Seeking an ultra-comfortable ride? But what if your car tyres are not balanced and you did not know? The tyres on your car are one of the most crucial components to maintain. Though keeping an eye on the tread life and tyre pressure is important, you can’t stop there. Tyre balance is another important process to consider for a safe driving experience.
What is Tyre Balancing and Why is It Important?
The tyre balancing process ensures that the weight of the tyre and the wheel assembly is balanced and the masses are evenly distributed for a firm and smooth ride. No tyre is flawless, and while travelling at highway speeds, even any small defect can create major problems. This is why it is necessary to get your tyres balanced. Thus, when driving, it is essential to have well-balanced tyres for your car’s optimum performance, tyre life, and safety.
In case your car tyres are not balanced, then how can you know if they are unbalanced? Let us see what we can find out!
Symptoms of Unbalanced Car Tyres:
Pay close attention to these warning signals since your tyres can definitely let you know if they require upkeep.
- Unnecessary vibrations: Excessive vibrations while driving at higher speeds is the most observable symptom of unbalanced tyres. The vibrations can be caused in the steering wheels, seat or the floorboards due to uneven tyres. A difference of half an ounce in the weight of the tyres and wheels is enough to generate significant vibration. Therefore, to avoid a dangerous situation, it is required to get the problem diagnosed as soon as possible.
- Unwanted noise: Your tyres may be out of balance if you hear imbalanced tyre noises or any strand sounds while driving. When a tyre is out of balance, it usually creates strange or unpleasant humming or buzzing noises. In that case, you should immediately pull your car and get a mechanic to check your tyres.
- Uneven wear: The tread on your tyres can reveal a lot about how well the tyres are balanced. Everyday wear on the tyre mostly contributes to imbalance. Measure the tread depth of the tyre and notice the wear in them. If any one of the tyres is wearing out faster compared to others, then you must get your tyres rotated or balanced.
- Steering problems: Delayed response time of a steering wheel and not being able to steer smoothly in any direction is also a major problem caused by unbalanced tyres. Hence it is advisable to opt for tyre balancing since unbalanced tyres can create rough driving experiences which can also lead to unavoidable accidents.
- Worn out suspension and steering components: Unbalanced tyres cause extra pressure on your suspension and steering components. This results in the vibration travelling through the suspension system and worsening at the wheels. Leaving unbalanced tyres longer will cause wear out in the whole system.
- Increased fuel usage: The resistance created by the imbalance results in the harder working of the engine and it requires more fuel to fulfil its functioning. Thus increased fuel usage is also a sign of tyre imbalance. Neglecting wheel balancing can result in increased fuel economy for your car.
- Wobbling: Wobbling is a common sign of a damaged tyre. Your car will bounce up and down at low speed. The cause of wobbling is the large bubble on the tread, caused by the air pressure due to the separation of internal belts.
- Problems with bearing and bad shocks: Shocks, springs, bearings and other components of the wheel assembly experience wear and tear which signifies that you have an unbalanced tyre situation. It causes stress on the functioning of the car resulting in sudden shocks that usually reduce the car’s mileage.
These are some signs of unbalanced tyres. If you see any of such situations, consult your mechanic and get your tyres balanced or changed.
Typically When Should You Get Your Tyres Balanced?
It is necessary to get your tyres balanced regardless of having the issue of unbalanced tyres. It will save you from unwanted emergencies.
- New tyres: If you have purchased a new car or got the tyres of your existing car changed, then you must opt for tyre balancing.
- Rotation: At the time of tyre rotation, ask your mechanic to rotate them as well.
- Fixed miles: It is advisable to get your tyres or wheel balanced every 4000-5000 miles. It can vary based on your driving habits.
- Yearly: If you do not follow the fixed miles rule, you should at least compulsorily get your tyres balanced once per year.
Final Remarks:
You might think regular tyre balancing without any cause can be expensive for you but remember long run safety is more important than the expense. Maintaining the tyre life regularly will benefit you and save your pockets from the cost of the higher damage, saving your fuel economy too.
Let the expert team of Swift Tyre Specialist help you with your tyre balancing and the complete car maintenance and servicing work. Contact us right away.