I have a 2001 Corolla, and I hit a pretty deep pothole with it last week. (We're talking a pothole that's about two feet deep and eight inches in diameter.) My left front tire was the only one that caught the pothole; I swerved away to avoid catching it with the back tires.
After hitting the pothole, I didn't flatten a tire, but my car started clicking and the steering wheel would vibrate and kind of jerk to the left as I drove. It got worse the faster I drove, and I thought I must have screwed up the alignment. I resolved to take it to a mechanic on Tuesday to get it fixed.
Yesterday, my left front tire completely flattened. It looked like some of the wires inside the tire had somehow broken free of it. I went to the only place where I could buy a new tire to replace it, which is one of those generic corporate mechanic shops. I have heard horror stories about mechanical work on cars at this shop, so I stick to buying tires there.
The guys at this store today told me that my alignment was screwed up and that's why my tire went flat. They kept trying to sell me an alignment job, and I gave them a thanks but no thanks -- I will have my own mechanic check it out and do it.
My tire has been replaced and is on my car. As I drove it for the rest of the day, the rattling and jerking of the steering wheel stopped. If I let go of the steering wheel, the car doesn't pull to any direction and the wheel stays straight.
So do I need an alignment job, or was my problem just the tire? My car has 62,486 miles on it (I live on an island, so I do drive it in rough terrain all of the time; just not too far), and my normal mechanic gave it the complete once-over just two weeks ago.
After hitting the pothole, I didn't flatten a tire, but my car started clicking and the steering wheel would vibrate and kind of jerk to the left as I drove. It got worse the faster I drove, and I thought I must have screwed up the alignment. I resolved to take it to a mechanic on Tuesday to get it fixed.
Yesterday, my left front tire completely flattened. It looked like some of the wires inside the tire had somehow broken free of it. I went to the only place where I could buy a new tire to replace it, which is one of those generic corporate mechanic shops. I have heard horror stories about mechanical work on cars at this shop, so I stick to buying tires there.
The guys at this store today told me that my alignment was screwed up and that's why my tire went flat. They kept trying to sell me an alignment job, and I gave them a thanks but no thanks -- I will have my own mechanic check it out and do it.
My tire has been replaced and is on my car. As I drove it for the rest of the day, the rattling and jerking of the steering wheel stopped. If I let go of the steering wheel, the car doesn't pull to any direction and the wheel stays straight.
So do I need an alignment job, or was my problem just the tire? My car has 62,486 miles on it (I live on an island, so I do drive it in rough terrain all of the time; just not too far), and my normal mechanic gave it the complete once-over just two weeks ago.
Sep 3, 2007 at 4:47 PM