Just sharing my experience. On my way home from work last night, I drove over a deep pothole. It did not look like a pothole as I was approaching it. Then a few seconds later, from the passenger side front, bam! I suddenly had a flashback to 1995 when I was driving my 300Z TT on 18" Fittipaldis and hit a big pothole. I pulled over and there it was, a bent rim. I remember driving home on the freeway and all sorts of vibration consumed the car. The next day, flat tire. I took the wheel to many shops and at that time, no one could fix it. A replacement wheel costed me $425 . Fast forward to last night. So I pulled over and checked my 19" Lexion wheel. I was expecting to see an ugly bent rim. But no damage was visible on the outside rim. I drove on the freeway, no vibrations whatsoever and the car still drives straight. When I got home, I checked the other side of the rim, no damage. This morning, no flat tire and pressure is the same from the last time I checked it . Whew! These Lexion wheels are tougher than I thought. Just to be on the safe side, I will have the car checked.

 

Where did you hit the pot hole? Orange county?

 

No, I live in NorCal.

 

man I hit one last weekend and it freaking pissed me off so bad. It was loud like you are describing. I got out and checked it and everything was good. This is with the stock rim

 

same here with stock 18"s knock on wood, it's our luxury suspension i believe since our cars are luxury sedans and not like bmw's sport suspension, my friend ran into the same pothole and bent his 18's stock on the M3 so it not lexion its the suspension and the way it's set up probably

 

At least with the stock 18" rims, you have more sidewall protection. Just imagine if I had 20s on. You just don't know when those potholes will come at ya. Heavy rain is always followed with potholes. They should invent some kind of radar system that will warn you of potholes ahead.

 

But I have Eibach Pro Kit springs on.

 

I never understood the bent rims thing... it seems like it would have to be a REALLY hard hit to bend the rims, and even then, I would think some part of the chassis would take the damage before the wheel did. Is it caused by poor quality rims? Or do the wheels always get messed up first?

 

Many times, its the quality of the wheels. Certain brands have certain nicknames that I won't go into because some of our members have these.

 

Other times its just the fundamental strength of the wheel. I've bent my OEM Supra rims twice on the passenger's front and once in the rear bad enough to crack the inside lip!

Big offset wide wheels have a lot of unsupported rim. Light wheels depend entirely on the alloy. Both are easier to bend than wheels not needing these features.

 

i bent my stock 18" on Norcal highways and damaged my suspension also

 

I think it is just the quality of the wheels. On my 1990 Eagle Talon, back when 205/55-16 tires were considered "low profile", I bent three OEM rims on (not terribly severe) potholes. Never damaged anything in the suspension, and even the alignment stayed in spec. Thankfully the wheels on subsequent cars I've owned have been a lot stronger.

To the original poster: I'd suggest that you check your sidewalls (both sides) again in a week or two to make sure no bubbles have formed.

 

i believe that our lexus suspensions play some type of role in suppressing some of the damage the our wheels take in from potholes. i've hit quite a few them..still good so far...damn the potholes..why can't we have pothole free roads =[

 

i hit a pothole one morning on the way to work and busted a tire. no bent rim though. after i pulled over, i saw the gash in my tire and heard the air hissing out. took it straight to lexus and $300 later i had a new tire. i should sue the city and get my money back..lol.

 

in norcal, the worst pothole i've ran across recently was the 680 North onramp off the 580 West. the pothole is freakin huge, and my whole car felt like it hit a brick wall