hit a grave! help!

[paultaylor]

Need your advice, hit a very sharp edge a dodgy road works gas cover last nite, almighty bang, couldn't believe the tyre didn't blow and the rim was undamaged(no visible damage but the rim could be buckled now) I stopped to take a look and you could see where the tyre had taken the impact, it's no cut but there is a small blister on the sidewall which would indicate sidewall damage. my concern is that on the 9-spoke RS4 rims with P-Zero Rosso tyres 225/40 R18 92Y at 36psi is there a huge risk of a blowout particularly under heavy cornering load? The tracking seems ok and it still steers straight.

There's only a thousand miles left in the fronts so should I change them now to prevent the possiblity of going off big style if the tyre let's go??

Any advice would be much appreciated

Black 02 S3 225

 

[Paul-RS6]

tyre + blister = answer.. get it changed immediately.

your talking £165 each tops per tyre, against ££££'s of pounds in damage, excess, future insurace hikes if you have a blow out/crash.

without going into killing yourself and or someone else.

 

[mdoyle69]

In my opinion mate i wouldnt take a chance.....
if there is any unseen damage to the tyre i suppose the chance of a blowout is pretty high. Especially if its to the side wall.

And if you only have minimal tread left i would just go ahead and change both tyres and get the wheel inspected while they put the new ones on.

Hope that helps mate /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

 

[paultaylor]

that's what I thought, I'll order the tyres now, any other inspection I could do?

I'll have a the tracking checked at least no?

It was 1mm toed out as far as I can remember, any thoughts anyone?

 

[paultaylor]

cheers for the quick response, top forum this!

 

[cybrey]

[ QUOTE ]
paultaylor said:
that's what I thought, I'll order the tyres now, any other inspection I could do?

I'll have a the tracking checked at least no?

It was 1mm toed out as far as I can remember, any thoughts anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]
With that kinda of impact you'll probably need to get a full aliignment check done, from Audi these aren't cheap. I personally wouldn't rely on what Quickfit or similar do.

Oh and as everyone else has said .. replace the tyre with the blister.

 

[GregC]

DEFINATELY get a specialist or AUDI dealer to check the alignment if in any doubt - Quickfit are just as likely to set your car up as a Fiat Tipo as an A3! I have been there.

Greg.

 

[AndyMac]

Get it checked by a 4WD alignment specialist.
Don't want to be the voice of doom, but I did a similar thing in my old Mk3 GTi. It took a chunk out of the alloy, but the tyre didn't blow. Steered straight, no pulling to left or right.
However on further inspection, the wheel had moved about an inch to the rear. Got it checked and needed £1500 of new suspension.

 

[paultaylor]

Ordered two new P-Zero Rossos today 225/40/ 18 92y for 370 euro(don't know how this price compares to the UK but it's good for Ireland)

Gonna have the Audi dealer do four wheel alignment when there changing the suspension bushes that have been causing that pain in the *** "creaking noise" that other members have reported.

Question for AndyMac, how was the suspension on your Mk3 damaged?

cheers for the feedback

 

[The911SC]

If you can find the offending dodgy cover, and it is still broken; you may be able to get some money from the highways dept in the local council. It is their responsibility to keep the roads repaired, and there is a procedure for compensation.
Take a video or photo of it before they rush out snd fix it!

 

[AndyMac]

Paul, it was a company car so I didn't really pay much attention to the bill when I picked up the car. I seem to remember the front strut got pushed back, along with various control arms & tie rods. Sorry to be so vague. They probably charged the insurance company £400 just for the new alloy/tyre.

 

[paultaylor]

ouch! well hopefully it's just the tyre seeing as there's no visible damage to the rim. cheers