Hit a pothole, Need new tires and rims.

[SocialStealth]

Hey guys,
I recently hit a pothole and blew out my tire (again).
I'm wondering if there are better rim sizes that can handle potholes better?

I have an 02 protege ES, and the stock 5 nut rims. I had some continental tires on them, but I've had a lot of problems with them. I think the rim may be a little bent, so I figured I'd replace those too.

So I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on new rims + tires that can handle potholes and bumps a little better. I don't care much about looks or performance, just reliability and cost (trying to be as cheap as possible)

 

[tweety2300]

My nexen n5000's have hit some pretty bad potholes and been ok, you will probly want to source some steelies and get hubcaps as those almost never bend even runing over curbs at 45 mph

 

[SocialStealth]

is there any particular size rim thats compatible with our cars that is better?

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

You may have just had bad luck. I've drilled some pot holes on the interstate and never had an issue. I have the 03 and up P5 5 spokes. There isn't a silver bullet here, and I would take issue with getting steelies. My wife had a low speed slide into a curb and it bent the steelie so bad I had to replace it. They're not really more durable.

 

[ihone]

I can speak on this one from experience - as I had a nasty bend in one of mine after coming into contact with a big pothole on my local I-45 (heading to Galveston). Hit this badboy traveling about 75 mph and I thought the wheel had come off.....

Something I never really gave any thought is that the OEM wheels are more durable than the knock-off tuner wheels. If you replace them - don't cheap on it (especially if you're area has roads like we have down here in Houston).

If you're looking for more pothole-resilient wheels - I'd go with a 15" steelie and a larger tire. The more rubber - the more cushion.

 

[rit14623]

Go down to 15" rims, tires will have higher aspect ratio.

 

[2.0t03speed]

i have a set of stock p5 wheels and tires i'll sell you for cheap. The tires are bald but you could just swap over your current ones

 

[Installshield 2]

Yeah there is no 'magic' wheel that will survive anything...I mean you could go with some crazy forged stuff for around $750+/wheel, but even those are still possible to bend if you hit something at the right angle...as even forged wheels are designed to be light as possible (therefor have less material mass), and won't like deep pot holes any more than a cheap regular wheel.

the tires are the answer...the more tire sidewall, the more punishment the entire combination will take...the downside being handling will go out the window. You could easily source a 15" wheel and tire combo from tirerack for pretty cheap, and my guess would be you'd never have this problem again.

I used my stock wheels with 205/50 winter tires for a few seasons...That gave a little extra sidewall over the stock 195s...and it was like i was driving around on balloons...I banged the car over almost everything imaginable, and they're still fine...but the pizza cutter stock tires and tiny sidewalls let it sink right down into bad pavement and screw everything up.