How Potholes Damage Your Car Over Time

We’ve all been there; you’re out riding along in your car, minding your own business when BAM! you drive right through a giant pothole, startling yourself and all your passengers. Perhaps it’s one that you should have known to swerve for after passing it countless times in your daily commute, or, perhaps it took you unexpectedly after seemingly appearing overnight. Whatever the case, it’s important to know that potholes are more than just a nuisance to your day; they may also cause harmful damage to your car over time.

Here at Raleigh Paving we understand just as well as the next person how frustrating it can be to run over a pothole with your car. The worst part of it is that damage caused by potholes may not always be immediately apparent to the eye. Just a few of the ways that potholes can damage your car over time, include:

Why Are Potholes Bad for Cars?

• Tire damage. At best, hitting a pothole can cause unnecessary wear to your tire, and at worst, a pothole may cause a puncture to your tire or cause the tire’s sidewall to bulge. When severe damage is caused to your tire by a pothole, it will likely require immediate attention.
• They may throw off your car’s alignment. Ever hit a pothole and then felt like your car was naturally steering to one side more than the other? The jarring that your steering system experiences when you hit a pothole can cause misalignment to your steering.
• Potholes can dent your tires’ rims. A visual damage, if your car hits a deep pothole, aluminum tire rims are highly likely to become dented.
• Damage to the undercarriage. If you notice leaking from underneath your car after hitting a pothole, your undercarriage may have suffered damage when it scraped the asphalt. A leak from the undercarriage is just the first of many signs that your undercarriage could be damaged and it should be fixed immediately.
• Damaged suspension. Hitting a pothole at high speeds can certainly damage the components of your vehicle’s suspension, which can be dangerous over time.

And these are just the ways that potholes can damage your car. Potholes also pose many other risks, such as causing accidents and damaging entire areas of roadway over time. Here at Raleigh Paving, we realize that potholes are often unavoidable due to constant changes in weather and regular wear and tear on the road, but we also believe that potholes should be fixed quickly and correctly.

It is important that potholes are preventatively corrected before they have the opportunity to cause damage to drivers’ cars, damage to parking lots or roadways or, worse, severe accidents. If you’re in charge of a Raleigh road or parking lot that is suffering from pothole damage, the experienced professionals at Raleigh Paving encourage you to repair your surface as soon as possible. Should you need assistance in repaving or repairing your asphalt surface to correct potholes and ensure a smooth experience for your drivers, call on Raleigh Paving today! We service areas across North Carolina such as Raleigh, Greensboro and Sanford, and we are happy to help you!