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The topic of wheel alignment has a lot of myths around it, so let's figure out why it's important.
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First of all, the wheel alignment is important for your tires. Your tires will wear extremely
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fast if the wheel alignment is bad, so if the angle of your wheels is not correct. Secondly,
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the fuel consumption may get worse. It's about 5 to 10% if the wheel alignment is really bad,
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badly adjusted. Then, in some extreme cases, your suspension may suffer because the suspension,
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the front suspension, may get a lot of load that it shouldn't get. And also,
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the really bad wheel alignment may lead to safety considerations because when
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you drive on the highway, you want your car to stick to the course,
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to go straight. And if it starts pulling to the side, you will need to adjust your
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steering all the time. And this is the safety thing that should be considered, of course.
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Now, I hope you know that wheel alignment is the angle of your wheels. So,
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there are several things like caster, camber, and toe. And all these angles are important,
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like your wheels should be located like that. But when the adjustment is wrong, they may be
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located like that, like that. Or the suspension may be in the wrong position. So there are special
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bolts that are used for aligning these wheels and allowing them to be in a proper position.
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Now the myth about intervals, how often should you check the wheel alignment? Well,
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when your car is under warranty, your dealership will tell you, "Okay, you should check it every
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year or every time you change oil." But of course, this is just for taking money from you. But when
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your car is under warranty, you have no other choice but doing whatever the dealer says. But
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when your car is out of the warranty period, you can, can decide on your own how often you
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should check the wheel alignment. And in this case, it's once every two or three years or
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once every 20-30,000 miles. As for me. Experts say different things. I checked it in several sources,
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and they say every 10,000 miles. Someone says every 40,000 miles. Let's just take the average,
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2-3 years and 20-30,000 miles. But of course I will touch this topic later.
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You should check the wheel alignment every time you suspect something is wrong with this.
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Now, what are the symptoms? How can you understand that the wheel alignment should be checked right
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now? First of all, it's uneven tire wear. So when your tire is worn on this side, like mine,
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by the way if your tire is worn on the outside or on the inside much more than in the center,
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it means that the wheel alignment is not really correct. Secondly, when you go on the highway
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and your car is pulling to the side instead of going straight, this is the clear sign that the
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wheel alignment should be checked. It's not for all the roads in the world because if the
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road is not even, your car may pull to the side because of the road conditions. So you should
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check it on several kinds of the highways, of the roads. And if this is a consistent symptom,
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so if your car always pulls to the right or to the left, you should check wheel alignment.
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One more possible thing is when your steering wheel is not straight when
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the car is going straight. So you're driving straight on the highway, everything is okay,
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but your steering wheel stands like this. It means that the wheel alignment is not
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okay and it should be checked as soon as possible. Also when you get out of the turn,
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so when you turned, you may let off your steering wheel, and it should go to the
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center position or near the center position on its own, without your help. If it doesn't do
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that, if it stays turned and you need to use your hands to make it go to the center,
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there is a high chance that the wheel alignment is not okay and it needs adjustment right now.
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Also, you should obviously check your wheel alignment after you repair the suspension. Almost
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all suspension repairs require wheel alignment after that. Especially if you lift your car,
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lower your car, or you change the levers of the suspension it's quite obvious that your vehicle
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needs wheel alignment after that. Also, if you bump over the road bump or over a huge pothole,
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you will probably need wheel alignment, at least to check whether this influenced the
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angles of your wheels too much. And if you bump a curb, this is a very, very common thing that
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happens with the cars. You bump the curb when you park your car, especially with the front wheels,
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of course. Almost in all cases, this may lead to changes in your wheel alignment.
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So to be on the safe side, you should go to the good repair shop and check the wheel alignment.
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And also, this is my personal recommendation. If you buy new tires and you install new tires
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on your car, it's recommended to go and check the wheel alignment before that or after that.
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Because new tires are quite expensive. And if your wheel alignment is not okay,
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they will start wearing on one side, and it's not that uncommon that one tire will be worn in
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just one season because the wheel stands like this and only the outer side of this tire is worn out.
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Now, there is a little secret. If you don't need to go to the dealership because of the warranty,
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you can find a repair shop that will check your wheel alignment for free. And if your
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wheel alignment needs adjustment, you will pay. But if it doesn't need any adjustment,
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you will not pay. There are hundreds of such repair shops, and this may save you $100 or
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$200 if your car actually doesn't need adjustment of the wheel alignment.
