Speed bump damage
Discussion
So for the 3rd time in approx 3 years my BMW my front wheel springs (both sides) have broken with a loud bang like a shotgun, and in addition other things to do with suspension like bushes etc have gone.
Since I am only a driver, and not a mechanic, I rely heavily on my trusted garage to tell me what is wrong. Steve from the garage comes down to wherever the situation happened, and checks what the issue is, in order to be sure I do not drive the car when I shouldn't.
He strongly believes it is the EIGHT sets of speed bumps that I have to "endure" as I drive in/out of my housing estate. I would accept that perhaps the first time I was not so careful and not knowledgeable, but since then I have driven so slowly over the bumps I almost stall, and quite often get other drivers at least giving me a bad look or even fingers up, for driving so slow. (I wish I had time to tell them all why)!
I wrote the the local authority who palmed me off completely, but this time I wont give up. I plan to take them to the small claims court.
Just to let everyone else know.
Since I am only a driver, and not a mechanic, I rely heavily on my trusted garage to tell me what is wrong. Steve from the garage comes down to wherever the situation happened, and checks what the issue is, in order to be sure I do not drive the car when I shouldn't.
He strongly believes it is the EIGHT sets of speed bumps that I have to "endure" as I drive in/out of my housing estate. I would accept that perhaps the first time I was not so careful and not knowledgeable, but since then I have driven so slowly over the bumps I almost stall, and quite often get other drivers at least giving me a bad look or even fingers up, for driving so slow. (I wish I had time to tell them all why)!
I wrote the the local authority who palmed me off completely, but this time I wont give up. I plan to take them to the small claims court.
Just to let everyone else know.
How did you get on with this? Funnily enough I was only thinking the same thing this morning as I crawled over one of the 25 (no exaggeration) speed bumps I have to endure between leaving home and getting to work. I'm sick to death of the f***ing things, even more so as this morning I heard a disconcertingly loud metallic "twang" sound come from somehwhere on the front N/S suspension.
I too have also had irate drivers behind me due to my refusal to go over them at any more than about 8 mph, as well as people furiously overtaking to make a point.
Another thing I hate about speed bumps is that they've been proven to significantly increase vehicle emissions, and yet for all the talk of air pollution, climate change etc, how strange that all speed bumps haven't been immediately ripped up for a quick air quality win
It's almost as if there's some other agenda here...
I too have also had irate drivers behind me due to my refusal to go over them at any more than about 8 mph, as well as people furiously overtaking to make a point.
Another thing I hate about speed bumps is that they've been proven to significantly increase vehicle emissions, and yet for all the talk of air pollution, climate change etc, how strange that all speed bumps haven't been immediately ripped up for a quick air quality win
It's almost as if there's some other agenda here... both springs failing simultaneously?
I've developed cars...smashed into speed bumps at obscence speeds thousands of times...smashed into sharp edged kerbs and destroyed wheels, and my favourite...sliding with locked wheels into deep potholes...which really destroys the suspension.
Never broke a spring though!
I've developed cars...smashed into speed bumps at obscence speeds thousands of times...smashed into sharp edged kerbs and destroyed wheels, and my favourite...sliding with locked wheels into deep potholes...which really destroys the suspension.
Never broke a spring though!
Mike335i said:
Road safety maybe?
I do completely oppose speed bumps and humps as they are a nuisance.
True. I'd be interested to see the supporting statistics. If they're anything like speed cameras, once regression to the mean is accounted for, there'll be no actual proof that they improve safety. Who knows though. Maybe outside a school they do, and tbh I'm not bothered when they're in places where everyone should be driving at a crawl anyway.I do completely oppose speed bumps and humps as they are a nuisance.
But on a big industrial estate/business park I doubt there are any statistics to justify them vs the environmental impact. In fact where I work they only seem to frustrate people into driving much faster on the short stretches in between and/or making risky overtaking maneouvres to try to make up for lost time. It's even more irritating when they're preceded by a patronising "Traffic calming scheme" sign
Stupidest of all is where the speed limit is higher than it's possible to safely average over the speed bumps. "Let's make the speed limit 30 mph but then force everyone to drive at an average speed of 15 mph." Wtf?!
I need to go for a little lie down now.
It would be interesting to find out how often the various police forces have to change the coil springs on their BMW's, because during high speed pursuits, they have to race their cars over speed bumps, smashing away at the suspension, at speeds that very few non-police drivers ever will.
4rephill said:
It would be interesting to find out how often the various police forces have to change the coil springs on their BMW's, because during high speed pursuits, they have to race their cars over speed bumps, smashing away at the suspension, at speeds that very few non-police drivers ever will.
Do they not use strengthened suspension for that exact reason?I’ve tuned the suspension on police cars. The suspension had modifications to deal better with the increased kerb weight over standard cars. So longer, slightly stiffer springs, slightly increased damper forces, and other basic tuning mods. There was no reinforcements over normal cars, though some forces asked us to tune the cars on higher profile tyres...
I checked tunes with fairly brutal tests, way beyond what the police would do, never broke a spring though. The springs I used weren’t really a weak link in the chain for extreme tests. It is a weak link in the chain if they are poorly manufactured though, or if maybe they are subjected to a harsh, corrosive environment, or a combination of both.
I checked tunes with fairly brutal tests, way beyond what the police would do, never broke a spring though. The springs I used weren’t really a weak link in the chain for extreme tests. It is a weak link in the chain if they are poorly manufactured though, or if maybe they are subjected to a harsh, corrosive environment, or a combination of both.
Kawasicki said:
corrosive environment
It's this, coupled with manufacturers not being able to use the coating they used to as it's now banned. There's probably also a dose of the steel being poorer quality and 'they don't make 'em like they to' as well.They micro-crack, then corrosion sets in, then they snap.
It's an issue that's almost unheard of in Southern Europe.
There's supposed to be a move to do away with speed bumps as they increase vehicle pollution. Instead there will be more rigorous enforcement of 20MPH areas.
Sheepshanks said:
It's this, coupled with manufacturers not being able to use the coating they used to as it's now banned. There's probably also a dose of the steel being poorer quality and 'they don't make 'em like they to' as well.
They micro-crack, then corrosion sets in, then they snap.
It's an issue that's almost unheard of in Southern Europe.
There's supposed to be a move to do away with speed bumps as they increase vehicle pollution. Instead there will be more rigorous enforcement of 20MPH areas.
This is interesting, and also ties in with the fact that newer cars quickly end up covered in stonechips due to less durable paint. I'm all for protecting the environment, but surely the environmentally friendly alternative should still be fit for purpose?They micro-crack, then corrosion sets in, then they snap.
It's an issue that's almost unheard of in Southern Europe.
There's supposed to be a move to do away with speed bumps as they increase vehicle pollution. Instead there will be more rigorous enforcement of 20MPH areas.
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