Fat car share damaged wife's car?

Fat car share damaged wife's car?

Author
Discussion

RDJ

Original Poster:

7,251 posts

232 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
Is it possible for human weight to wear out the suspension on a car?

Only in order for my wife to secure a parking space at her workplace she has to participate in the car share scheme.

The person she has been nominated to give a lift to is morbidly obese and I have genuinely noticed the car now seems to be permanently lower down on the passenger side, and on tight turns it has started knocking from that side. Along with this is the electric motor for elevating the seat has given up the ghost.

I cannot prove her bulk is the cause of this but until she came on board for the car share scheme it was perfectly OK.

My wife doesn't want to lose her parking space but would she be within her rights to request a normal sized passenger perhaps?

badgers_back

513 posts

185 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Buy something fat bd cant get into..

Say a lotus Elise

2 birds one stone

you get a sports car fat barstard gets ostracised everyones a winner

Foliage

3,861 posts

121 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Is the fat fk contributing to petrol costs?

Lost soul

8,712 posts

181 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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RDJ said:
IsMy wife doesn't want to lose her parking space but would she be within her rights to request a normal sized passenger perhaps?
That would be fatist

MikeOxlong

3,112 posts

188 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Or go the other way and turn up every day with a low loader and insist fatty gets on the trailer wearing loads of oversize load signs. Get some escort vehicles with all the orange flashing lights on them.

Shame her into dropping some weight because come the winter it'll be bloody cold sat on the trailer.

Pixelpeep7r

8,600 posts

141 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Pictures !

OGR4M

845 posts

152 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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MikeOxlong said:
it'll be bloody cold sat on the trailer.
Not with all that padding, I suspect...

steviejasp

1,646 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Simply mount a large Black Forest Gateaux onto the boot lid and as sure as eggs is eggs, lard arse will try to run along behind the car to get to the cake and therefore the suspension will suffer no more.

Motorrad

6,811 posts

186 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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An enormous sow of a woman lives opposite a member of my family. She drives an old Micra which visibly sighs with relief when she heaves her blubber out of it. It then rocks gently and settles with a slight sag on the drivers side.

I feel sorry for it and her husband. She obviously has a sense of humour though (despite being an evil bh who has waged a hate campaign against my aged relative) as she has a playboy bunny on the back of it.

Given that rock solid evidence I'd say it's perfectly possible the bloater has buggered it. Probably wrecked the suspension as well. biggrin

carinaman

21,210 posts

171 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Supposedly someone in the family has knackered a rear shock. The garage said as they knew the customer and the age of the car they'd replace just that shock.

JDMDrifter

4,039 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Potential legendary thread right here hehe Can you put fatty in the back on the drivers side, in a few more months you'll have free lowered suspension!

RDJ

Original Poster:

7,251 posts

232 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
doogz said:
RDJ said:
Is it possible for human weight to wear out the suspension on a car?

Only in order for my wife to secure a parking space at her workplace she has to participate in the car share scheme.

The person she has been nominated to give a lift to is morbidly obese and I have genuinely noticed the car now seems to be permanently lower down on the passenger side, and on tight turns it has started knocking from that side. Along with this is the electric motor for elevating the seat has given up the ghost.

I cannot prove her bulk is the cause of this but until she came on board for the car share scheme it was perfectly OK.

My wife doesn't want to lose her parking space but would she be within her rights to request a normal sized passenger perhaps?
How fat is the person? What sort of weight are we talking about?
Difficult to estimate the weight but she fills most of the passenger side of an Audi A3, and my wife says she has had to increase her braking distances considerably. Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.

Lost soul

8,712 posts

181 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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RDJ said:
Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.
Jesus , I would say stop giving her lifts now

She needs to talk to her managers at work about this

Jimmyarm

1,962 posts

177 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Yes it is entirely possible, the more weight you put in the more work the suspension is doing that side.

We have a customer who is rather large, but has a normal sized partner. Their car is very lopsided with and without it's occupants.

Most cars that only carry one normal person regularly will sag slightly on the drivers side eventually, presumably the spring spends more of its time under slightly higher compression and as age takes it's toll it will be shorter at it's normal unladen height that the other side.

I think from memory, some cars even had slightly 'longer' springs on the drivers side to keep them level with just a driver in, discovery 1 is ringing a bell ?

Joey Ramone

2,150 posts

124 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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That last point seals it. Company can't force your wife to accept a passenger who can't wear a seatbelt.

Think about it. You get hit side-on on the passenger side and Sumo commuter isn't wearing her seatbelt properly, then she is going to be catapulted sideways out of her seat and is going to hit your wife with the equivalent of twice/three times her already considerable bodyweight. Which could kill your wife.

Rick_1138

3,656 posts

177 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Lost soul said:
RDJ said:
Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.
Jesus , I would say stop giving her lifts now

She needs to talk to her managers at work about this
From that information alone I would be having a quiet word with your HR\Manager as no matter equalities and such, that's illegal and the driver would be liable.

cwis

1,147 posts

178 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Lost soul said:
RDJ said:
Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.
Jesus , I would say stop giving her lifts now

She needs to talk to her managers at work about this
Apparently it's the passengers responsibility to wear the seatbelt - not the drivers.

http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/adviceandinformati...

I thought it was the drivers - interesting.

jimmy156

3,681 posts

186 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
RDJ said:
Difficult to estimate the weight but she fills most of the passenger side of an Audi A3, and my wife says she has had to increase her braking distances considerably. Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.
Come on, sounds like rubbish to me.

Even 4/5 up with luggage under normal driving i have never had to 'considerably increase braking distances'

Unless this women is like 30 stone plus, she must be able to get a seatbelt on if she tried.

Chlamydia

1,082 posts

126 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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RDJ said:
Difficult to estimate the weight but she fills most of the passenger side of an Audi A3, and my wife says she has had to increase her braking distances considerably. Another concern is our legal standing in the event of an accident as she can't get the seatbelt on fully and just holds it in place.
Jesus! I read your OP and thought maybe your wife's car had failing suspension anyway and this just showed it up quicker as I couldn't imagine a fellow fatty causing that much of a problem. Having read that last bit though I'm not so sure biggrin

HonestIago

1,719 posts

185 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Any chance of a pic so we can play "guess the weight"?! laugh