Speed Bumps

[TVR nut]

Sorry if this has been asked before, i went back a good 20 pages and couldn't find anything.
I just got my new t350 home and am wondering what the best way to take speed bumps are. do you stride them or bump one wheel over the top? or just avoid? my car is spotless underneith and i would like to keep it that way.
thanks for the help

[Targarama]

So long as they are legal then your car should clear them. Just slow right down. If you're thinking of the pillows that only go acros 1/3 of the road then I suggest making sure on side of the car goes over the bump to ensure you don't ground.

[K12AN]

Make sure BOTH front wheels go over together - slowly. There should be no problem.

If you approach the type which are split up...don't try to go one wheel on, one off. Also, definately don't try to put one wheel on either side of the bump...you will either take off your front bumper, scrape the undercarriage of your car or you exhaust will scrape.

I live in London and so have to deal with bumps ALL the time...no problems as yet.

[stimshady]

the hard plastic bumps you have to be careful of when the back end comes down as it's a little lower at the rear i think. i actually have to 'break' down the bump with the back wheels to stop it banging on some of the plastic bumps.

[purpleperil]

Targarama said:

So long as they are legal then your car should clear them. Just slow right down. If you're thinking of the pillows that only go acros 1/3 of the road then I suggest making sure on side of the car goes over the bump to ensure you don't ground.

What is the 'legal' height and what recourse have you got if the bump is not within spec?

[stimshady]

i think the legal height is 100mm - might be wrong though...

[madbadger]

It is 100mm but watch out for ones where the road has worn away around the hump leaving them raised. Often the top of bumps is the best bit of road surface around.

As has been said very slowly is the best way to take them. The biggest danger by far is getting rear ended by someone who doesn't think anyone will need to slow down at all (often but not exclusively 4x4 drivers) The best way to deal with this is to floor it up to 30 then you will have lots of space to slow right down again for the next one. Probably not ideal for local residents ears, but it was normally them who asked the council for them in the first place.

[purpleperil]

stimshady said:

i think the legal height is 100mm - might be wrong though...

Ah - that explains the damage to my splitter Agree with Mad Badgers advice but doesn't help with the buttock clenching trauma every time I have to negotiate the damn things!

[sibo99]

also remember ur car will be be lower with a passanger
i dont allow fat chicks in mine as a rule!! hee hee

[Wroomster]

I have a T350 with brand spanking new rear diffuser...hence I too am conscious about approaching speed bumps. Unfortunately I live in London, so there ae plent of them - I feel lke petitioning Cam&Clegg to eradicate them, what with the potholes out there, the roads are a bloody obstacle course.

Anyway....nuff of my rant! I recently got my wheel alignment done, and speaking the mechanic, he said that the best way was to take the humps one wheel on, one wheel off if possible. If you try to drive over top of them, you wear the inside of your tyre out, and you risk jarring them which causes misalignment.

The worst ones I find are the single plastic strips you get in entrances to car parks. They cause the whole chassis to jump up and then down very quickly, on the way down the momentum compresses the suspension, reducing the ground clearance, making it more likely that the car will ground out.

cant they think of more effective ways of slowing people down in residential areas, like rumble strips or something?