Keeping your Belleville, IL vehicle’s wheel alignment proper can ensure that you are driving properly on the road. It also can make sure that your vehicle is performing at its best. Having poor alignment in your vehicle can cause your tires to wear irregularly and can negatively impact the handling of your vehicle.
If you take your vehicle off-roading frequently, you may need to make sure that your vehicle gets an alignment sooner than someone who only uses their vehicle to commute. No matter if you go off-roading or not, here are signs that your vehicle needs a wheel alignment.
Your Steering Wheel Does Not Stay Straight
When you are driving your vehicle, if you let go of your wheel, it should stay centered. There can be a little bit of drifting if the road is curved for drainage purposes. However, your vehicle’s wheel alignment should mostly be straight.
If you release your steering wheel while driving and it pulls to the left or right, this is a sign that your vehicle’s alignment is out of place. You may also feel this pull when you are driving. You should not have to put a lot of effort into keeping your vehicle driving straight.
This warning sign is one of the most obvious when it comes to front-wheel driving vehicles and is less obvious with four-wheel driving vehicles. When you get your vehicle’s tires aligned, the mechanic will make sure that your tires align with your steering column. This will help eliminate the pull that you may feel and see on your steering wheel while driving.
Your Tires Start to Abnormally Wear
All of your vehicle’s tires should ideally wear down at the same rate. This allows you to rotate them at the recommended mileage for your vehicle. The tread should wear down in the center of the tire, where your tire has the most contact with your vehicle.
When your vehicle is not aligned, you may start to see abnormal wear patterns on your tires. You will specifically notice that your tires seem to wear down more on one side compared to the other. Your vehicle’s wheel being out of alignment generally causes this type of abnormal wear pattern.
Your Steering Wheel Starts to Vibrate
When you hold onto your steering wheel, you may feel the road bumps as your vehicle goes over them. However, you should not feel your steering wheel vibrate. This is an easy sign to spot that your wheel alignment is off.
Over time, if you do not get your vehicle properly aligned, the vibrations will only get worse. This can end up compromising your ability to keep a grip on your steering wheel and drive safely.
If your vehicle’s steering wheel does not drive straight, or your overall wheel alignment is out of balance, make sure to give our team at Rowan Tire & Auto Repair a call today! We are here to make sure your vehicle is running at its best.
