The winter weather is gone and temperatures are rising. There is bound to be a pothole out there with your name on it. (Sorry, these are the facts)
You know exactly when you've hit it. The heart-stopping, teeth-jarring noise is hard to mistake. However, it's not always immediately clear if hitting the pothole caused damage to the vehicle, and to what extent.
Hitting a pothole can damage tires, wheels, steering and suspension, wheel alignment and more. Braxton Automotive recommends bringing your car in to have one of our Certified Technicians look at it if you've experienced any one of the following warning signs after hitting a pothole.
- Loss of control, swaying when making routine turns, bottoming-out on city streets or bouncing excessively on rough roads. These are indicators that the steering and suspension may have been damaged. The steering and suspension are key safety-related systems. Together, they largely determine your vehicles ride and handling. Key components are shocks and/or strut, the steering knuckle, ball joints, the steering rack/box, bearings, seals and hub units and tie rod ends.
- Pulling in one direction, instead of maintaining a straight path, and uneven tire wear. These symptoms mean there's an alignment problem. Proper wheel alignment is important for the lifespan of tires and helps ensure safe handling.
- Low tire pressure, bulges, or blisters on the sidewalls, or dents in the rim. These problems will be visible and should be checked out as soon as possible as tires are the critical connection between your car and the road in all sorts of driving conditions.