Have you ever taken a good look at the roads down South? They’re like silken asphalt carpets. Cars don’t so much as drive on them as they seem to glide on them. That’s hardly the case here in McHenry County. Here, we bounce and jolt from one pothole to another. If our roads are asphalt carpets, they’re more like torn and tattered rugs.

The winters badly abuse our roads in McHenry County. And, once the roads are filled with cracks and potholes, the roads then beat the heck out of our cars. In particular, our battered highways tend to throw a car’s alignment out of whack. At the same time, pockmarked roadways shorten the lives of our shocks, struts and steering parts.

In the spring, the road crews come out and start filling the potholes. By early summer, many of the roads in McHenry County are fairly presentable again. But, just fixing the road doesn’t do anything about the damage done to a car’s alignment, shocks, struts or steering. Unless the damage is addressed, it persists.

Problems with the alignment, shocks, struts and steering can affect the wear of a car’s tires. The tires wear unevenly and more rapidly. In some cases, the damage is so severe that it can put the driver and passengers at risk. It all depends on how much damage the roads did to the car’s alignment, shocks, struts and steering.

A single pothole can throw off a car’s alignment. The likelihood is much higher after a winter’s worth of potholes.

The alignment helps to keep the care running straight when you’re driving straight. If the alignment is off, the car may pull to one side or the other. If you combine bad alignment with worn or broken shocks, struts or steering parts, you have a potentially dangerous situation.

The solution is simple enough – have your alignment, shocks, struts and steering checked by a reputable auto repair shop. If they’re not reputable, they could either sell you parts and services you don’t need or they could miss parts or services that require attention.

Most quality auto repair shops are ASE Certified. ASE, or Automotive Service Excellence is a certification conferred upon auto repair shops that meet the highest standards of quality and experience. Without an ASE Certification, it’s the luck of the draw to hope the auto repair shop is fully qualified to properly work on your car.

Your auto repair technician will look at your vehicle and let you know if you need an alignment or if any of your shocks, struts or steering parts require replacement. Having the alignment serviced and any front-end parts, that need replacing, replaced, can short circuit problems that grow from other problems. It ensures that your car is as safe an economical as possible. And it prepares you for another year of driving before you face another winter on the battered asphalt of McHenry County.