Wheels are regarded to be the driving force of any automobile vehicle. Be it an SUV or an LMV, their different forms assist us in getting all moving things done. Just as it is essential to take good, regular care of a car by services, same goes for tyres as well. While it might sound extremely similar to the wheel balancing, the idea of wheel alignment is quite different.
In the process of wheel alignment, the focus is primarily on setting the right degree of angle for a wheel. For every car, their lies a designated set of specific wheel alignment specifications that are accustomed to the cars by every manufacturer. While cars usually undergo wheel balancing at the time of servicing, wheel alignment is something that one opts for when their car is pulling off weight on one side.
What happens in wheel alignment?
Wheel alignment is usually done in case of an extreme problem. This is usually done when a car has been in an accident or has had loosened fittings over time. Tyre alignment experts ensure that wheel tread is well inspected while tyre orientations are performed during any wheel alignment. Tyre balancing also includes inspection of several alignments focused parts like caster, toe, and camber.
When to get it done?
There is no exact timeline to get a wheel alignment service done. It can be performed at any time when one’s car breaks down. However, the best suggestions for the same can be received by your respective car manufacturer’s experts.
Industrial experts from prominent brands like Swift tyres often advise getting a wheel alignment done every 8 months if one is living is rough terrain areas like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and such.
It’s Importance
Wheel alignment is essential to maximize the life span of any kind of tyres. Misaligned tyres generally lead to excessive wear and tear from environmental elements. Alignments are cost-effective when compared to the costly tyre replacements. Misaligned tyres have several side effects such as one-sided car drifting, tough steer driving, vibrating steers, noisy tyres and more.
Motorists are well able to differentiate when it comes to misaligned tyres and are not able to hold up steering wheel well. Experts often advise immediately contacting the nearest mechanic for setting the right set of alignment if any issues begin to act up.
Misaligned tyres are highly unsafe for driving a vehicle. An improper set of tyres have clear symptoms like weak wheel corners, poor handling and cracking rubbers. Driving such a vehicle in extreme weathers with affected floors can lead to severe damage in the form of accidents. The human effort for driving cars with such misaligned wheels is also quite complex and would require constant effort on balancing the steering wheel. All in all, this indirectly leads to the driver being tired out of excessive handling leading to car mishandling.
Basics of wheel alignment:
Camber:
Camber in a car usually refers to the extreme edges of a wheel. Excessive edging of one side over the other can cause serious wheel damage while driving. This usually occurs in the case of misaligned tyres. The intensive push of topside over the bottom or vice a Versa can break down car suspension in the long run. While experts advise keeping the alignments in a straight level, mechanics tend to emphasize a slight bottom to top bend for better handling and evade any possibility of mechanical stress.
Toe:
This aspect refers to movement and wheel angle. Inner movements of a wheel are known as toe-ins while the outer movements are called as toe-outs. Excessive toe ins and outs can be pretty damaging to the wheels. Apart from the misaligned tyre, the car can also have an excessive push on to a certain side.
Like cambers, toes too need a straight alignment to prevent a mishap from improper wheel alignment. This is the reason why mechanics straighten up the toe lines to prevent tyre damage and ensure the stability of a car’s motion.
Caster:
This segment of the car is primarily related to car suspension. More than suspension, it is solely concerning with the leaning of the suspension. One can learn about it looking for tyres from the angles. Its movement is concerned for the caster of a respective vehicle.
If suspension leans more to the bumper, the suspension is known to have a positive caster while the bend of suspension towards windshield is called as the negative caster. Misaligned casters can indirectly lead to improper balancing due to excessive cornering. This also puts a strain on the driver to pull off extra steering efforts.
Camber requires steering up a proper balance to strike up the right type of wheel alignment. This allows the car to be put at rest on the center without having to put a strain on the vehicles.
These are commonly seen approaches to fix up the wheel alignment during any car service. This treatment is applied to both front as well as the back tyres so one would rest assured that the tyres function as they are supposed to be.