I drive back roads to get to work and back about 78 miles a day. After 10,000 miles in my 2010 base fit I drove over a fairly small pot hole. My left rear tire hit the pot hole and the TPMS light came right on. I felt a difference in the handling and I pulled right over. The rim had cut the tire and had a very slight deformation on the inside part of the rim edge. I took the wheel to the dealer and ended up having to buy a new steel rim and tire. (bummer). Fairly disappointed that the design is not more substantial. The car only had myself in it. It is difficult on rough roads to miss every thing. I do not know if the aluminum rims are tougher????

later
rickhttps://www.fitfreak.net/forums/images/smilies/rotfl.gif

 

Well, maybe you can't avoid everything... but you could drive slower.

My friend blew out his tire on a pothole a while back. BAM, 2 seconds later, flat. We found his hub cap on the other side of the intersection.

Shortly after buying my Fit (4 months ago)... I hit a "hidden" pothole, I couldn't see it until it was too late because my view of it was blocked by a minivan in front of me. That actually sent two kinds of pain up my spine, one from the physical impact, the other from the mental thought of damaging my newly bought car. Aside from some marks on the tire, I couldn't find any damage to the rim. So, either the Sports' aluminum wheels are really strong(er than I thought), or I got lucky (or both).

 

Not sure if the alloy wheels are stronger, but I think it is offset by the lower-profile tires.

I bent 2 alloys on a monster pothole last winter. Was only going 25-30MPH!

So frustrating to break 2 - a simple trip to the store resulted in an hours-long odyssey waiting for a tow truck (plus a week in the shop waiting for insurance to process the claim, getting a rental car, etc). If it was one it'd be annoying but at least I can change a tire in 10 min and be on my way!

 

during the first year w/ my 09 fit sport i hit a vicious pot hole at 50 mph... it was by far the hardest impact ive had in 23,000 miles of driving. but no damage was done to rim or tire.

 

I've lost two right rear tires to potholes so far, had to buy a new stock Dunlop and recently a new Cooper 205/50R16.

Sux....

 

Does insurance cover damage wheels from pothole? It has not happen to me yet. I just asked for my education purpose only.

 

What I've decided about potholes is, faster might be better (depending on the size of the hole). Because for SOME holes, you can get across before the tire dips low enough. With a shallow impact, the opposite edge of the pothole will push into and deflect off the tire without hitting the wheel. The slower you are, the sharper the impact angle.

The is basically an example of a physics experiment... line up two cannons to fire straight across, with one able to send the ball into a faster speed. Both will drop at the same speed, but the faster one will land further away.

The proof is that when I went over that same pothole again (no, not intentionally), but was faster the second time, I barely felt it.

The opposite is to move MUCH slower, so that while the impact angle is sharp, you just aren't going fast enough for the edge of the hole to push through the width of the tire... Most useful on HUGE potholes.

 

I had the same thing happen with my stock wheels. Hit a pot hole in a parking lot going 15 -20 mph and immediately got a flat. Had to buy a new tire, which took over a week to order...

 

I feel your pain, Ricks. I've several rims to potholes on separate occasions back when I had my Saab (and one when I had my Ranger, but that was totally my friends fault. As I later broke it down for him, when the front wheels are up in the air you loose the ability to swerve away from the big rock).

The incidents with my Saab were all on aluminum rims which sucked because it meant there was no chance of hammering the rim back into shape. Also, fun fact: Finding rims during a New England winter gets difficult or expensive.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the 16s on the Saab looked tougher then the fits- they were built beefier, and seemed to have more metal in the right places- but yet they failed me several times. Frustrating as it may seem, potholes seem to be a luck of the draw kind of thing.

 

Yup. Notice the speeds everyone is reporting theirs breaking at.

A general note/reminder to the board: With the cooler air moving in for winter, you are losing tire pressure, so keep up with the curve.