I hit a pothole with my 18" rims on the right front. They look fine on the outside with good tire pressure gauge. But now when i go at slow speeds and steer right, there is a putt putt putt sound. What does this mean? did I damage the wheel? And what should i do with it.

 

I am pretty sure the rim is damaged, but it can be repaired. Take the wheel off and check the inside for damage.

TF

 

On a previous car I hit a pothole; no apparent damage, tire pressure appeared ok, tires visibly allright-- wrong!!! Two days later I'm in the left lane on the NYS Thruway and my right front tire blew out causing the car to pull a hard right. I survived but the resulting repair bill was astronomical. The inside lip of the rim was dented by the pothole resulting in a gradual loss of tire pressure. Since low profile tires have stiff sidewalls, sometimes it's hard to tell when the pressure is low.

Pull the whole wheel and have it checked thorughly and monitor the pressure over several days!!

Perhaps the "putt-putt" is a damaged susp. component.

 

The wheel could be rubbing onthe strut because there isnt much clearence to begin with if you have low profile tires and 18's.

Could be a wheel bearing, I know when i smashed a curb, the weakest part is the control arm and wheel bearing.

 

thanks for all the advice, i think this warrants getting it checked out.

 

A damaged wheel bearing usually produces a constant loud rubbing sound which increases with speed in both pitch and intensity.

 

I went to firestone and they took off the rims and found that I dented both of the right side wheels on the inside. The dent is small though. There is a small buldge on the wall of the tire too.

They recommended that I buy new rims. And that I replace all four tires. THey quoted me 1200.00 for four new tires and alignment - and that was their "on sale" price! So I had them put my tires on (they put the two damaged ones on the back since the back is stationary.

It still makes that noise though...
Anyone know a good wheel repair shop in West LA?

 

u can usually get the city or transportation agency to reimburse u for the damage. i've done it 3 times, all successful. file a claim.

 

really? I've heard of that. What city did you do that in? This was in Hollywood.

 

For those of you that want to know, the damage the pothole caused was a small dent on the right front wheel and then bubbling of the tire around the dent. The bubbled tire then would rub aginst the strut when I turned right.

 

Any good wheel performance tire repair shop with the right tools could fix your rim problem. In NYC theres nothing but huge holes, I fix my rims more offten then not. I got a good shop on east houston st, LES for those that know. He heats up the inside of the wheel, bangs it out, and runs several tests on the wheel to see if its true.....No big problem. Just remember the wheel shop must have the equipment to handle high perf. wheels. I'm not talking about your local flat fix shop, got me. As for the tires, tires.com, tirerack.com, are both good places to start looking for replacment tires, at wholesale. prices. Hope this helps.

TF


TF

 

I always take my stuff to TWS:

The Wheel Supply
975 Fairway Drive
Walnut, CA 91789

909 . 468 . 1311 tel

www.thewheelsupply.com

Ask for Sander, they can fix wheels, get tires, etc. A lot of people in this forum and other forums all go to him.

 

yup... TWS is dope! very good people...