Potholes can Hurt

POTHOLE MISHAPS Well, it would appear that one more winter may be getting behind us!  BUT.....with the cold weather disapaiting and the warm weather coming we are plagued with those awful Potholes in the roads!  Sometimes its inevitable that your car seems to "graze" them unexpectedly, but here's what CAN happen if you hit one just right... 1:  You can blow a tire, or at least get an "Impact" bubble in the tire.  (this is where there is a burst of pressure in the sidewall of the tire that pushes through the steel belts creating a "hump" effect on the side of the tire.  If this happens, unfortunately this is  non repairable and you will have to replace the tire. 2:  if there is no apparent damage to the tire, but yet your ride is suddenly shaking violently it could be a bent rim, you will need to get a replacement or it repaired if it's possible. 3:  you could experience a vibration that could also be caused by loosing a wheel weight, in which the simple solution for that is to have the tire removed and inspected for separated belt, or impact bubble, and have the tire re balanced. 4:  If you really hit one bad enough, you could have bent or broken a steering part, get it to a shop as soon as possible to have it checked out.  It could be one of many things within your steering components or suspension that needs to be replaced.  I have even seen someone hit one so hard it actually damaged their oil pan and lost all their oil out of their car! 5:  once you have hit a pothole, as soon as you can get to an alignment rack and get the alignment checked and adjusted as needed.  Hitting a pothole, even just once, can knock your car out of alignment and sometimes you don't even know it!  The only way to know is to have it checked, it's a silent killer on your tires!  If you don't get it checked and adjusted if needed the only way you will know it's off is your tires will start wearing really quickly on the outer/inner edges and by then the damage is done and you will have to replaced your tires much quicker than the tread warranty states!