maintaining your vehicle maintaining your vehicle

Wheel alignment refers to the angle at which the tires are relative to the frame of the vehicle. When your wheels get misaligned, it affects the vehicle's brakes, suspension, steering, and even the tires' longevity. 

Thus, it is essential to keep an eye out for signs indicating your vehicle needs a wheel alignment. The most common warning signs of wheel misalignment include:

• Uneven wearing of the tires

• The steering wheel is off-center even when you are driving straight

• The vehicle tends to pull to one side while driving

Thus if you notice any of these signs, it is essential to have the vehicle's wheels aligned before the misalignment starts to cause more problems. Here are three reasons to conduct a prompt wheel alignment when you notice the above signs.

Maintaining Fuel Efficiency

When your wheels become misaligned, they create additional resistance to the road during a drive. As a result, the engine gets forced to work extra hard to compensate for the additional resistance. When the engine is overworking, it means consuming more fuel per mile to provide more energy to counter the resistance caused by the wheel misalignment.

Hence, misaligned wheels can lead to fuel inefficiency. Remember, the more fuel your car consumes, the more gas you have to buy. Hence, with the rising cost of gas, it is advisable to seek wheel alignment services before you start spending more money on fuel.

Longer Tire Life

Wheel misalignment causes tires to wear unevenly. I'm most cases, the wearing takes place at the edges of the tires because the misalignment causes the wheels to tilt at an angle. Thus, the tilting causes the tire's surface area in contact with the road to reduce. Therefore, the tire gets worn out more quickly than usual because only a small part of the tire gets utilized.

However, wheel alignment rebalances the wheels such that an adequate amount of tire surface area comes into contact with the road. The more surface area a tire has with the road, the better the distribution of friction, and thus the tires don't wear out quickly. Hence, wheel alignment can save you money by increasing the longevity of the tires.

Avoid Costly Repairs

When the wheels are misaligned, it forces different components of the vehicle to get overworked. The most affected parts include the brakes, suspension, drivetrain, and even the transmission. If these components get too overworked due to neglecting the wheel misalignment, one or more of them can break down, which will lead to costly repairs.

Hence, it is essential to have your wheels aligned promptly before the components get damaged. Remember, a wheel alignment is cheaper than replacing or repairing any of the components mentioned above.