FatHead1979 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Morning all, just thought I'd have a quick vent! A good end to last week, driving to work (50 MPH zone, single carriageway), white van man decides he wants to update his Insta account whilst doing 50 MPH, uses my side of the road, I get as far out of his way as possible and batter through a massive pothole at circa 50 MPH . Cue a very loud bang and a loud and very constant sound of metal banging against metal, quickly noticed the rear felt really (floaty) so pulled over and pulled back the carpets in the boot. End result = The rear left shock/top mount had failed/been smashed totally, if I stick my finger in I can just reach the top of the shock and give it a wiggle. Then spent the next 5 minutes grovelling to my regular garage to fit me in a soon as possible as I need my car for commuting and finally ended up booked in for this Weds (new shocks, top mounts and springs). I can't say I enjoyed the drive to work today, 1 hour of solid "noise" and having to corner like "Ethel in her metallic lilac Holda Jazz on her Sunday morning drive". Roll on Wednesday. I'm trying to see the upside i.e. the parts that are being replaced were all original i.e. 14 years old and surely getting rather tired so at least once I've paid my £255 the rear of the car should be lovely and planted. /rantover 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Bloodaxe Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Very bad luck there - this pothole business is just getting ridiculous. Very similar thing happened to me the other week when I went over the thing in the pic trying to avoid someone. Huge bang but (fingers crossed) no apparent damage and all seems normal driving wise. When I returned to the scene I found it was a half sunken, rusted manhole cover that some woodentop had decided to just tarmac over. The whole thing, including the tarmac, was actually dropping about 6 inches when a vehicle went over. So I reported it to the council, with photos, and guess what - someone's just been round and dropped another shovel of tarmac on top😠 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHead1979 Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 24 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said: Very bad luck there - this pothole business is just getting ridiculous. Very similar thing happened to me the other week when I went over the thing in the pic trying to avoid someone. Huge bang but (fingers crossed) no apparent damage and all seems normal driving wise. When I returned to the scene I found it was a half sunken, rusted manhole cover that some woodentop had decided to just tarmac over. The whole thing, including the tarmac, was actually dropping about 6 inches when a vehicle went over. So I reported it to the council, with photos, and guess what - someone's just been round and dropped another shovel of tarmac on top😠 Wow, nice to see that council contractor taking pride in their work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 That really is bad luck, those top mounts are pretty robust! 😮 The council are having fun with the top dressing around here atm...just spreading tar and gravel literally everywhere they possibly can...without even filling in potholes or levelling drains first! So it now feels worse to drive than it did before, and it's not added any grip to the worn parts either, even where it's been 'driven in' by cars now it still feels very loose in some areas, particularly on a notoriously bad NSL corner...I won't be at all surprised to find yet another car crashing on that corner within the next week... They also put the '20mph slip risk' signs out a week early, so everyone had got used to ignoring them by the time it was actually done and got caught out... On top of that they also decided to close huge sections of the road in both directions where there isn't an alternative route. For one of the sections they closed, this meant a 20 minute, 10 mile diversion instead of the usual 5 minute, 3 mile route... How can that possibly be considered acceptable? I appreciate that the safety of the roadworkers needs to be managed, but what about the safety of all the people living on the peninsula? If someone has a heart attack, or was being burgled or raped, or their house caught fire...the emergency services would all need to follow this ridiculous diversion to reach them...and then the same again if anyone had to be taken to hospital... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Bloodaxe Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 16 minutes ago, 1979Damian said: Wow, nice to see that council contractor taking pride in their work! Unfortunately you can't blame a contractor - our local council use direct labour for these sort of jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHead1979 Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 11 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: That really is bad luck, those top mounts are pretty robust! 😮 The council are having fun with the top dressing around here atm...just spreading tar and gravel literally everywhere they possibly can...without even filling in potholes or levelling drains first! So it now feels worse to drive than it did before, and it's not added any grip to the worn parts either, even where it's been 'driven in' by cars now it still feels very loose in some areas, particularly on a notoriously bad NSL corner...I won't be at all surprised to find yet another car crashing on that corner within the next week... They also put the '20mph slip risk' signs out a week early, so everyone had got used to ignoring them by the time it was actually done and got caught out... On top of that they also decided to close huge sections of the road in both directions where there isn't an alternative route. For one of the sections they closed, this meant a 20 minute, 10 mile diversion instead of the usual 5 minute, 3 mile route... How can that possibly be considered acceptable? I appreciate that the safety of the roadworkers needs to be managed, but what about the safety of all the people living on the peninsula? If someone has a heart attack, or was being burgled or raped, or their house caught fire...the emergency services would all need to follow this ridiculous diversion to reach them...and then the same again if anyone had to be taken to hospital... It seem to be happening all over, I hate the half arsed throw down a load of liquid bitumen and some gravel afterwards approach. If I had a nice (newer) motor I'd be raging about stonechips to the cills etc. I suspect the top mount along with the shock was probably quite tired, 162K miles (14 years old), at least I should be able to feel a significant improvement once it's sorted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHead1979 Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 Just now, 1979Damian said: It seem to be happening all over, I hate the half arsed throw down a load of liquid bitumen and some gravel afterwards approach. If I had a nice (newer) motor I'd be raging about stonechips to the cills etc. I suspect the top mount along with the shock was probably quite tired, 162K miles (14 years old), at least I should be able to feel a significant improvement once it's sorted. Round my end (Doncaster) I don't think the council even HAS any direct labour left on the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.png.327e57655a9a82472089ef077ae02c11.png)
Recommended Posts
Ford UK Shop
Sponsored Ad
Name: eBay
Ford Model: FordUK Shop
Ford Year: 2024
Latest Deals
Ford UK Shop for genuine Ford parts & accessoriesDisclaimer: As the club is an eBay Partner, The club may be compensated if you make a purchase via the club
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.