Top Signs Your Car Needs a Wheel Alignment

Has this ever happened to you? You are driving on a straight road, but your car just pulls to one side. Or perhaps your steering wheel does not point straight forward, although the road it is on does. Annoying, right? That tends to be how your car is alerting you that its wheel alignment Gloucester is skewed.

In layman's terms, wheel alignment simply refers to ensuring that your wheels are at the right angles such that your car drives in the same straight line and smoothly.

How is this significant? Poor alignment not only makes driving painful. It wears down your car tyres prematurely, burning up your fuel, and even putting your car at risk while driving.

What Is Wheel Alignment?

Wheel alignment refers to the process of making the wheels of your car sit squarely and in the same direction on the road. It is not comparable to wheel balancing, balancing handles the weight of the wheel and the tyre, whereas alignment is concerned with the direction and angle of the wheels. In having your wheels aligned properly, your car moves straight and better, as well as being safer on the road.

What Makes Wheel Alignment Important?

Wheel alignment allows your car to drive with less effort and the steering to be responsive. It actually saves on the costs of wearing the tyres unevenly, implying that you do not have to go and change the tyres prematurely. 

When they are in the same grooves, the rolling resistance is diminished, an aspect that leads to efficiency in terms of fuel burn. Of most importance is that when there is proper alignment, you can drive your car more safely since it becomes stable and predictable on the road.

Top Signs Your Car Needs a Wheel Alignment

1. Pulls Up to One Side

When driving on a straight, smooth-surfaced road, your car should continue to follow its path without swerving if your hands are released from the steering wheel even briefly. However, when it swerves to the left or right, you have misaligned wheels. 

Some drivers assume it is due to the uneven laws along the road, although when the former occurs regularly, this is most likely an alignment issue. Not attending to it may turn long drives tedious, as you will be busy readjusting the steering.

2. Off-Centre Steering Wheel

With your vehicle travelling in a straight line, the steering wheel must be straight and the logo pointing upwards. When the wheel is at an angle in the forward direction, even though you are moving then this is an indication of the misalignment. This may not look much, but it puts strain on your steering and tyres in the long run.

3. Unbalanced Tyres

Tyres must wear evenly, taking place across the tread. Alignment can be to blame when one side of a tyre is bald and the other may not look that bad, or when the front and rear tyres are so different. This misalignment not only decreases the life of tyres, but also minimises their traction, something which can be fatal in humid or slippery weather.

4. Steering Is Unstable or Jitters

You are supposed to find your steering wheel steady and sensitive. If you feel it is jerky or it turns too loosely as though you are understeering or oversteering more than you need to, or it feels vibration or shake on the highway, then the alignment may be poor. In some cases, it can also be a symptom of bad suspension components that usually come along with alignment problems.

5. Vibration in the Steering Wheel

A shaking steering wheel on a drive, especially at speed, is a negative sign. Misalignment can cause the tyres to be just pulling each other on slightly and create that little vibration. While unbalanced tyres can cause vibrations as well, if balancing does not cure the problem, then alignment is the next area to check on.

6. Screeching Tyres While at Turns

Tyres are going to make some noise, but super loud squealing or screeching when you make a turn is not right. Misalignment leads the tyres to have rubbing at the wrong angle, steering into the road, and this results in too much friction. Not only is it noisy, but it also strains your car tyres and shortens them.

Common Causes of Misalignment

• Hitting the Potholes or Curb: A fast bump into a pothole or a curb may move your wheels at a different angle. It only takes one bump to be a dud.

• Accident or Collision: The slightest fender bender can distort the alignment. Bigger effects practically always lead to it

• Normal Wear and Tear: As the car continues to wear off over time, so do the steering and suspension components, which in turn affect the alignment.

  
  

Conclusion

Although the alignment of wheels appears small, it is a major factor towards safe driving, smooth driving, as well as checking tyres and expenses required in fuelling. Failure to do so may result in bald tyres, gas guzzling and unsafe driving on the road.

This is why it is best to make wheel alignment checks as a regular part of the car servicing Gloucester. When you experience one of these things, do not hesitate because you might end up making more costly repairs.