Can Potholes Damage Your Vehicle?

We frequently have clients ask us whether running over a pothole could damage their vehicle. The real question isn’t can it, but how much can it—if your vehicle runs over a deep hole in the road, there’s a possibility it could experience steering misalignment, bent rims or a tire puncture. There’s also the potential for less serious issues that you might not notice immediately, which in turn could lead to more serious problems with your vehicle.

Here are some tips from a mechanic in New Palestine, IN for areas to inspect if you’ve recently run over a pothole and are worried you might have damaged your vehicle:

• Tires: The first area you should check after driving over a pothole is your tires. You might notice some bulging in the sidewall of the tire, or other types of damage to the sidewall or treads. Obviously, it’s important to take the condition of your tires very seriously, as they are all that separates the body of your vehicle from the road. If you believe your tires have been damaged after running over a pothole, it’s important to get to a mechanic quickly and make any necessary replacements.
• Undercarriage: Hitting a pothole could cause the undercarriage of your vehicle to slam into or drag against the ground, which can result in dents or punctures. This can have some potentially serious long-term effects for your vehicle, including fluid leaks and the formation of rust underneath the vehicle. You’ll need to be able to get under your vehicle to inspect the extent of the damage, and it’s helpful to have professional technicians perform the inspection so they can see what types of damage must be addressed immediately.
• Rims: Most vehicles these days have aluminum-based rims, unless they’ve upgraded to aftermarket steel rims or other types of materials. Aluminum is a softer metal that is more susceptible to denting. If the pothole had a deep depression and you were driving at high speed, there’s a strong chance that you’ve experienced bent rims as a result of hitting that pothole. You may need to replace the rims, and it’s important to have them checked out by a professional auto repair technician.
• Exhaust system: The exhaust system runs most of the length of the underside of your vehicle. If you start to notice weird noises coming from the exhaust system after you’ve run over a pothole, there’s a chance that the exhaust system may have suffered some damage. It’s important to have your vehicle fully inspected any time you notice these issues.

Your best bet is to do everything you can to avoid a pothole—drive carefully, and drive around them whenever possible. Of course, some potholes come out of nowhere, or cannot be avoided due to traffic or other road conditions.

For more information about how to spot vehicle damage caused by potholes and what you can do to correct it, reach out to a mechanic in New Palestine, IN at Auto Air & Heating, Inc. today.

Categorised in: Mechanic

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