Felt like I blew a tire, but I didn't... any ideas?

[wigginz]

Was driving down the road in my only Viper (on your typical crappy California roads) and I heard a bang which I suspected was a blown tire (it wasn't really a pop but it was fast and only happened once). Right after the sound and at moderate speed the car was pulling to the right and bumps in the road felt much heavier and harder than they normally do.

I pulled over and checked my tires, none were flat. I looked for missing lug nuts, none were missing or loose. I had to rush out of town, but I did get a chance to put the rear up on a jack and look for any sort of damage to the suspension and I didn't see anything obvious.

Since I was in a hurry, I didn't check the tire pressure and I didn't check the torque on the lug nuts. It really sounded and felt like the problem was coming from the rear but I suppose it could be the front. Anyone have any ideas of what it could be or what I should look for when I get back home and get it up on all four jacks? A little baffled at the moment.

 

[dave6666]

Sounds like a shock broke. Pull wheels and grab the shock. It should not move or have oil running out or anything. You really can't see much with the wheel still on like you said you did.

Does the ride height look normal all 4 corners?

 

[wigginz]

Sounds like a shock broke. Pull wheels and grab the shock. It should not move or have oil running out or anything. You really can't see much with the wheel still on like you said you did.

I think you might be right. I didn't notice any oil on the garage floor when I put the rear up, I was laying on the concrete so I'd imagine I would have seen it... wasn't specifically looking for it though.

Best thing to do is get all the wheels off and see what I can find. Really don't want to deal with a broken shock, but I won't have much choice if it is. Is this a common thing just hitting a bump in the road? I'd be surprised if it broke so easy.

Does the ride height look normal all 4 corners?

Seemed to be normal, but I I didn't look specifically for that either. Sounds like I have some work to do when I get home on Saturday.

 

[dave6666]

Other parts like the stabilizer bar or toe link should be looked at too. If the wheel looks toed in or out that could also be a clue.

I would hate to think your rear end housing is falling off, or your frame has broken somewhere.

 

[wigginz]

Now you're starting to scare me...

Can't wait to get a look Saturday, the suspense is killing me now heheh. Thanks for the input Dave.

 

[dave6666]

It's probably just something like an armadillo wrapped around the half shaft.

Oh wait, we have those here in Texas...

But really, it sounds like you did all the right things, like not drive home real fast and sporty. And the fact that there were no subsequent clunking or popping noises is good.

Once you get the tire off the ground, but before you loosen the lugs, grab the tire and try to move the suspension up-down and fore-aft. You really should not be able to move it much at all.

 

[fqberful]

Lets see, CA and hit a bump in the road .. Hmmm, was it one of those 5000 lb sea lions ?

Sorry d00d, just couldn't resist.

 

[Fast Viper Dan]

Call Ted 408-297-1990
Good Luck,
Dan

 

[wigginz]

Lets see, CA and hit a bump in the road .. Hmmm, was it one of those 5000 lb sea lions ?

Sorry d00d, just couldn't resist.

Heheh, the roads are terrible here, even when they do fix them, two weeks later they're worse than they were before. No sea lions where I'm at, but I've hit a few deer in my day... plenty of those around.

 

[wigginz]

Call Ted 408-297-1990
Good Luck,
Dan

Wishing me good luck can't be a good sign heh. I imagine I'll be calling Ted next week if it's worse than I'm expecting. About time for my 15k tune up too if I had to bring it down to San Jose.

 

[dave6666]

Heheh, the roads are terrible here, even when they do fix them, two weeks later they're worse than they were before. No sea lions where I'm at, but I've hit a few deer in my day... plenty of those around.

How much for the stew meat? I mean deer carcasses?

 

[Vic]

One time in a different car, I just had an alignment done. Drove straight as an arrow, until I hit a bump. I heard a weird clunk, stopped, and when I got to looking around, turns out the zit-faced tech hadn't tightened the front upper control arms, where they bolted to the frame. Made for some serious negative camber!

 

[wigginz]

How much for the stew meat? I mean deer carcasses?

Well, the last one was 10 years ago. If you can find it, it's all yours. If you're into something a bit more fresh, I can take the truck out one night and put put my high beams on...

 

[wigginz]

Quick update for those that care. I got the car up on stands and I found absolutely nothing wrong. I guess maybe I felt strange a bump and just overreacted heheh (easy to do when you've put 65k into a car).

Anyway, I did see one thing that made me curious. The springs on the rear shocks seemed a little loose. Meaning I could wiggle them a small amount horizontally (not up and down). Are they supposed to be tighter? These are the stock 2002 ACR shocks BTW. I'll take a look in the service manual too.

 

[dave6666]

Quick update for those that care. I got the car up on stands and I found absolutely nothing wrong. I guess maybe I felt strange a bump and just overreacted heheh (easy to do when you've put 65k into a car).

Anyway, I did see one thing that made me curious. The springs on the rear shocks seemed a little loose. Meaning I could wiggle them a small amount horizontally (not up and down). Are they supposed to be tighter? These are the stock 2002 ACR shocks BTW. I'll take a look in the service manual too.

At full suspension droop with them still anchored in the car you should be able to distort the springs radially a small amount. After all, they are springs. They should not rattle or move up and down whatsoever.

 

[wigginz]

At full suspension droop with them still anchored in the car you should be able to distort the springs radially a small amount. After all, they are springs. They should not rattle or move up and down whatsoever.

OK, that should have been completely obvious to me Clearly without the car's weight on the rear wheel, the spring wont be compressed and have a little play. At least I don't think anything broke, best news I've had all day.

 

[johnk]

Are you running run-flat tires? Did you check the pressure in them?

 

[wigginz]

Running PS2's actually. The pressure was something I thought might be the issue, but they're all at the same pressure that I left them with. For now everything seems fine, I'll probably have a tech take a look at it when I go for the tune up just to be safe.

 

[VPR RACR]

Kyle

I had a similar situation occur to me in my Suburban on the way to Reno. Loud bang, felt like a flat but no flat, changed tire out, took tire to Costco for "repair" but couldnt find anything wrong with it. Checked suspension and area around the wheel well and could not find anything wrong. I concluded maybe I ran over something and it was thrown inside of the wheel well causing the noise.
One thing that was strange was as I was pulled over on I-80 by Sacto,a pickup truck also pulled over and wanted to give me some "free" air out of a propane tank. I politely told them no and they left.
good luck