How potholes damage your vehicle

Potholes are road imperfections that occur when soil compacted beneath pavement becomes weakened or displaced. Roads are particularly likely to form potholes during the rainy season when ice and lots of running water disrupt the base layers under the pavement. As cars drive over these weak spots, the pavement deforms, cracks, and chips away, leaving a hole in the road surface. Potholes start small, but grow as traffic hits them, potentially becoming deep or large enough to damage a car.

Lately, social media has been awash with pictures of potholes in and around Kampala City. Much has been said about them but what has not really been considered is the damage these potholes are causing to your car. Ignore the false common perception that potholes only affect the suspension system of your car. Their effects cut across regardless of whether you drive a low or high ground clearance car.

To understand how potholes affect your vehicle, you must first know that most of the cars we drive are bought from the bond (since most of them are from Japan) and are manufactured for the European market. This, therefore, means that they come with soft suspension systems that are not meant for our roads and harsh weather conditions. The solution then is to customise some of the cars functions and components to suit Uganda’s conditions.

Squeaking and rattling sounds

Potholes will cause the car to develop uncomfortable rattling and squeaking noises. These, according to Alex Kadoli, a mechanic, usually start from the doors and eventually spread to all other parts, making your car uncomfortable to drive.

Rattling and squeaking sounds mostly come from the car body. Like a faulty fuel gauge, rattling and squeaking noises that mostly come from the car body are so confusing that when driving on a smooth road, you might think the noise is normal. However, when driving through potholes, you may feel as if the door hinges (allow for opening and closing of car doors) are breaking.

Tyre wear and tear

Usually, the first victim of pothole damage is the suspension system. When the suspension is not working properly, it means the whole weight of the car and its passengers and luggage will go to the tyres. If you do not repair your suspension system, tyres meant to last three years will only serve for a year since they are forced to fulfil a number of purposes, among them stabilising and moving the car.   

Damage to internal systems 

The transmission of the car sits on the cross member. The gearbox, which is part of the vehicle’s transmission, also sits on the cross member, a frame fitted on the body of the car to hold the suspension system, shocks absorbers, engine, double differential and the gearbox. It is like a bed bolted on the vehicle chassis so that the double differential, engine and gearbox can sit on it.

The cross member has mountings. When you drive over any road humps or potholes, the rubber mounting moves up according to the body of the car and with time, the mounting breaks. For cars that have rear double differentials, the cross member comes with a differential mounting.

Similarly, the mountings will also break because the shock absorber goes up too much into the potholes yet the mounting is attached to the cross member. As a result, the whole axle, with its differential and mounting, will move up, making the vehicle tyres appear as if they caved into the car.  

“The cross members supporting the gearbox, engine and double diff constantly move up and down. The mounting was made with rubber for elasticity purposes to allow the up and down play. When it is too much to bear because of potholes, it will automatically break,” says Jimmy Ssebadduka, a mechanic.

Similarly, the steering and the transmission box are affected by potholes. The cross member mounting where the double differential, commonly known as double diff, is located will break due to uneven dumping of the suspension system.

One side will go down and another will remain up. The shocks will break and the suspension arms will no longer be functional.

What can be done?

In Uganda, especially in Kampala City centre, some of the solutions to employ to avert the effects of potholes include using a heavy duty suspension system. On average, depending on where you buy it, a heavy duty suspension costs about Shs2.8m for cars such as Toyota Surf, Toyota Fortuner and Toyota Kluger, among other vehicles of the same classification. For saloon vehicles such as Toyota Premio, Raum and Spacio, you will need between Shs1.8m and Shs2m.

Because of the poor nature of our roads, even if you change to heavy duty suspension, drive carefully.

When you approach a road section with potholes, slow down.