Pistol_Pete

Hey Everybody....Let me start by saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

I recently had a couple of issues...1 I was rear ended by another sedan which was doing about 20mph ----> my question is what damage would the car sustain? Aside from very minor visible damage on the bumper I was wondering if it would affect the chassis at all.



2nd One of my runflats got punctured with a good size nail that cant be plugged or patched. Would there be a problem if I replace only this tire in the rear. The tires have 12,500 miles on them original from factory. Would I have to change both rear tires because a tread difference would be noticable or can I change just the one that was punctured.


This tire puncture has aroused thoughts of Michelin Pilot Sport 2 AS but thats another issue alltogether.


Thanks in advance,
P

dlevi67

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too, Pete.

Damage from shunting is insidious. A lot will depend on whether you have been hit squarely on the back, or at an angle, however minimal.

Beneath the bumpers there are reversible shock absorbers that work up to ~3 mph, and replaceable crumple zones that work up to 9 mph. Even if the bumper seems OK, it's highly likely that at least the crumple packs need replacing, and probably - if the other car really was doing 20 mph (that's actually going quite fast for a shunt) - there's chassis damage too. Have it looked at!

Tyre (or tire): I'd think you will probably need replacing both. Partly because it's good practice, partly because a difference of 3-4 mm in radius is probably noticeable by the ABS and ECU (it's about 1% of the radius), causing at best annoying fault signals and at worst DSC and ABS inappropriate intervention and possible malfunction of the transmission (it may not switch gears in some circumstances, as it thinks you're going around a bend!). You can always try...

KAF

Difficult choice. if the good tyre still has 5 mm plus, I would keep it and replace the one.

If it has less than 4mm, replace both

(if it has 4.5mm........................shoot yourself !! :'(

dlevi67

And hope that the bullet goes through the other tyre as well...

Pistol_Pete

I'll try not to miss the tire I went to a tire place and to my complete dismay i found a KEY, yes a full key IN MY TIRE!!! The guy at the tire place was just as surprised as I was. Long story short he plugged the tire and it seems to be keeping the air just fine gonna test it out a bit later but he said it should be fine. I dont even want to begin to imagine how it got in there.



As for the rear bumper I took it to a body guy I trust and by just looking at it he said there doesnt seem to be any frame damage just the bumper needs to be changed....the doors alligned perfectly and everything seemed to be ok....he's gonna raise it up tomorrow to see what the real damage is to the car and give me an estimate....I'll keep u guys posted

But thanks dlevi67 for you input I appreciate it

dlevi67

Well, an Italian expression comes to mind: "chiavare" - which literally means "to key", but is actually slang for intercourse, usually when performed very satisfactorily... Hope the key had fun.

Hope your friend is right, and it's just a bumper change.