Potholes are bad for a great many reasons. Beyond being unsightly, they can do significant damage to your car. The critical areas that may sustain damage include your vehicle's wheels, suspension, and exhaust. Here's a breakdown of the potential damage and the consequences.
Suspension
Your car's suspension system ensures a smooth ride on any terrain, but hitting a pothole may result in damage to the system and its parts, especially the struts and shocks. A damaged suspension system may cause your car to become challenging to handle, swerve to one side, or create strange vibrations or sounds.
Wheels
The wheels of your vehicle are first in line to sustain damage after hitting a pothole. First, your tires will take the brunt of the damage and become wholly flat or suffer structural damage leading to bulges or tread separation.
Additionally, after hitting a pothole, you may notice that your car's wheel alignment is off, which will cause it to veer to one side. The implication of wheel misalignment is difficult steering as well as uneven tire wear. Uneven tire wear will necessitate quicker replacement of the tires.
A hard knock from hitting a pothole may bend or crack your car's rims, will prevent an adequate air seal with the tire as well as further wheel misalignment.
Undercarriage
Low riding vehicles are at the most risk of sustaining damage to exposed parts of the undercarriage. These parts include the exhaust or catalytic converter. A pothole may tear a hole in the exhaust system that will lead to noise, and a damaged catalytic converter will not effectively neutralize harmful chemicals produced within the engine. Both these are costly to repair or replace.
Cosmetics
The lower parts of your car's paint job may be scraped or cracked. Although cosmetic damage doesn't affect the performance or safety of your vehicle, it is still a letdown to know that your car has damage due to a pothole.
After striking a pothole, it is essential to stop and assess the damage to find problems before they become severe or threaten the safety of your drive. If you need a wheel alignment or suspension repair, give our auto repair shop a call today!