mcleantmw

Last night I hit a pothole with my right tires going 60 mph and then noticed a slight buzzing noise and slight vibration. I checked the wheel and tire and no noticeable damage. But I'm taking my vehicle into the MB Dealer in the morning to have them check it out: Perform four wheel alignment; rebalance all wheels; inspect wheels and tires and suspension for any potential damage. The tires are new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 that were just installed last July and have road hazard warranty.......don't know if a hard hit like this can cause a bruise on the tires that will make them ride rough. Any other suggestions?

220S

You could easily get a sidewall bubble. Keep on eye on them for a while. Check wheels for hairline cracks and any slight bends. Drive around for a while and see how it feels for a few days (get on the freeway and take your hands off the wheel; any pulling?, etc..) Otherwise I wouldn't spend that kind of $$$ at the dealer. Stop in at a good custom wheel/tire shop or MB Indy if you're worried.

Just my advice and experience from hitting big craters over the years in lotsa different cars, so take it or leave it.

p.s., if you get an airmatic leak later on, you'll know what caused it (potholes are a big reason for problems w/airmatic)

155

I agree with 220 to hold off any any work until you have a confirmed problem. Best first step would be to get your E on an alignment machine to get your baseline. If all is well, full stop and keep an eye on it. If not, try to get it within factory specs. If you run into issues at that point troubleshoot with the suggestions you mentioned...

Thank god you weren't on 19's or 20's. Bent rim for sure

GL!

mcleantmw

Thanks for the great advice from both of you. I should have mentioned why I'm taking it to my MB Dealer: I bought my Michelins from them and they gave me lifetime wheel rotations/balancings and also my CPO Extended Warranty expires on Jan 10th. If there's any damage to the air suspension or other parts, I want to get it fixed on the warranty. I did drive it on the freeway today and no pullling but there is some type of low droning noise and a little vibration I don't think was there previously........at the least could have thrown the wheel weights.

taylor210

You bought your tires at the dealer? Why!!! How much they charged for the set? Your wheels can't be rotate, those are staggered...

I never bought my tires from the dealer...Rip-off!

aintez

you can still rotate staggered setups left to right. helps prolong if you have a bit of camber etc wearing out a particular side of the tyre.

mcleantmw

Last July I had my vehicle in for service at the MB Dealer and it failed the VA Safety Inspection due to a tire problem. They gave me a pretty good deal on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s, including lifetime rotations and rebalancing, plus Road Hazard Warranty. I could have saved a little by going to a tire speciality place, but driving on the existing defective tire would be unsafe and I'd have to bring the car back for the final safety inspection too. So, sometimes convenience is worth the price. And, the pothole damage was confirmed by my MB Dealer today, too. Both right alloys were damaged and the two Michelins bought in July also needed replacement. I had to buy a new $490 alloy wheel and also had them use the spare alloy I had to install the new tires which were no cost under the Road Hazard policy they provided me. Besides the cost of the new alloy, I only had to pay for the $30 mounting and balancing for each new tire, plus the $95 for a four wheel alignment I requested. I just sent an email to the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority to see if I can file a claim for the damage to my wheels caused by the large pothole in their toll road...........I couldn't avoid hitting it at night and it had obviously been there for more than just a day based on the size of that hummer!

220S

@aintez:
But most good tires these days are directional (like the PS2s) And it's a lot of trouble to have to dismount, etc.. Plus some people run different camber front and rear. Forget rotating and pony up for new rubber when the time comes, imho. (BMW even says no to rotating on the M3s, fwiw)

tbone

Aren't PS2's asymetric? I used to do side to side rotations when I ran PS2's. Did they change the design?

mcleantmw

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s are one directional...........you can only rotate left front to left rear, etc. All my wheels are 18" alloys, not staggered, so I do the rotations around the 5k miles point.

Dzul

That is a great price!

tbone

Take a look at this pic

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...3YR9SPORTPS2XL

Notice the tread design is not directional. Also notice on the sidewall, it says "outside" and not "rotation". To me, this means it's asymmetric, and thus OK for side to side rotations, as long as the tire is on the "outside". I did such rotations for years when I ran PS2's, and had no issues.

220S

^^^
Yeah, you're right they are asymmetric and non-directional. Inside will always be inside.

aintez

Shouldnt really be that bad, in NZ they charge $40-60 (USD = 28-42) per axle to rotate tyres (split from rims rotate balance and fit).
I cant afford to throw away tires when inside camber runs through them (i run -3 due to the height). Unless your racing your car and pushing it to the edge there is really no big performance loss in rotating tyres.

mcleantmw

The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires CAN be fully rotated.......I was used to my other brands of tires that could only be rotated front to back and back to front. A couple others posting here correctly stated that the tire design allows full rotation and I confirmed this with the below email received from Michelin Customer Service:

The Pilot Sport PS2 has an asymmetrical tread design. Asymmetrical tread
patterns utilize sculpture features that enhance both handling (outboard
portion) and water evacuation (inboard portion). The tires are marked on
the sidewall "Mount this side out". Once mounted on the rim, the tire can be installed on either side of the vehicle and rotated in any fashion.

