ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) – Local auto shops are saying that the severe winter weather the past few weeks is taking a toll on vehicles.
Dell’s Service Center in Ashwaubenon has seen a steady flow of business.
The good news is that they haven’t seen many vehicles come in following a car-on-car accident.
The bad news is that the snow itself is proving to be a formidable foe that has caused a wide range of issues.
Owner D.J. Lebenske says some of the issues are simply unavoidable.
“Driveline-type vibration at highway speeds and it’s usually because there’s so much snow packed into the wheel it throws the balance off,” he says.
Given the choice between sliding into another vehicle or snow along the road, a driver will undoubtedly choose the latter, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be lucky enough to drive away unscathed.
“We have three feet of snow off the side of the road, so when they do slide into that it does break the plastic, like the plastic bumper covers, that type of stuff,” explains Lebenske.
The damage can become even worse in freezing temperatures when that wall of snow has time to sit and harden.
“Actually hitting that snow at a high rate of speed it does cause damage to it,” he explains.
A tow ban put in place in some scenarios has also complicated matters for a group of unlucky motorists.
Lebenske explains that if a vehicle is sitting around off the road for a day or two before it gets towed, that it’ll start to freeze and more damage can take place.
“So you’re pulling on that vehicle and you’re knocking the alignment out and there’s a good chance that you’re going to bend something,” he says.
While the conditions have made spin-outs hard to avoid for some, experts say there are some precautionary steps available to better the chances of safe winter travel.
For Lebenske, it begins and ends with the quality of the tire, which can either put the driver in a dangerous situation or better their chances of safe travel.
“I think the biggest thing that people do is they push the maintenance or push the tires too far,” he explains. “To the point where it’s not really going to save them any money, it’s going to cost them money.”
He thinks the major deterrent from upgrading tires is the price tag attached to it, which can be multiple hundreds of dollars.
With that taken into account, Lebenske adds that it would most likely be cheaper to get a fresh set of tires than it would be to have the necessary repairs done following most winter spin-out accidents.
