Saab 95 repaired by a specialist in NI a couple of years ago and they repaired a 20" Range Rover alloy (which looked to me to be beyond repair) and it came up like new............

[JimC64]

Option 2 - get it repaired deffo
Just check around for pricing and feedback on quality of work etc first if you can....hth

[Sportwag]

Forgot to add...go back with a camera, photograph the pothole (before it is repaired) and pursue a claim for damage to your car through the council or department responsible for maintaining the roads!

[JimC64]

+1 on Sportwag.......sumthin I would have done in situ if possible ( even if it held up traffic )......your car showing rim damage right next to the pothole that caused it.....witnesses would be good too obviously.

Might get the £££ back that it costs.....you don't ask you don't get

[Rusk]

Don't think Option 1 will mask the problem - if you feel it through the front, then it is highly likely that it will vibrate on the rear as wheel.

That is what I thought when he told me. Almost laughed

Forgot to add...go back with a camera, photograph the pothole (before it is repaired) and pursue a claim for damage to your car through the council or department responsible for maintaining the roads!

This is my plan. At the time I didn't know if had done any damage and was way to busy to stop and document something that didn't do any damge. Turns out it has so when I get a chance I will go back and photo. It is the other side of town.

If the £40 fixes it then I won't both tbh. Will be a lot of effort and time for not much. If the problem is bigger than that then I will take them on