Concerned with tire...
 

I was crossing an intersection that has very bad potholes, so I proceeded with caution as I normally do. But there was a brand new hole about the same of my tire (I have the 20" Y tires) and I went over it at about 20 MPH. The sound it made was terrible, and I think that it threw my alignment off since I could swear I feel it pull to the right now which is the side I went over the pothole.

Could it just be in my head, or is it possible I damaged something?

You didn't damage anything, most likely. At the worst you screwed up alignment. If you keep seeing it pull, take it and have an alignment.

:iagree: Don't worry about it.

I once went over a huge deep pot hole in a pretty high speed, not knowing there was a pot hole at night. The passengers were like 'what was that?' but there's no damage to the vehicle or the alignment, as far as I can feel.

Thanks guys... I'll keep on eye on it for alignment. :thumbup:

Damage to tires is often readily visible... you'll see cuts or bubbles. Damage to aligment is a bit more difficult to diagnose, but if it is really off the car will pull.

- Mike

I tried to kinda talk my way into having the dealer check the alignment for me at NC, and it was a no go. They charge me $280 just to check if needs aligning.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait and see if it continues to act up. Thanks again for all your input.

I think a good alignment test is to go straight on flat ground and let go of the steering wheel then slowly put on the brakes. If it pulls to one of the sides and you can easily tell then I think you should get the alignment checked. don't go really fast before letting go of the steering wheel though. lol. Go at a comfortable speed that you know you can do this test at. I'm not sure if this actually helps but it has always worked for me.

^Your method is a pretty solid one but there's a possiblity that it might be affected by the uneveness of the road. So do it on as even a surface as possible. And even before braking if the steering wheel goes to either side, then it probably needs an alignment.

Thanks guys for the suggestions: actually that's one of the first things I noticed right away.

As soon as I went over that pothole, I started braking and I noticed that it pulled to the right; that's what had me concerned. However, I've been driving today and it seems okay... thus if indeed it needs aligning (something that wouldn't surprise me) it seems to be just barely... nothing completely obvious. If that's the case, should I bother paying whatever $$$ to get it done, or wait until it really needs it?

I wouldn't waste money on it. You're going to want to do an alignment in the future anyway for maintenance purpose. So if you don't feel anything obvious now, then I would just drive and enjoy the vehicle!