Why Wheel Alignment Matters

Wheel alignment is one of the most important parts of car maintenance but often gets overlooked. Having your car aligned not only keeps it handling safely, but it also plays a key role in how smoothly it drives and how effectively it uses its tires. Don’t be like many drivers who wait until the alignment is really out of adjustment or just ignore it. It’s easy to forget about alignment service; however, it’s a vitally important element of safety and long-term vehicle care that is often overlooked. Understanding why wheel alignment matters—what’s in it for you—can help you save money, avoid spending money on repairs that could have been avoided, and generally enjoy your driving experience more.

How Wheel Alignment Affects Driving

Properly aligned wheels are able to function in harmony with your suspension and steering systems, allowing the vehicle proper motion and requiring little effort on your part to keep the vehicle moving straight. Misalignment leads to one or more of the wheels being forced to work against their natural motion. This requires you to steer the vehicle against natural motion, which forces you to constantly counter-steer to maintain the vehicle traveling straight. Driving when the suspension, alignment, and steering are not functioning properly leads to a stressful driving experience and fatigue during long distances. More importantly, improper wheel alignment can seriously affect stability during an emergency, such as sudden stopping while avoiding an obstacle.

Tire Wear Due to Misalignment

Signs of improper alignment are usually evident by uneven or accelerated tire wear. Tires contact the road surface at certain angles. When driving, the weight and the forces are distributed evenly across the tread surface. If wheels are out of alignment, those angles change, consequently distorting the amount of pressure applied to each particular spot along the tire.

Take, for instance, excess toe-in or excess toe-out alignment deficiencies. The resulting wear causes the inner or outer edge of the tire to wear much faster in comparison to the entire tire tread. The same could be said regarding camber angles that result in bald spots or feathering patterns on the tire contact surfaces. This discrepancy in tread wear dramatically decreases tire life, which likely requires earlier replacement. Tires are not cheap, so early wear from misalignment is simply not good business sense.

There is much more than just cost when it comes to tires. Worn tires as a result of misalignment can become a serious safety issue. Less tread means less traction, which in excess, the risk of skidding, hydroplaning, or otherwise losing control increases significantly. Proper alignment ensures that you get the maximum life out of the tires and that they are peaking in performance when they are needed the most.

Steering Wheel Pulling to One Side

A clear sign of a wheel alignment issue is when you notice your steering wheel pulling to one side of your vehicle when driving straight. As stated earlier, this condition often progresses slowly. Therefore, it usually is ignored until the pull is severe. Pulling to one side does not only present problems because you are constantly fighting the car to maintain center, but it also can lead to wear on steering components over time.

Pulling to one side, if not corrected, could result in losing control of your vehicle whenever precision is required in steering, movement, or handling your automobile. The dynamic conditions could increase on highway driving or in heavy or light traffic situations (regardless of the weather or street conditions), resulting in loss of comfort when driving your car. Loss of comfort could be turned directly into loss of safety.

Wheel Alignment Cost vs. Long-Term Savings

Some drivers put off wheel alignments because of cost; however, the wheel alignment cost is small compared to the future savings. An alignment typically costs moderate to cheap depending on the particular vehicle and service center, but the costs associated with ignoring alignment—tires that wear out prematurely, increased fuel expenditure, damage to steering systems and suspension systems—far exceed the cost of an alignment. 

An alignment also contributes to fuel economy, as errant wheel alignment increases rolling resistance, meaning that the engine must work harder and therefore burn more fuel. Over time this increases fuel expense and can add up to more than the original fuel expenses. The next time you choose to get a routine alignment, remember that you are not just protecting your tires and all vehicle systems but also your fuel budget.

Why Regular Alignment Checks Matter

Wheel alignment isn’t a one-and-done. When you drive every day, there are a ton of things that can cause your vehicle to become misaligned, including potholes, curbs, and uneven road surfaces, which can all, over time, knock you out of alignment. Even just regular wear-and-tear on suspension parts will alter the specifications. This is why mechanics say they prefer you to check alignment at least annually, or if you’re getting new tires (especially when they are brand new).

If you stay on top of checking your alignment, you can catch a small problem before it becomes a big, costly repair. Regular checks can also keep your vehicle handling in a way that allows you the safest and most predictable handling. If you live in an area with rough roads and do a lot of long highway commutes, or even if you have just seen some weird wear patterns on your tires, it is beneficial to have your alignment checked sooner rather than later.

Choosing the Right Auto Repair Shop

If you need professional service, then you need to find an alignment and suspension service center you can trust. For Missouri residents, an option would be auto repair in Lake St. Louis, MO, where all trained personnel can examine your wheels with accurate equipment that will provide you with results that verify that everything is within the specifications of the manufacturer. You can be sure that when you receive your service from a certified professional, the alignment is performed correctly, handling is restored, tire performance is restored, and safety is restored.

Conclusion

Your driving experience, safety, and cost of maintaining your vehicle are all impacted by wheel alignment. Proper wheel alignment can save you from having to replace or repair tires because of tire wear from tires that are misaligned or if your steering wheel is pulling to one side. Properly aligned tires will allow your car to drive in the way it was designed to drive. When you think of the comparatively low cost of wheel alignment versus how much you’ll save over time, getting a wheel alignment is one of the best investments you can make with your car. If you routinely get your wheel alignment checked and find a repair shop that you can trust, you will get more out of your tires, get more out of your gas, and have more peace of mind every time you drive.