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7 Types Of Damages That Potholes Can Cause To Your Car
Potholes on roads can damage your car. This can happen especially if you drive into potholes repeatedly.
The best defence for damage caused by potholes is to avoid potholes as much as possible. This will help extend the lifespan of your car or keep it in good condition.
The damages that potholes can wreck on your car are numerous. Here, we list 7 common damages that entering potholes can do to your car.
Exhaust System Damage
The car exhaust system is a major casualty of riding into potholes. Because exhaust pipes run along the undercarriage of a car, they are a perfect target for potholes lurking in the road.
If it is deep, potholes can cause the bottom part of the car where the exhaust pipe is to scrape part of the pothole. This can dent or cause a hole in the exhaust pipe, muffler or catalytic converter.
When this happens, you would experience loss of power or unpleasant noises if there were a hole in your exhaust system, but perhaps worse is the fact that your car will spew out harmful pollution unchecked.
Suspension Damage
A car’s suspension system is designed to absorb the impact the car makes with the road while in motion.
The car suspension system provides a smooth ride. However, there is a limit to how much it can handle. Suddenly driving into potholes can cause a variety of suspension problems, such as wheel misalignment, damaged shocks or struts, broken ball joints, etc.
Some signs of damaged car suspension component include unusual vibrations and sounds, wandering steering, poor ride quality, or the vehicle leaning to one side.
It can be difficult to correctly diagnose suspension damage. Therefore, it is best to have an experienced mechanic inspect the entire system if you notice any of these symptoms.
Tyre Damage
Potholes can puncture your tyre or bend or crack your wheel. It can damage your tyre’s sidewall or belts. If your wheels ram into a pothole, your tyre’s sidewall can bulge.
Tyres are the only component of a car that is designed to be in contact with the road. It is, therefore, no surprise that they are done considerable damage by potholes.
You can check your tyres for damage using a jack to lift each wheel from the ground. Once the car is steadily jacked up, inspect each tyre for sidewall bulges, tread separation and flats. To help prevent these issues, always ensure that your tyres are properly inflated.
Poor Steering System Alignment
Driving into a pothole can affect your steering system. This can cause misalignment of your wheels. This makes your steering unresponsive as it used to be. You might only notice this damage when your car pulls to one side or another.
If your vehicle is slightly jerking to one side while you accelerate, that is also an indication of pothole damage and the need for wheel alignment from your tire shop.
Hitting a bad pothole is one of the quickest ways to throw your car’s front wheels out of alignment.
Tyre Rim Damage
Driving into potholes can cause damage to your car rims. The hard angles of a pothole can also cause serious damage or a bend to your wheels. If you are worried that your rims might have been damaged after driving into a pothole, the first thing to look for is bends or cracks in the side of the wheel, where the rim meets the tyre. If there is visible damage, that wheel will most likely need to be replaced.
Engine Damage
Each time you ride into a pothole, your car engine parts shifts or breaks.
Shifted or broken components that are not seen by the naked eye that can directly impact steering capability.
If the cars are not repaired or serviced on time, the hidden damage caused by the shifted components can lead to accidents and pedestrian injury.
Body Damage
Driving into potholes can have an adverse effect on the body or chassis of your car. It can make the components that make up the chassis misalign. In addition, potholes can scrape against low-hanging bumpers or side skirts.
Generally speaking, the lower a car is to the ground, the better it handles, but cars that sacrifice ride height in pursuit of sportiness are more likely to be damaged by potholes.
