If you own a car, then you need to take the responsibility of taking care of it. You must ensure that it is in optimal running condition at all times. When the warning lights or the service is due, ensure that you take your car to a service centre as soon as possible. The same goes for your wheels and tyres. If they are punctured, flat or unbalanced, it can be dangerous for you to drive your car.

As part of your vehicle safety or service checklist, you need to check if the wheels are balanced. Many people take this for granted because they don't really know what wheel balancing is.

So, what is wheel balancing?

It is the distribution of the weight of the vehicle across the four tyres. If the vehicle is not properly distributed across all the tyres, it causes the vehicle to be unbalanced or out of balance.

If the wheels are unbalanced, then it could cause a vibration when you drive which makes it a very unpleasant experience. The first sign that indicates unbalanced wheels is when your steering wheel starts to wobble when you reach a certain speed. It can also cause the premature wear of the tyres, the suspension, and the steering components. So it is quite important to have it checked when you notice that wheels are unbalanced.

The automotive repair industry has made many strides since the days of the the Ford T model. Over the years there many tools that have been developed to assist automotive repair technicians in assessing problems. With the high demand on tire changing and tire repair, a good wheel balancer has been a staple and necessity in any decent auto repair shop.

Even the most novice of drivers understands that it's important to maintain their tires. Good balance means stability while on the drive, thus leading to safety. That's where the wheel balancer comes in handy.

Any balancer allows an automotive repair technician to make sure all the wheels on a vehicle are balanced correctly. There are liabilities that auto shops have to deal with when repairing a customer's car. That's why a tool such as the wheel balancer that is extremely accurate comes as a huge help.

If the wheels on your vehicle are not balanced correctly it can cause many problems including-

Uncomfortable vibrations- The drive is not smooth and the handling does not feel as it should.

Wearing of the suspension & steering- The suspension is needed more to compensate for the uneven balancing of the tyres.

Wearing of the tyres- If unbalanced the tyres can wear more on one side or in certain areas of the tyre, depending on the fitting.

These problems can cause more cost in the long run as well as hassle of having other parts of the car fixed. The extra time spent on wheel balancing is well worth it. New tyres may seem costly but they can save you so much money in repairs, as well an ensuring your safety. Plus most garages have wheel balancing machines that will correctly fit tyres all inclusive of the cost. It well worth that the garage that you are using has one of these machines.

You can tell when your wheels are not balanced correctly because the steering wheel can wobble at speed and the steering wheel just does not hold as it normally does.

A wheel balancing machine rotates the tyre and wheel whilst calculating the location and the weight. Of course there are different types of wheel balancing machines.