As a driver, keeping your tires properly aligned is going to be one of your most important maintenance tasks. Here is a quick glimpse at a few of the reasons why it is so important to align your tires, some signs that your tires are improperly aligned, and what you can do to align your tires if they aren’t balanced.
Why Keep My Tires Aligned?
Aligning and balancing your tires is going to have a huge impact on the safety, efficiency, and handling of your vehicle. When your tires aren’t aligned, it is going to prematurely wear out the tires themselves as well as many other parts of the vehicle. It could also have a big impact on how much you are spending on gas. If the tires aren’t aligned, then you could end up wasting hundreds a year on additional fuel.
Signs of Improper Alignment
There are a few warning signs that all drivers need to keep an eye out for that could indicate they have misaligned or unbalanced tires. One of the biggest indicators that your tires aren’t aligned is the vehicle shaking at higher speeds. You might also notice that your vehicle slowly drifts to one side even when you aren’t turning. Drivers should also keep an eye out for any unusual changes to how much fuel their vehicles require.
Fixing Improper Alignment
The average driver doesn’t have the tools or expertise to align their tires. That is one of the reasons why you should always work with a garage or mechanic that offers professional alignments. That quick and easy maintenance task can usually be completed within an hour in a professional garage, and the average driver only needs to have their tires aligned twice a year.
Preventing Future Problems
To ensure that your tires remain aligned and balanced for as long as possible, you must be a cautious driver. Hitting bumps or knocking into curbs could bring your tires out of alignment almost immediately. You must also ensure that your tires are properly inflated at all times. If your vehicle doesn’t have tire sensors, then you might want to manually check them at least once every two or three weeks.
While the average driver can carry out quite a bit of their maintenance, aligning tires should almost always be left to the professionals. Making any mistakes while aligning your tires could result in expensive and potentially dangerous mechanical problems down the road.