Pothole caused van to list

[Jacobsmith]

Good afternoon all,

I’m looking for some help / advice regarding my Volkswagen T6.1 transporter.

Last week I went through a pothole (hidden at the bottom of a puddle), the van made a huge bang and I’ve since noticed a slight knock on the front corner passengers side, and the van is 10mm lower at that side both front and back. The steering wheel is also not entirely straight when driving in a straight line.

I took it to a garage and they couldn’t see anything obvious wrong with the van so here I am hoping someone with some know how or previous experience can help point me in the right direction as to how to diagnose the issue?

Many thanks in advance

Jacob

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Sounds like a broken front spring, maybe try another garage.

 

[Pauly]

Something has moved/bent if the geo is out
I think you need to take it to somewhere or someone that knows what they are doing
It could be anything from a bent steering/suspension component to the subframe moving or anywhere in between, I see your location says London so not sure what specialists you have in your area, only ones I can think of in south east is @BognorMotors bit if a trek but probably worth it to get somewhere experienced with this type of thing ?

 

[Dellmassive]

Bent or snapped something suspension related,

As above .

 

[RobertO2023]

Get a full on the ramp inspection checking for any visual damage most likely to be the spring. If there’s nothing obvious then get a full geometry check - making sure all tyre pressures are set correctly beforehand. How is the actual wheel? With that sort of impact the wheel /tyre usually suffer some damage.

 

[Jacobsmith]

Thank you all for your very valued advice, I think I need to get it to a pro for a full alignment / check as it’s not right since the pothole (below is a link of the dashcam footage).

The wheels are 20” wheels and neither them or the tyres suffered any damage strangely so can only think the shock caused damage to some suspension parts as mentioned above.

I will update when I have seen someone / diagnosed the problem.

Thanks again

 

[Jacobsmith]

I forgot to mention it’s on Bilstein coilovers

 

[Albel]

While you try all of the above I would also be getting picture dims and information about the locations of the pot hole as a claim can take up to 6 months with the local council
Loads of forms to fill out and also some proof of true wear and age of van ect before you get any works done pictures and cost reports
But get filling the forms in and don’t give up a email every month asking for a update
Along with a revisit to the same spot with a date and time picture to show nothing has been done to prevent others hitting it
Happy to give more advice in new for old policy as they also tried that with me
Best of luck but your road tax is for a reason and sounds like it could be a heavy bill coming

 

[Pauly]

Potholes have to be reported to the LA, when I looked into it found you can only claim if it wasn’t repaired in a timely manner after being reported

 

[Jacobsmith]

Just for further info and for my piece of mind, I’ve swapped the drop links over but the noise persists at the passenger side.

 

[Albel]

Potholes have to be reported to the LA, when I looked into it found you can only claim if it wasn’t repaired in a timely manner after being reported

You will never know till you try and filling the form in on line has to be worth a go

 

[Captain Quick]

…
Best of luck but your road tax is for a reason and sounds like it could be a heavy bill coming

I always understood the cash raised from Vehicle Excise Duty (as well as duty and VAT on fuel for that matter) is paid directly into the Exchequer to be used in any way the Government thinks fit including wasting it on HS2 and buying crap PPE at grossly inflated prices. The Road Fund was wound up in 1955 (when the then government realised motorists and businesses could be a nice little cash cow) and since then the maintenance and improvement of the UK’s road network has been funded through discretionary government grants. The current state of our third-world standard roads is down to being grossly underfunded for more than a decade.

Depressingly, the huge cost of this is being borne by road users like @Jacobsmith. Sadly too, some have paid with their lives.

 

[Stay Frosty]

Pigtail broke on one of the rear springs maybe?
In four years I had one front spring and one rear spring give up on my B14s.
The van really does need to sit on a flat slab though and not a sloping flat slab as my camper sits on our sloping area out the front of the house and the arch gaps are all over the place.