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Pot Hole from Hell . . .

I had the sweetest and smoothest riding '92 Exploder on the planet (4wd XLT 4.0) and then two days ago I hit a major pot hole on the freeway going about 65 mph. In an instant I was driving a different vehicle.

Now the steering wheel vibrates, and the suspension, and tires feel like they are made of concrete. It was so bad I thought I had a tire going down. I'll admit I used to giggle a little bit hearing about all the suspension problems other people were having, but now I'm eating my just desserts . . .

Since I was getting ready to do the brakes anyway I went ahead and replaced the pads, rotors, and calibers. I also put in new radius arm bushings and new Monroe (Reflex) shocks. I also had the wheels aligned. None of that changed the rough ride.

I carefully checked the front tires and rims (especially the one that got pot holed) and they looked okay. But, after New Years day I'll take them down for a re-balance.

What ever is causing my woes is tied directly to that pot hole. Can anyone suggest something I might be missing?

NickD

Reply to
NickD
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I would inspect the tires to see if there is a bulge caused by a weak spot. And also see if there are matching weights on the inside and outside of the tire. It may have lost a weight on impact.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie Bress

Try switching front and back tires and see if that helps.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Reply to
NickD

I assume you only hit the pothole with one set of tires, either right or left. Is that so? If it is, you could try rotating the spare in for the two that were potentially damaged and see if that isolates anything. Make sure its balanced. As to "everything" has been checked, it's possible they are not checking things correctly, not all vehicles load the parts the same and they should be checking for looseness when the parts are not loaded. It could be the ball joint was damaged and is loose internally. I'm not sure there even is a easy check on them other then wear indicators but that's for wear, not necessarily for damage. Plus what some shops say "looks ok" might not look ok to another shop. After all, they are looking at used parts so they are not expecting them to be like new, maybe they look "good enough" but really aren't.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Also, both your front and your rear wheels can be knocked out of line.

Before I spent money on tires and wheels, I'd take it to a GOOD alignment shop and have them spec everything...

Alan

Reply to
Alan Moorman

Reply to
NickD

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