We had some snow a few days ago. It didn't really start gathering on the ground until about 3:00pm. I was leaving work 3:30pm. On my last mile or so to my house, I go downhill on a semi-back-road. Needless to say, there was a thin layer of snow on it. The road itself is for the most part straight and even, no potholes either. Towards the end of it, there is an intersection. Towards this intersection is where it goes into a VERY slight decline. I am driving down this road, at about 30mph. I slow down as I near the intersection, which is when I realize that I should've started slowing down earlier because immediately the Orange (Car with squigly lines) light starts making its appearance sporadically on the dash. So I sit tight and apply a constant pressure on the brake while my car continues to move forward. At this point in time it is not sliding, but the orange light IS coming on and the car, although slowing down, is still moving, slightly sliding sometimes while the car tries to adjust for that. I am getting closer to the light and there is a car in front of me and I can tell this isn't going to work, so I get myself ready to rear-end this guy. I am at about 10mph right now, it is a single-laned road, and there are cars coming from the other side in the opposite lane. The orange light is on and I can feel the brakes applying and the car sliding. I see a break in the cars on my left and I quickly turn the wheel, my left front wheel hits the curb corner on the other side (didn't sound too bad when it happened) and I bounce right into a parking lot for an apartment complex. So I sit there, calm myself down, and am happy I'm fine, and the car is running and everything seems fine. I get out, take a look at the car, it seems healthy enough, a scratch on the front left sort of under the bumper and a nick or two on the wheel-trim-ring. Next day I go to the dealership, tell them the story. On the way there I notice a slight bumping sensation on the road, which is more prominent around 18-20mph and over 55mph. The dealership does their standard check, finds no codes, but finds the alignment off on the front two wheels. I drop off the car with them while they do the 4-wheel alignment. My fiance had the car from there on out until yesterday but she didn't say anything. Today I had it and on my way to work I notice that bumping sensation again. I thought, "weird". I get home today, wash the car (salt and all) and lo and behold, I see this crack in my front left rim of the wheel. the crack doesn't seem too deep but I don't even know how deep is too deep. So I took pictures and am asking you all for help. I need to know how serious this is. Also, if someone can tell me if this could be the cause of my car riding a little bumpy. Also, how much it would cost me to replace this. The tire seems fine as far as I can tell. All the other wheels and tires are fine. I am attaching pictures of the front left side of the car, a closeup of the scratch on the bumper, the wheel, and a closeup of the wheel where the crack is. HELP! (sorry for the loooooooong post but I wanted to give the whole back story in case someone has had a similar experience) Just washed the car with water to get some salt and dirt off... this is basically the part that saw damage from the curb. Notice the scratch on the front left corner, almost under the bumper... Closeup of the scratch...it seems a bit shiny because I just washed the car...but I know what you're thinking...OUCH! Closeup of the front-left wheel. Its still pretty dirty, but you can see the scratches on the edges, where it rubbed against the curb... Getting closer to the damage... The crack on the rim of the wheel... Another tiny crack a little further up from the major crack...
If your pictures are showing what I think they are I would say replace the wheel, the tire is probably OK.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tumbleweed @ Dec 11 2006, 05:58 PM) [snapback]360622[/snapback]</div> Do you think that is the cause for the "bumpy-ness"? (for the lack of a better word)...Any idea how much it should cost to replace the one wheel? Thanks for the prompt response by the way!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kross @ Dec 11 2006, 03:00 PM) [snapback]360623[/snapback]</div> The bumpy-ness might indicate the tire was damaged, or it might be that the wheel is bent as well as cracked, or maybe you knocked one of the balancing weights off. I have no idea what a Prius wheel costs you will have to ask your friendly local parts department. Be sure to have them check the tire real good when you have the wheel replaced, be sure to check the air in the tire also the wheel may be leaking. Also after looking at the last picture again I can't tell what the little black marks on the tire are. If they are cuts you may need a new tire after all.
