Why your car pulls after a pothole

What a pothole actually does to a car

Ottawa’s freeze thaw cycle breaks the roads up every spring. Water gets into cracks, freezes, expands, thaws, and the traffic on top pounds the weak spot open. By March and April the curb lanes on roads like St. Laurent, Walkley and Innes are a minefield, and the ramps onto the 417 are not much better.

When a tire drops into a sharp edged hole at speed, the force goes through the tire, into the rim, and up through the steering and suspension. Depending on the angle and the speed, the damage stops at one of those layers or reaches several. That is why "it pulls now" can mean a simple adjustment or a set of new steering parts.

Bent rim, alignment or tie rod: the signs

The symptoms overlap, but each one tends to show up in its own way:

• A vibration that comes in at highway speed and gets worse as you go faster usually points to a bent rim or a damaged tire, not alignment.
• A tire that slowly loses air after the hit often means a bent rim lip that no longer seals against the tire bead.
• A bulge or bubble on the sidewall means the inner structure of the tire is broken. A tire with a sidewall bubble can fail without warning, so replace it, do not drive on it.
• A steering wheel that now sits crooked when you drive straight, with no vibration, usually means the toe setting changed or a tie rod bent.
• A pull to one side that was not there before the hit is most often alignment, sometimes a bent control arm or strut.
• A new clunk over bumps, or looseness in the steering, means something in the suspension is damaged or knocked loose.

If you have more than one of these, assume more than one thing is wrong.

Why the order of repairs matters

An alignment adjusts the angles of parts that are supposed to be straight. If a tie rod or a control arm is bent, the alignment machine can sometimes still bring the numbers into range by adjusting around the damage. The printout looks fine, the car still drives oddly, and the tires wear unevenly.

So the right order is: look at the tires and rims, check the steering and suspension parts for bends and play, replace what is damaged, and then align the car. That is how we approach it here, on the same four post lift where the alignment gets done. If the parts are fine, it is just an alignment. If something is bent, you hear about it before any money is spent on an alignment that will not hold.

What an alignment involves here

The alignment is done on a Daytona four post lift with a camera based system. Targets clamp onto each wheel, the cameras read the angles, and the readings for camber, caster and toe at every corner come up against the maker’s specification for your car. You get the before and after numbers printed out.

A wheel alignment starts at $125, labour before tax. Adjusters that are seized with rust, which is common on cars that have been through a few Ottawa winters, can add time. Bent parts are quoted separately once we know what they are. More detail is on the wheel alignment page, and bent or worn parts are covered under suspension and steering.

Many newer cars use a camera behind the windshield for lane keeping, and some need that camera calibrated after an alignment. The calibration station sits in the same bay, so it can be done in the same visit if your car needs it.

Pothole claims to the City of Ottawa

The City of Ottawa does accept claims for vehicle damage from potholes on city roads. Be realistic about them. The city is generally only responsible if it already knew about the pothole and did not repair it within the time the provincial minimum maintenance standards allow, and the city says most pothole claims are denied. It also suggests going through your own auto insurance first.

If you do want to claim, the Claims to the City page on ottawa.ca explains how to submit and what to include. Photos of the pothole and its location, the date and time, and a written estimate or invoice for the repair help any claim, with the city or with your insurer. The 417 is a provincial highway, so damage there is not a city matter.

We can write up what was damaged and what it costs to fix. Ask for that when you drop the car off.

Do not wait for the tires to tell you

A car that pulls slightly is easy to live with. You hold the wheel a little to one side and forget about it. Meanwhile the tires are scrubbing sideways every kilometre, and a set that should have lasted several seasons wears its inside or outside edge bald.

If you hit something hard this spring, have it looked at when the winter tires come off. With the wheels already off for the seasonal swap, checking the rims and the steering parts takes little extra time, and the alignment can follow. Book online and mention the pothole in the description, including which side of the car took the hit.