Living in a climate as I do that gets lots of snow and constant freezing and thawing temperatures, the roads in Pennsylvania develop nasty, teeth-chattering, wheel-busting, tire-bursting potholes. While physical damage can be easily spotted, the real danger lies in hidden damage to steering, suspension, bearings and axles. A clunking noise after hitting a pothole is a straight-up warning telling you something is wrong.

In my over 50-year career as a master ASE and General Motors auto technician, I replaced hundreds, if not thousands of tires, drive axles, constant velocity joints and just about every steering and suspension part on a car due to drivers hitting a pothole.…