Pot holes and tyre pressure

[T3rminator]

What do people find best to protect rims from pot holes in terms of tyre pressure ?

Using factory recommended pressure as the starting point, will bumping up the pressure help protect rims, and is there a point where too high a pressure (say +8 psi) will increase likelihood of causing damage?

Have read that if you see a pot hole, and its too late to avoid, then the best thing to do is to drive straight over it at speed, hitting it with the full face of the tyre. Does that work? Sounds counter intuitive.

I do have a very small buckle on the outside on one of my front rims, from swerving and hitting a pot hole right on the edge. Its on the outside face, so hasn't caused any balancing issues, fortunately. Will probably avoid regional roads for the next few weeks.

[ford71V8]

One of my biggest pet peeves.
Even moreso when using the car with 20" rims.
Best solution obviously is to not hit them. They are everywhere, from behind you might look like you've had 15 pints but your rims and rubber survive.

When its too late I see the thinking behind hitting them square on, but yeah any hit has potential for damage. I see a fresh deep one just around the corner from home, just the right distance from centre of road for it to be in line with everybody's front right

[arm79]

I run the tires on all our cars at 38 to 40 psi. 38 on the 17's and 40 on the FPV with 19's. But they still get buckles on the inner edge. In Dad's case it doesn't help that he seemingly aims for potholes and gutters.

I'd have to send the rims on the FPV away for straightening every 12 to 18 months even when running 40psi. Nothing seemed to properly save them.

[T3rminator]

I used to run 38psi on my 18s, but it got a bit annoying on suburban streets with all the tram tracks, man holes, speed humps etc. Dropped it to 35 and its so much more comfortable.

Have hit a fair few pot holes in recent months, mostly out in the country roads doing 100 to 110kmh. So far so good in that there has been no damage (that I can see!!). The outer buckle I got was in an 80kmh zone, if I recall correctly, I hit the brakes lightly and swerved, apparently the two things you shouldn't do. From memory, I was running 38 psi at the time.

Originally Posted by arm79

I'd have to send the rims on the FPV away for straightening every 12 to 18 months even when running 40psi. Nothing seemed to properly save them.

How much does it cost to do that? The local bob jane told me that factory rims are weaker than the reputable aftermarket ones. I believe them, because the 17 inch XR rims that came with the car had inner buckles all over the place and on all 4 wheels.

[arm79]

Yeah, the B-series factory rims overall seemed pretty weak. The inside of Dad's rims look hexagonal shape. POS Ghia isn't too pretty either.

I think most of my problem with the FPV was the driveway at my old work. It was an old site in Laverton and had one of hose stepped gutter driveways and the step was bigger than normal. If I went over the driveway at the wrong angle it would damage the rim, so I worked out if I went a particular way the chance for damage dropped. My driveway at home was the same, but the step wasn't as tall.

I always got them repaired at Neway Wheels in Preston. It's been a long time but I think it was around $70 to have the inner edge fixed. Was $30 to $40 more to fix up any chips or gutter rash and repaint the lip. They always did a great job, but cant speak for them these days.

The worst part was I could only get 1 wheel done at a time, or if I was very lucky occasionally 2. So I'd have to drop a wheel off, go back a couple of days later and swap out a rim and go back in a few days. Took a week or 2 to get them all done.

[mad2]

so what ya sayin is ..... i should stick with the 16" wheels & only use the 17" when going to a 'local' show