A lot of people do not realize how important proper wheel alignment is for their cars. They tend to think that there is nothing much that will happen to their tires other than an occasional puncture. The truth is it is vital that you get your wheels aligned as often as you get your car serviced.

Wheel alignment is the process of ensuring the wheels of your car are perpendicular to the road. It also ensures that the wheels are parallel to each other, always at constant pressure, and there is no friction that will arise. In short, it is the process of making sure that your driving experience will be smooth and comfortable.

Wheel alignments are very important to both tyre wear and the overall control of your vehicle. Improper wheel or, as they are also called, tyre alignments can cause your tyres to wear unevenly and prematurely. They can also cause you to have poor control, or lose control completely of your vehicle.

That is why it's very important to make sure the wheels of your vehicle are properly aligned by a professional.

Wheel alignment helps to save fuel. When the wheels of your car are not aligned, there will be an uneven pressure on the tires; thus, causes them to push against each other. With this, your car will face uneven friction, and there is greater resistance from the road surface. When this happens, your car needs to work harder to move forward, causing more fuel to be burned. However, by having your wheels aligned, there is less resistance from the road surface, which also equates to a big saving in your gas bill.

Saving you money

The significance of proper wheel alignment cannot be more emphasized when we calculate the cost of new tires compared to the cost of wheel alignment.

Basically, when your wheels are out of alignment, your tyres are pointing in the wrong direction or on an angle. This affects your steering and suspension, but most importantly, it can greatly affect your safety and the safety of your passengers.

How do your wheels get unaligned?

It doesn't take much to affect your vehicle's wheel alignment, in fact there are several things that can cause improper wheel alignment including:

Running over potholes

Hitting a curb

Bumping into concrete parking blocks

Basic wear and tear - as your vehicle ages, the rubber parts start to dry up and crack, which causes ball and socket joints to become loose, getting progressively worse over time.

How often should you have your alignment checked?

It is recommended that you have your vehicle's alignment checked every other oil change. A lot can happen to your wheel alignment after 6,000 miles, even if you aren't purposely hard on your vehicle. The longer you wait to get your wheels aligned, once they are out of alignment, the more damage it can cause.

Will I be able to notice my wheels aren't aligned?

In most cases you will only be able to tell your wheels aren't aligned if they are so far gone that you're able to see that the tyres are on severe angles. However, in most cases, you won't be able to tell your wheels are out of alignment just by looking at them.

You may not be able to tell if your wheels are on an angle, rather than being nice and straight like they should be, however, in a lot of cases you can tell aren't aligned properly by checking the wear pattern on your tyres treads.

Tire alignment tips

Here are basic wheel alignment tips that will work for you:

1. It is imperative to carry out a pre-alignment inspection. This reduces the chances of overlooking something and coming back later to have it fixed. The tire inflation is normally ignored during wheel alignment yet this is quite important.

2. Carry out a complete alignment. Be careful not to skip anything such as check toe-out on turns, SAI, ride height, rear-wheel alignment (if it is nonadjustable), caster (if it is nonadjustable), suspension parts, condition of steering, etc. skipping something might have you doing the whole job all over again.

3. Worn out parts should not be aligned. Worn out parts have lower ability to maintain accurate wheel alignment. Refer to the manufacturer's guidelines to ensure that all the parts are in the recommended working conditions.

4. If a car does not have factory adjustments for caster or camber, it is not advisable to only set the toe. Read all the angles. If there is any problem, only adjusting the toe won't fix it.

5. Do not use your "rule of thumb" specs when considering your tire alignment. It is important to note that a vehicle works best when it is maintained with reference to the manufacturer's specs.

6. When carrying out tire alignment, align all the four wheels, not just the front ones. The rear tires are equally important on where the vehicle goes, just as the front ones are.

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