Potholes wreak havoc on your wheels, suspension and steering – here’s how

Here at Just the Ticket, we despise potholes as much – if not more – than the next person.

Not only can these unsightly craters in the roads and pavements cause accidents, driving through a pothole can cause significant damage to your vehicle.

Potholes = problems

If you hit a pothole hard and fast enough, it can blow your tyre/s, knock the alignment of your wheels out – which in turn can cause your tyres to wear unevenly. This also has another knock-on effect on the steering.

But the bad news doesn’t stop there. Driving through dips in the tarmac can cause damage to your alloys and your car’s suspension. The sudden jolt of hitting a pothole can damage the track rod ends, break suspension wishbones or bend or break coil springs.

And here in Surrey – otherwise known as the 3rd most pothole-ridden county in England – swerving a hole in the road can be a hard task.

According to reports logged on Fill That Hole website – a dedicated pothole-reporting site ran by Cycling UK – as of January 2022, a total of 399 pothole-related complaints had been logged by motorists in Surrey from motorists.

How do you know if you’ve done damage?

• Pulls to one side – Most motorists can feel if their wheel alignment is off if their vehicle pulls to one side whilst driving on a flat road. It might veer off slightly left or right.

• Steering not straight – The steering wheel might also not be straight when you’re driving in a straight line. Your car might also start to judder once it reaches high speeds, around 70mph.

• Treads wearing in tyres – As we touched on before, you might also notice that your treads in your tyres are wearing out much faster than they usually would.

What should you do if you hit a pothole?

As soon as it’s safe to do so, carry out a visual check of the tyres, and pay specific attention to how your vehicle is driving.

But on top of this, we’d also recommend getting in touch with the professionals.

If you’re worried about the state of your car, here at Just the Ticket, we’re running a Wheel Alignment Check for the price of £48 inclusive of VAT.

To complete this check, our trusted team of mechanics will load your car onto one of our ramps to visually inspect if your vehicle’s wheels are set to the optimum position, as set out by the car manufacture’s specifications.

Find out more

Interested? Give our friendly reception team a ring or drop us an email to find out more and get this booked in.