And oftentimes those vehicles end up in tire repair shops around the Fort Dodge area.

Rick Carle, retail sales manager for Graham Tire Co. in Fort Dodge, said business has been steady.

“We have had some with damaged or bent rims,” Carle said. “Some tires that got blown out due to hitting a pothole at a fast speed.”

He added that hitting a pothole or damaging a tire in another way can be costly.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
A bent rim like the one shown here can be the result of running over a pothole. The rim is held by Colten Hoover, certified technician at Graham Tire Co., 110 S. 25th St.

“It can bend the rim, along the lip of the rim,” he said. “On an aluminum wheel, it can actually crack them. If a rim is cracked, it can’t be repaired and you have to get a different rim. Sometimes when you damage the rim it will also damage the tire, so then they have to buy a tire and a rim.”

The cost to replace a tire could be anywhere between $100 to $150 depending on the size of the tire, Carle said.

“Tires used to be 14-inch, 15-inch, 16-inch,” he said. “Now some are 18, 19, 20.”

Carle said the shop hasn’t necessarily been busier because of drivers hitting potholes.

“I wouldn’t relate it to potholes,” he said.

Instead, Carle said the winter time can be busier.

“If you get a lot of snow and real cold weather, it seems business picks up because people realize their tread on their tires are slipping and sliding,” he said. “A lot of snow helps the tire sales and really cold weather is hard on cars too.”

Carle advised that people stay up on the maintenance of their vehicles.

“If you can, it’s nice to do preventive maintenance,” he said. “Have your car checked out before winter. Get your brakes checked — the tread on the tires, which is something we do all the time on a routine oil change. We check the car from bumper to bumper so if there’s anything we see, we point it out to the customer.”

He said Graham Tire services about 200 or more vehicles a month.

Miles Rogers, owner of Rogers Tire Service LLC, said his shop hasn’t seen too many vehicles with damaged tires as of late.

“Usually you will see a damaged tire or wheel,” Rogers said. “I haven’t seen too many. I’ve heard of some.”

Instead, he said people often call asking about alignments.

“We don’t do them here, but they ask who we would recommend, and those can result from potholes too,” Rogers said.

He said his shop gets busy during the spring.

“Spring time is usually busy with farm service, truck service,” he said. “Fall is busy for people getting ready for winter. Every year is different, so we never know what to expect.”

Nick Weiss, owner of Pyngel Tire and Auto Centre, said not too many vehicles have come in to his shop with wrecked tires.

“Not yet, anyways,” Weiss said.

While Al Mundt, owner of Mundt’s Service Center in Gowrie, doesn’t work with tires at his shop, he does have a personal connection to tire repairs.

“My wife hit a huge pothole in Fort Dodge,” he said. “It broke a very expensive wheel on our car.”