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| Written by Jono Cono City of Ottawa potholes are causing a lot of damage to vehicles out on the road. The only people benefiting at this point are those selling and fixing tires, rims, wheel studs, rotors, doing wheel alignments and balancing etc.
Even though we’re now into June there are an amazing amount of potholes around the entire city of Ottawa. Some are worse then others and are in highly trafficked areas such as Bronson Ave. The worst potholes are the ones big enough that the tire falls right into it and bottoms out the suspension making you cringe. It does stand to reason that if the pothole are that big why wouldn’t you just steer around it. Some of these potholes, if you don’t know that they’re there are located in places which make steering around them quite difficult.
Two days ago around mid-morning I was driving North on Bronson towards Queen E. Just after driving over the bridge that crosses the river and rounding the curve I hit a pothole. I could hear a funny noise that I’ve never heard before, as I rolled down my window the noise stopped. I thought it was odd and I continued driving. Just after passing Carleton University I was stopped in traffic due to bridge construction crossing over the canal. Once I continued moving again I realized what the sound had been. It was the high pitched noise of Nitrogen escaping from the front right tire which was now flat.
I pulled onto a side street off Bronson (Findlay), pulled over to the side and got out to take a look. It was definitely flat and I had to get the spare tire on. With my aftermarket rims all the lugs require a special tuner key to get the wheels off, unfortunately the tuner key was in my garage in Kanata. I called a friend of mine who picked me up, brought me home and then we headed back to the car.
I haven’t changed a flat tire since I was 14 and my friend since he was 17 so we made a funny pair. There will be no Formula 1 pit crew careers for us, ha,ha. It took us a while but we got the spare on and started driving out to the Costco by Merivale and Hunt Club taking the back roads. As it turns out Costco now books appointments and couldn’t check to see if the tire was repairable. Luckily there was a Deals for Wheels next door that could. They checked the tire and found that the hole was in the sidewall, it popped due to the compression hitting the pot hole. Having said that, I needed a new tire which they sold me, installed, “balanced” and remounted the tire for me.
I thought I was all set until I started driving home and once I got up to a speed of 80km/h the steering wheel had the shakes. I called the car dealership once I got home and they suggested the wheels were imbalanced. Luckily I had another set of rims with tires installed and balanced. At home I took off the rim that had gotten the flat, put on one of the other tires and went for a spin. There was much less steering wheel shake but it wasn’t gone entirely. I took off the other rim on the same side, threw on another tire and went for a spin. The steering wheel shake was now gone. During the tire swapping one of the wheel studs on the front right sheared off, another lug was stuck halfway on and was going to shear off as well if anymore force was applied to remove it. I was now down to only two secured lugs holding the front right tire on.
The issues were now compounded so I started out by bringing the two wheels I had removed to Deals for Wheels in Kanata. It turns out the rim got bent while hitting the pothole. It also turns out the guy at the other Deals for Wheels didn’t exactly do a good job. Now that I knew the rim was bent my only option was to put on my other set of rims and tires. To do so I needed to get the two wheel studs replaced. No one in Kanata, including the car dealership had the parts, it was going to take a week to order them. The following morning I had to take my time and drive out to a car dealership in the East end of Ottawa to pick up the parts, drive back and then drop my car off to get fixed. They finished up installing and replacing the wheel studs and got the other two tires on. The car is all set and back to normal now but it was quite the saga for a flat tire.
It’s rare but what happened is when I hit the pothole although it didn’t feel that bad it actually impacted the wheel studs and bent them. Once the tire was replaced and the lugs put back on with an impact wrench it essentially welded the lug to the wheel stud.
I would just like to say thank you to the City of Ottawa for repairing our roads in a timely fashion. That particular pothole cost me $225 plus 8 hours of downtime. If you would like to include the full set of rims and tires that I can no longer use it’s actually more like $1800.
Good article to read.
Great article.
Maitland is terrible for potholes, and for road workers tearing up the street to fix underground infrastructure. I drive most of the length of Maitland almost twice daily just to get to work, and recently nailed a huge pothole (that has since been filled in), putting a dent in my rim.