Yikes, that had to be a pretty good impact. Be sure that once the rim is replaced that you have a good alignment done and have someone look at the underside to make sure the axle isn't bent or anything.
I agree. Get ride of that wheel. I've had a couple friends lose it on the freeway due to a wheel coming apart. They were cracked fairly similarly except on the indide of the wheel lip. Road vibrations and normal centrifugal force is going to make that crack worse over time. When swapping the rim the tire place might be able to asses the damage done to the tire. It might be fine but if you damaged the sidewall much it will also get worse over time. I used to go through this pretty regularly when I had VW sized tires on the front of my Mustang GT for racing/daily driving. They just couldnt handle the weight of the car and the sidewalls would wear out quickly.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tumbleweed @ Dec 11 2006, 02:58 PM) [snapback]360622[/snapback]</div> It'll be cheaper to replace the wheel than the body work. It cost me about $450 to put on 4 alloy wheels for my winter tires. I didn't want to keep having to pull them off the rims. Of course, you do want to match the existing wheel, so it may be more than a fourth of the figure I gave above. Dave M.
Thanks everyone for your input. I will be dropping the car off at the dealership today on my way to work (since it is about a mile from where I work). Hopefully they can have it fixed for me by the time the day is done so I'll have a car when I get off work. Will update this post with the findings later in the afternoon once the dealership calls back with the damage report.
That wheel is done- get it replaced immediately as it is unsafe to drive on. Now I wonder if this damage could have been minimized or prevented by leaving the plastic trim rings on the wheels?? In this case, you would definitely have damaged or destroyed the plastic trim rings, but that may have saved the wheel itself..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c4 @ Dec 12 2006, 11:18 AM) [snapback]360897[/snapback]</div> The trim rings WERE actually on...the one on that wheel got scratched up a lot so I took them off. Just heard back from the dealership. They said the wheel will definitely have to be replaced and then the tire balanced and whatnot on the new one. I am looking at a total of $350-ish at the end of the day
i definitely say take to dealer and point it out. or take to any tire place. they will be able to tell you if its ok. i find it hard to believe you had an alignment done and the integrity of the wheels were not checked
I find it hard to believe they didn't find that sort of damage right away. Makes you wonder what else they could miss That's one more reason why I run ugly heavy black steel rims with my studded winter tires. If I should happen to kiss a curb, at most I'm out $65 for a new ugly heavy black steel rim. Before you spring for a new rim, any chance of finding a used one somewhere? Here in Winnipeg a genuine Prius rim may be hard to come by, but if you get something like a Civic, Corolla, Focus, etc, there are tons of new factory rims. The punks that buy that sort of car immediately pimp it up with ultra low profile wheels, and the tire shop is stuck with a mountain of new factory rims sitting out back. If I had purchased a Focus instead, I could have picked up new Ford steel wheels for $12 each.
The last picture appears to show some small cuts on the sidewall. It that's what it is, you may have some damage to the tire also. The tire shop can check that when they dismount the tire. You may want to try eBay for take-off stock wheels. Toyotaoemparts.com lists the wheel for $250.48
The last picture doesn't show cuts, those are shadows of those little rubber protrudings that exist on the outside of the sidewalls of all tires.
To the best of my knowledge, ALL Prius models have the trim rings on their wheels. They are basically just plastic rings that fit onto the outer edge of your rims.
$338 out the door. $310 for the part, $28 for labor. I know, I might've been able to find a wheel online or if I looked around, but I had been to this dealership from Day-1 and wanted it taken care of in a day. All in all I am satisfied.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kross @ Dec 13 2006, 08:46 AM) [snapback]361420[/snapback]</div> After taking your photo out to the car I saw the difference. I do have the trim rings but one doesn't fit correctly as there is a weight on the outside. I'm going to mention this when I go in for the next oil change. Thanks for clearing this up for me.
