pot hole = bad alignment?

[DarkEcho]

there is this road that is like a forever and a half stretch of 50 mph and it goes straight to my school but it is a friggin ****ty road and i can take the freeway a little further out to my school but it might take me a few mins more.. anyways i usually take the freeway but was in a hurry this morning so i take the shortcut

they are developing homes along one side and i guess they made 4-5 trenches for wiring or water (or both) and they filled them in half-assed like and so when it rained, the trenches sunk in, now there is about a half foot dip about a foot wide going all the way across the road, and today, i hit it...

going like 60 i hit this think and it felt like i ran over an inverted speedbump i heard a real fast bang my whole car/body jolted and i was like "goddamnit!!! mother f*D*E*!@#%$!!" i get so pissed... i already lost 2 wheelcaps to one of those damn trenches and i had to get a whole new set because when i took the others off for inspection the jolt had broken the tabs that kept them in..

anyways, now when im driving i can here this whispy whisk noise from the front end driver and passenger and it changes to the opposite direction that im turning, however when im going straight it comes form the passenger side, its almost like when you whisk mashed potatoes and the whisk hits the bottom of the metal pan... its that kind of noise... like somethings out of alignment or maybe i bent a rim or all of them... im so pised i cant believe it... i HATE that road...and the people who think its ok to leave fat *** holes in it just because they are going to wait to repave it once the damn homes are done... ugh

[1DangerousV6]

i know exactly where you're comin from man..the roads here SUCK!..i try to stick to the highways and avoid as many city streets as i can..the pot holes and rain gutters are freakin craters..it sounds like something got bent and is now rubbing together when the wheels spin..maybe a brake or steering component..hitting one hard enough can definitely mess up your alignment..i would definitely stop by your shop and have the front end checked out ASAP

[DarkEcho]

its not too horrible... i know this is probably a bad idea but im going to wait a week or so to get my sway bars and SFCs installed then ill get it aligned

['94firebirdv6]

my aunt hit a HUGE pothole in her grand prix and bent the crap out of suspension. i looked at her car and the one wheel that hit the pothole, the tread on the tire was completely gone.

id get it looked at asap

[Need4Camaro]

Speaking of such subjects... When I get up to 68 MPH EXACTLY I start to hear what sounds like a sparking noise coming from my left steer tire... I can only hear it when the window's down so it's not loud but it sounds like someone's tapping a live wire to a grounding source and quickly pulling it back... "ZZZzzt.. Pop...Zzzzt" Or like I'm skimming the rim... Gets so annoying... I also need a front end alignment because the car always bears off to the left when you hold the wheel straight... Is this the problem?

[OreoLT1]

It sounds like you may have something bent on the under carrige of the vehicle. If it was the alignment the car would pull to one side or the other and overtime you would have uneven tire wear. Also having a crooked steering wheel is due to mis-alignment because the only purposes for the alignment are to make sure that the tires are wearing enenly, the vehicle is going straight down the road, and the steering wheel is centered.