I’m trying to find a way to get this repaired under warranty since I’m a student trying to keep his money to pay for school. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this will be the case.
Sorry to hear that you have suffered a similar fate with our pothole ridden roads here in Ottawa. Trying to get a bent rim covered under warranty is almost impossible. The tough part is trying to prove it was due to a manufacturer defect. There is actually a way to submit a claim to the city for reimbursement, the information can be found: here
The City of Ottawa also advises: Reporting a pothole or depression on a roadway. Call 3-1-1 to report a pothole or other roadway problem and request service. Please provide the closest civic address or intersection to assist in locating the problem.
Hey Jono hows it going
Great blog you have here, found it through google images, and love the feed icon very cool !!!
You know sometimes I am quite convinced that the city of ottawa is getting a cut of all the front end work being done as a result of their “roads”
Anyone have a good reason NOT to just reduce Carling avenue to a rallye road course.
Seriously It is one of the worst roads outside of qbc that I have ever had the sorry misfortune of driving on.
Call 311? Id like to call in air strike !!!
I know this is a little late, but I found a great store out in the Barrhaven area that repaired my rim for $107, tax included. They were quick and friendly too, which is a bonus.
I figured I should share this information for anyone who suffered similar damage to their wheels.
Their URL is http://www.alloywheelrepair.ca/
Hey Shane, things are going well. Thanks for stopping by, glad you enjoyed the blog and the feed icon, lol.
I’ll have to agree that Carling Ave is quite the armpit of “modern roadwork”. You may be onto something with the idea of calling in an Air Strike as opposed to 311, I would surely sanction it!!!
Oh, and yes Quebec roads are barely drivable, AGREED!
The Chiz:
Thank you so much for stopping by and you know what? It’s totally not too late to share the info you did. I’ve had the full set of rims and tires sitting in my garage since this happened wondering what the heck I was going to do. When you have a set of aftermarket rims, once one gets burned you’re pretty much out the set. I’m really excited to stop by this place and see if I can get the rim fixed. Thanks a ton!
I hit a deep pothole just off of Rideau St, on King Edward heading north (at George St.). Blew my tire, cost me $250 for the tires. I haven’t had it inspected for damage beyond the tire. I took pictures and video of the pothole, including others driving through it. I’m actively trying to find a way to get compensated for this. There weren’t even any signs to warn you. This is the only place I’ve found this discussion, so I’ll probably report back here to let you know what happens.
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Here’s what I found regarding how to sue the city of Ottawa for pothole damages to your car:
1. MUST BE WITHIN 10 DAYS of the incident.
2. Provide your full contact information.
3. Date, Time, and Location of the incident.
4. Type and Extent of the Damages if known (get the car inspected doubletime)
5. Submit the claim to the Risk Management Section of the City’s Legal Services.
NOTE:
- It seems the city will only pay out about 5% of claims submitted.
- It also seems that the city will only fork over $2400 for all claims that come in for the year.
- Also, and very important, you need to provide a LOT of evidence thet the city was GROSSLY NEGLIGENT. (I think this point may stand strong for the King Edward st. pothole).
Anyways hope this help anyone else looking for this kind of information.
I’ve submitted my claim within the 10 day window. We’ll see what happens.
Greenkufi,
Thank you for posting all of that information. Sounds like getting a claim into the city and having it approved is quite the ordeal considering the pittance you would receive in return if they’re only paying out 5%.
I’d be interested in hearing how your claim goes if you’re willing to post back later.
Cheers.
Well I finally brought my bent rim to Alloy Wheel Repair in Stittsville. I found out they’re located at 135 Iber road. I decided to bring in the other rim that was on the same side that I got the flat tire just to be sure. It turned out that both rims were bent but the rim with the flat was worse. Both rims were fixed for $169 taxes included.
Alloy Wheel Repair has really fast and friendly service. They fixed both rims, remounted the tires and balanced the wheels. They’re both as good as new. I highly recommend their service!