Potholes and wheels in Kanata

Where the holes come from

Water gets under the pavement, freezes, and lifts it. The next thaw, plus a loaded wheel, collapses the patch. That cycle is an Ottawa spring event, and the west-end arterials take it hard: Eagleson, Terry Fox, Campeau, and the ramps where Highway 417 meets Kanata. A hole that was a crack on Monday is a rim-bender by Thursday.

Winter tires do not make a wheel immune. A taller sidewall, which is common when you step down a wheel diameter for winter, gives the rim a little more cushion. A low-profile summer tire on a large alloy takes the hit on the bead and the inner barrel.

What to do after the hit

• If the car pulls, the steering wheel sits off-center, or a vibration starts above 60 km/h, have the alignment and the wheel checked.
• Look for a bulge in the sidewall. A bubble means the carcass is broken. That tire comes off, even if the tread is new.
• A slow leak after an impact is often the bead or a bent flange, not a nail in the tread.
• Salt in the same season seizes a bent wheel to the hub. See road salt and wheels before the spring changeover.

Driving on a bent wheel wears one shoulder of the tread and can unset the alignment enough to ruin the other three tires. Fix the wheel or replace it before paying for an alignment, then align. Aligning a car with a bent rim puts the angles back onto a wheel that is still oval.