How to prevent damage to your car from potholes

Winter driving isn't just about traveling safely on snow and ice. It's also about coping with potholes when mid-season thaws cause the road to crumble beneath your tires.

Damaged wheels and tires do not only leave motorists stranded at the side of the road, they can also leave their wallets empty.

It is worth noting that new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles are subject to some stringent testing that can help prevent damage caused by chuckholes. To validate its vehicle designs, Ford has several proving grounds, including those in Romeo, Mich., and Dearborn, Mich., which are filled with different types of carefully designed torture devices designed to test and improve the durability of the entire vehicle.

Ford engineers design parts up-front to handle these potholes in the road as effectively as possible, balancing them for numerous other customer driving conditions. To give drivers a fighting chance with monster potholes, engineers tune shock rebound rates to keep the wheel and tire suspended so it can glide over the pothole, preventing the tire from dropping down into it and impacting the edge of the tire and wheel.

Ford Motor Company has several tips for drivers to help prevent damage to their vehicles from potholes:

• Pay special attention to your tire pressure. Keeping tire pressure consistently at the manufacturer's recommendation will help protect your vehicle's wheels and tires from being damaged from pothole impacts.
• If safe, don't swerve to avoid potholes. Swerving can create a situation where the front wheel and tire on the car can impact the edge of the pothole at an obtuse angle, which might do more damage than hitting it squarely.
• If safe, don't brake just because you see a pothole: heavy braking compresses the front suspension of the car and will have a tendency to force the tire and wheel down into the pothole, instead of gliding over

No matter how carefully you drive there's always the possibility that you may eventually have a flat tire on the highway. Drive slowly to the closest safe area out of traffic. This may further damage the flat tire, but your safety is more important.

If you feel a sudden vibration or ride disturbance while driving, or you suspect your tire or vehicle has been damaged, immediately reduce your speed. Drive with caution until you can safely pull off the road. Stop and inspect the tires for damage. If a tire is under-inflated or damaged, deflate it, remove wheel and replace it with your spare tire and wheel. If you cannot detect a cause, have the vehicle towed to the nearest repair facility or tire dealer to have the vehicle inspected.