Ever drive down a stretch of straight road but notice that you always have to keep your hand on the steering wheel? If you don’t, does your car drift slightly to the left or right? This is the most obvious sign that you’re in need of a wheel alignment.
Even with this common symptom, more often than not, we have people come into the shop that don’t know that their wheel alignment is off. Sometimes it isn’t really that noticeable, or it could just be that you haven’t even noticed anything ‘wrong.’
But if your wheels are misaligned, it could be hurting you car – and your wallet!
What Causes Your Wheels To Become Misaligned?
There are 3 main things that can cause your wheels to become misaligned:
- Our bad weather can do a number on our roads, and this time of year the potholes can be a pain. Hitting them hard (or really anything – curbs, packed ice, etc.) can cause alignment issues.
- General wear and tear. Over time, the parts on your car become worn, and things like suspension springs can lead to misalignment.
- If you raise or lower your car and the suspension isn’t changed to match, you’re probably dealing with alignment issues.
How Can You Tell If You Need A Wheel Alignment?
If you notice any of these symptoms, your car is probably suffering:
- Your car drifts when you’re driving
- Your tires seem to wear at an uneven rate
- Your steering wheel vibrates or doesn’t return to the normal position on its own
- There’s a weird squealing noise coming from the tires
So What?
If your wheel alignment is off, it isn’t just an issue of the car not keeping straight when you drive (although that’s an issue all on its own). Not only will this put extra pressure on your tires and impact overall performance, it can be risky if it goes unnoticed.
You could also be wasting money on gas. Misaligned wheels aren’t good when it comes to fuel economy. If your alignment’s off your tires need to put up greater resistance, which causes higher gas mileage.
How Do You Fix The Problem?
If it’s a minor alignment, it’s usually a pretty simple fix. There are three main angles where adjustments will be made:
- the camber – this is the angle relative to the road where the tire hits
- the toe – this is the angle of the direction of the tires relative to the centre of the car
- caster – this is the angle created by the steering’s pivot point from the front to back of the car
If your wheel alignment is off, we will adjust whichever angle is out of joint.
Regular maintenance is a good idea to make sure there are no issues. If you’re concerned, just ask us to check it for you and we can solve the problem easily. Our new hoist makes it easy to do even the really large vehicles, so size isn’t going to be a problem.
Prevent it before it becomes an expensive fix or a driving hazard. We recommend getting a wheel alignment done every year or so.
Want to schedule an appointment? We’re here for you. Just give us a call at (705) 796-1796.
