I hit a pothole recently (rather hard, i might add) and now steering wheel vibrates noticeably at speeds above 60mph.

The wheel has checked out fine as being true, and the suspension components all got check marks. The only damage we've seen so far is a 1.25" clean slit on the sidewall (approximately 1/8-1/4" deep, no threads or cables are showing). All the weights are intact as well.

Can such a thing cause a vibration? I've read that hard spots can do this, but this is the opposite of a hard spot.

Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks.

 

funny, the same thing happend to me 2 days ago. hit the biggest pothole so hard, i almost cracked my jaw. i thought for sure the spokes snapped, let alone bent. no visible damage to rim or tire but the steering wheel shakes very badly on the highway now.

 

Well, i went and took the wheel off again and viewed it even closer than before... sadly, it looks like there is a slight bend on the inside, right where the wheel weight was latched on It's a barely noticeable bend... do you think this is amendable by rebalancing, or am i at a loss here?

Man...

 

Yeah, I was going to say to check for bends on the inside. This happened to me as well, I couldn't figure it out until I took the wheel off.

I wound up getting a single temporary SE 16 + used tire and then a set of Z32TT wheels for $150 picked up including tires. You're not going to be able to compensate with wheel weights; this is a deformation in the shape of the wheel. You'll either need to get it trued or get a new wheel.

 

send it to www.fixrim.com

 

Thanks for the help guys! I contemplated the reserve wheel set but never got to it, so now the car is out of commission.

Thanks for the link to Wheels America, too! I considered them, but it looks like the local branch isn't too good. I went with another shop that came highly recommended. I even got a tour of the shop and sampled some of the things they do. They also guaranteed my forged rims will be good as new! I'll have the fixed rim on Monday.