subject: Wheel Alignment [print this page] For those of you that dont really know that much about cars (like me), wheel alignment is a modification that your local auto shop can do for you. It consists of calibrating your tires so that way when you drive, they dont wobble to the left or tilt to the right... unless you steer it, of course. When wheels are properly aligned, it allows the driver to have better control when steering & permits the tires to wear evenly. If wheels arent aligned right, then you might have some major problems on your hands.
Wheel alignment can be easily affected. Say youre driving a little too carelessly & you hit a curb when youre making a right turn, or you hit one of those pieces of cement thats put in front of you in some parking lots; that can easily make your alignment a little off. Once you accidentally hit one of those objects while youre driving, the orientation of your wheel can become somewhat off-center. If youre a typical person like me who doesnt really take the time to observe if a little bump messed up the alignment or not, I wont be able to tell with my naked eye; but if I take it to a tire shop or a regular auto body store, theyll most likely be able to tell pretty soon-sooner than you at least.
If a wheel happens to be unaligned, youd be able to tell pretty soon. The tire thats off-center is the one thats making your car slant to the right or the left. Let me give you an example, if I was making a right turn at a stop sign & my right front tire hit the curb, then when I drive on the freeway, my car would be slanting the the left because the wheel was pushed to the left. Id have to constantly sustain a right-pull on the steering wheel since itd be drifting to the left. If I dont fix it as soon as I notice it, itd cause for the tire to wear faster than the other ones & have a HUGE repercussion on my gas mileage. I have a V6 Toyota 4 Runner so you know Im going to be worried about my gas.
When a tire shop notices that the tread wear is uneven, they can tell that youve been driving your car for a while without fixing the alignment. Most of the time, the innermost part of the tire tread will become smooth & thered be an abundant amount of tread left on the external part, or the other way around. If this happens, youre tires would probably last for a shorter amount of time & you may have to spend more money to replace that tire.
If youre completely worried that you may have to get your wheels aligned, no worries; it should take about an hour, if not less. When you get this done, the price usually covers the rotation of your wheel; which should help your tires wear evenly... unless youre going to hit another curb or something. If you have a Four-Wheel drive vehicle, the shop may want to rotate all four tires even if you just need your front ones fixed. You may want to start calling for quotes, how long it usually takes, & if they rotate all four tires on your car, or just the front ones. Feel free to visit us at OriginalWheels.com to put some lovely rims on those tires (:
