Why Getting Your Wheels Aligned Is Important

Posted August 9, 2017

When it comes to how well your car handles itself on the road, a vehicle with properly aligned wheels is critically important.

Vehicle Suspension System

The suspension system of your vehicle is what connects the main section to the wheels and help give an even, steady safe ride, even over roads or terrain that are uneven. What happens over time is that when you go through rough terrain such as potholes, accidental curb hits, etc, your car’s suspension starts to bend. When the systems shape changes, your car’s wheels can start to be misaligned and in turn your car can begin to start to veer off from one side to another. A proper wheel alignment procedure fixes the bent shape of the components and gets your car back to steering straight again. The technicians themselves use specific and special machines to ensure that your car handles correctly and that your wheels are straight.

Wheel Camber

A vehicles “Camber” is the angle of a wheel when you look at it from the front of the car. A car with negative camber is one that has a set of wheels pointing slightly towards each other. This is also known as “toe-in” A car with positive camber has the top of the wheels leaning out from the center of the vehicle. While you may not notice these issues while driving, wheels with camber can wear tires unevenly and even reduce steering performance.

Misaligned Tired

One additional issue with misaligned tires is that they can possibly skid on the road at different angles, thereby decreasing lifespan again. Those same wheels also are not as fuel efficient becuase it takes more power to turn the vehicle with them. Of particular concern are safety issues related to misaligned wheels, as it changes the way the car handles.

In order to do a quick check of your alignment, drive on a straight section of road. If your car automatically veers to one side or the other, this may indicate an alignment issue.

We recommend performing an alignment check every year, but don’t wait until then if you notice problems with your steering performance. Bring your car in right away if you think that your car is out of alignment.

To get help with the wheel alignment on your car, contact us online through our site or my phone at 719.382.5691

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