They were installed in September of 2012, less than a month after I renewed my lease, and they're why I'm moving in August of 2013.
This is some of the damage they've done over the last year.
Today, I discovered that all the rustproofing has been scraped away on the frame rails.
Additionally,
* The exhaust hangers broke a few months ago. ($266 to fix)
* The front control arm bushings are torn, where they weren't when I had the suspension inspected when I had the brakes done in July of 2012.
* The rear control arm bushings are torn, too, where they weren't when I had the suspension inspected when I had the brakes done in July of 2012.
My belief is that the bushings tore primarily because of the excessive suspension travel that happens when I follow the complex's directive to people who have lower-sitting vehicles – "Well, we recommend that you take them at an angle if you're scraping".
So, for almost a year now, I've been taking them at an angle, going as slow as a rock-crawling jeep over them, and STILL scraping.
And to complicate matters further, the old owners sold the complex to a new company in June, so it's unclear to me who I'd file against if I were to take it to small claims court. Old? New? Both?
No idea. :argh:
No idea if it's even worth it to try.
They can always claim it to be the de icing stuff used in the winter, known to cause rust.
Their best angle is to fathom proof without a doubt that all that damage it caused by thier bumps alone.
And the counter to that is that the RUSTPROOFING is proof against rust.
There is no actual rust, just missing rustproofing – which needs to be replaced, or there will be rust later.
The rust proofing has been scraped off by a year of this.
20120925075847
And this:
20120924074304
And this:
20120925203851
And these are from the day they installed them. Less than an hour old, and scarred by normal cars…
https://plus.google.com/photos/111467014974214199699/albums/5905423464506995921?banner=pwa
I think I might have a case – and they might not even fight it, presented with some evidence, especially since it'd be Small Claims Court – if I could figure out who the liable party is in the first place.
Those are huge mounds ! I've read that most are no taller than 4" … I'd suggest making sure your car is within legal "low" or else they may say that you are the problem… Also I would assume they are aware they may have a liability issue for damage, i'd file an insurance claim and let rhe insurance company bang it out with them. I'm sure you've had to traverse other speed bumps without any issue… Anyway, just my 2 cents. Good luck
Thanks, +Bobby Garcia!
The car is a bone stock '97 BMW M3.
Ground clearance is 4.3".
My GF will bottom out on them occasionally in her Toyota Yaris, and her ground clearance is a full 5.5"
When they started getting complaints from the residents (which happened before the work crew was even done installing them), they said that they checked with the city, and the city maximum is 4". The crews were taking a tape measure and touching it to the ground next to the bumps and eyeballing it.
The problem isn't really the height of the speed bumps. It's the shape. I can drive over an 11,000 foot mountain (and have) if you make the "bump" wide enough.
These are little half circles, so, no matter how gently you come off the back side of them, the suspension compresses, and you whack them pretty hard.
+Ryan Kramb has been over them in his Jeep Cherokee, and if I recall correctly, he said they were pretty damn fierce.
Ahh that's true … The shape Is a big deal… You're car bangs down pretty damn solid . Call insurance they have big boy lawyers to handle stuff like this.
They're pretty wicked.
You may have frame damage , on a unibody sports car… Might be more than just some scraped undercoating. Just sayin 🙂
If you're taking it at an angle and still getting scraping, then whoever made those speedbumps was an idiot.