Had this xfire two weeks now. Take it on a vacation in the NC mountains. Good news, the car loves the curves! Had great fun passing quite a few bikes, not to mention cars.

Anyway, coming down from Mt Mitchell, take the scenic route. Heading south on 9 (relatively narrow state road) out of Lake Lure NC, trying to pass a pickup when he drops a concrete block out of the bed. Trying to dodge the block, I hit a monster pothole at the edge of the road.

Result? Nose punched in, two bent wheels and one flat rear tire. The rims are bent on the inside of the wheel. Bad news is we are in a dead cell area - no surprise in the mountains. Have my wife's Nextel and my Sprint phone - neither is working.

Jack the car up (that MB jack really does work well) and remove LR tire. Tire appears not too badly damaged, but is flat due to the HUGE dent/crack in the rim which dislodged the bead and there is a visible gap between the tire and the rim.

After sitting on my butt for a while, a couple of folks stop to see what the problem is. This is Friday evening, about 6 pm in a very rural mountainous part of NC - no stores, towns etc. Jesse Lukens w/Quality Concrete is one of folks stopping - his F250 is a work truck for his concrete business and he has a hammer. A nice 5 lb hammer! I whale on the dent in the rim for all I am worth, and move it about 1/2" back toward normal, but crack is getting bigger and the bead seems pretty close to the rim, so I stop beating and decide to try the fix a flat. Hook it up, slosh it around the side of the tire around the dent & voila - air pressure starts to build up !!!

End of story, we limp home the rest of the way (about 90 miles) with a lot of vibration from both ends of the car & the steering off center - but do make it. this morning, the tire still had air in it.

For future reference purposes if I have to locate a wheel in an emergency such as this, what is the wheel bolt circle for the xfire?

Before I bought the car, I did wonder what would happen if a tire was damaged to the point that the repair kit didn't work - really didn't think of the wheel being the weak link.

Does anyone know if there is a road hazard warranty on the Continental tires? These things have pretty much full tread.

Also, need one front and one rear wheel - any deals out there.

Guess that's Life in the (very) slow lane.

Henry

 

Thanks for sharing bud and sorry for your "eventful trip". Definitely one of those events none of us want to experience. Even if you did have a spare, you were in a bad spot anyway. I'm going to replace my factory wheels soon, so I don't have a set to sell ya right at the moment, I'm sure someone here will be able to help you out in that regard.

 

sorry to hear about your ordeal...

you might want to file an insurance claim for the repairs (if the pick up didn't stop). it may be worth looking in to.


but... if you decide not to go that route... i do have an extra front rim available... for $150 plus shipping.

one very small nick...but near perfect. all original factory/oem paint. i can take some additional pics if you wish. it was only on the car for about 1,000 miles.

 

One of my worst nightmares come true...sorry for your ordeal. Glad you made it through safely with the only permanent damage being to your wallet. I get very nervous when I see Deer Crossing signs...wouldn't have thought the real danger to be from a dropped cinder block. Avoid EBAY for replacement wheels. The best deals are on this forum, from what I've seen. Most folks are great, and looking for mutual benefit, as opposed to trying to get rich from your (our) misfortune. Best of luck!

 

Why are you having to pay for all of this? Isn't this that guys fault that dropped the block? I would be SUPER pissed if I were you.

Last night my girlfriends friends were drunk and sitting on my car. I about freaked out when I saw them do this.

 

Steenport - Totally agree that the guy in the pickup is responsible - BUT. I wasn't paying any attention to tag number etc., and when the block fell I was too busy driving & then I hit the pot hole. With the flat I couldn't chase him down & he sure as hell didn't stop!

Yeah - I'd get real pissed if someone was sitting on my car.

Didn't mention that Mary (my wife) had a bottled water in her hand - at least it wasn't Coke or something similar cause it went everywhere - including all over her. Apparently bottled water does not spot the headliner.

Andrew, how big is that scratch on the wheel?

For everyone's edification - we apparently have a 5 x 112 mm bolt circle with about a 30 mm offset on those wheels.

Thanks for the condolences. Car sure looks sad up on jack stands with only two wheels.

Henry

 

here are some better pics of the nick/mark (mainly under the tire bead):

 

Could it BE???... hooah

 

I thought the samething! Maybe it is.

 

OK, ya got me. Really missing something here.

What could what be?

Henry

 

Originally Posted by hpmotors: Trying to pass a pickup when he drops a concrete block out of the bed... Jesse Lukens w/Quality Concrete is one of folks stopping - his F250 is a work truck for his concrete business…


FirebaseD replies: Do you see it? Maybe it was Mr. Lukens you were trying to pass… think about it... hooah

 

LOL FBD! I thought that at first, but then I thought, by the description, there was too much time to go by! Maybe he got a case of the guilt's and circled around?

 

OK - now I see it from your perspective. From mine, this wasn't possible, as the first truck was a dirty white POS with the tailgate down - The truck that stopped was a new bright red F250 4WD diesel. No way it was the same truck.

After checking out the car further, it seems the front wheel hit the inside of the rf fender, pushing it back to the point where it rubs the door - moved over 1/4". Bolts holding fender on show movement also. My fear is how can the wheel move that far back without causing some suspension damage?

Henry

 

With that kind of wheel damage it sounds more like you ran the car up on a curb