It’s that time of year…we get little hints of Spring. The birds start chirping. The sun suddenly feels warm. The boots are replaced with flip flops, and then it freezes and snows again. Flagstaff, AZ residents, are never used to drastic weather changes, but it’s part of life in our mountain town. Along with the melting snow, freezing weather, and thawing, it also teases our roads too. And we get potholes…everywhere. I-40 is a nightmare. We’ve all hit those unexpected potholes and wondered what damage we did to your car.
So what causes them? Its other Nature giving us seasonal gifts of a never-ending mix of extreme cold and heat. The freezing, the thawing, the freezing again, and the thawing again. Sound familiar with our Flagstaff weather patterns??
According to AAA, pothole damage has cost U.S. drivers $15 billion in vehicle repairs over the last five years, or approximately $3 billion annually. So how to avoid them-obviously try to avoid them. Steer clear. But if you can’t avoid it???
There are two “theories”: The answer is somewhere between either speeding up and hoping to fly over it or jam on your brakes and crawl through it. This advice comes from FarmerAlmanac.comThe best thing is to slow down before the hole, then release your brakes as you go into it. This helps reduce the speed at impact and give your suspension the full range of travel to absorb the hit. Straighten your wheel to hit it squarely, and roll through.
And what if you hit it? Hitting a large pothole at an angle can do major damage to your car, including bending an axle (alignment), dents in rims, badly worn tires, and flats. We see it happening all around town. If you hit it, bring it in, and Heath’s Auto Service will take a quick and complimentary look to see if you get back on the road and can keep on avoiding those potholes or if you need an alignment, a new wheel, or tire.