It is our goal to ensure that your issue has been resolved or your question
answered to your satisfaction. If we can assist you further, please respond
to this email or call us at 1-800-847-3435 (toll free) between 8:00AM and
8:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday or between 8:30AM and 4:30PM
Eastern Time on Saturday.

Ken
Michelin North America
Consumer Care Department

mbuskuhl

I lost count of how many times I have bent rims and bubbled tires. Next time you might try someone like www.wheelsamerica.com to fix the rim, those places can do some amazing work and $129 is a lot less than $490. Good luck with getting the claim paid. Fed up, I filed a claim on my last pothole incident, it went ignored, so I filed suit against the City and the trial is next month.... all over $270, we've both spent much more than that, but it's about principal now, and I still want just my $270! Insurance will also pay if you want to file a claim, that's best reserved when you take out both tires and rims at the same time.

mcleantmw

Well, to my surprise, the Airports Authority responded with the address for filing a damage claim......they indicated to provide documentation of the damage (no problem) with a description of the incident, location, date/time, etc. It's worth the effort to write the letter to get my $490 for the new alloy and $30 each mounting/balancing two new tires. I had a spare used alloy in my garage and used it to replace the second damaged wheel and so I can't get reimbursed for it. I did call my USAA insurance to see if the damage might be covered under my comprehensive (no deductible) but it's covered under collision ($500 deductibe) so not worth filing a claim. I've kept the two damaged alloys to see if I want to get one or both re-manufactured as spares. You're right, I've bought four remanufactured OEM alloy sets for my two Volvos from Wheels America and Lake Shore Wheel & Tire for about $600 per set and they're like getting brand new wheels at great savings.

KL2DC

wow where was this pothole? By Dulles?

tbone

don't forget to file a claim for a re-alignment, too. I once filed a claim, and was approved for 80% value of fixing the rim, a new tire, and alignment.

fortlaudsummer

wow sorry to hear that happened...hope it works out for you.
Any suspension damage?

220S

We live in a 3rd world country economy now, where the broader public welfare tends to be ignored and the rich minority just want to get richer.

Repairing potholes are the last thing to be attended to as the infrastructure disintegrates, while the wealthy folks howl about paying taxes and having regulations that might help keep the boat we're all on from sinking.

p.s., the Autobahn is a marvel of road engineering. And for the most part all roads in Europe are seen as something to keep safe for humankind and not a drive-at-your-own-risk death trap.

mcleantmw

The pothole was about a half mile from the main toll station, heading towards I-495, second lane from the left. I drove by it a couple days ago and it's been patched. Luckily, no suspension damage. Good suggestion by tbone to include the $95 costs for the alignment.........I didn't think that would be covered. I'm going to send one or both damaged wheels to a wheel remanufacturing firm so I'll have another spare.......cheaper than having to buy a new wheel.

tbone

When I submitted my claim, I didn't think they would approve any of it. Surprisingly, I got a call, and was told that they normally deny such claims. However, she would be willing to "settle" if I accepted 80%. That was 80% more than I expected, so I took it....never hurts to try! good luck

mcleantmw

Update: The Airports Authority's insurance company twice denied my claim for the damage to my two wheels, even though in the second claim I emphasized the safety hazard and potential for accidents from this large pothole. They gave me the same mantra that the Airports Authority repairs all potholes as soon as possible and the weather conditions were bad too. Well, I've filed a claim against the Airports Authority with the Virginia State Small Claims Court in Fairfax County for the cost of the two wheels......just over $1000. After receiving the second claims rejection in June, I called the Airport Authority's Claims Officer who just made excuses and basically told me that "if they have to pay one claim for pothole damage they'll have to pay them all." So, they're basically stonewalling it and denying any responsibility for damage to vehicles from their failure to repair potholes in a timely manner. My court hearing is mid-September and I'll report the results of the court then. Another interesting point I learned from the Internet: The airports authority makes big bucks from the tolls on their toll road.........millions of dollars above the operating costs for the toll road which they use for other purposes. So, they had plenty of money to keep up with the repairs to the potholes but neglected to do so. And I did a weather history search during the days before and after I hit the pothole last January and it was cold but no storms.......another reason they should have fixed the pothole ASAP.

jerrymoen

if you find that your wheel is damaged I always your wheel repair ny they have done an awesome job on all my repairs