4 Common Signs Of Wheel Alignment Problems

Correct wheel alignment will enhance your driving experience and improve your safety behind the wheel. If you have incorrect wheel alignment this can cause all kinds of problems that can make your car dangerous to drive and hit your back pocket hard.

If your wheels are misaligned, chances are there will be some noticeable signs. Often, you’ll be able to spot a wheel alignment problem using your eyes, ears and hands. Here are 4 of the most common signs of incorrect wheel alignment:

1. Vehicle Pulling To One Side

If your front wheels are ‘toeing out’ (pointing away from each other), your car will want to pull to either the left or right side of the road. This is because one wheel wants to go straight ahead and the other is trying to turn a corner.

2. Excessive Or Uneven Tyre Wear

If your wheels are misaligned your tyres will wear more rapidly than when your wheels are correctly aligned. Toe in or toe out are often the cause of this problem, resulting in uneven wear across your affected tyres. If your wheels are set up to achieve negative camber, this can also cause excessive wear on tyre inner edges.

3. Steering Wheel Is Crooked When Trying To Drive Straight

This one is pretty obvious and easy to spot. If you are driving straight, your steering wheel should be pointing straight ahead. If instead, it is crooked this can be a sign of incorrect wheel alignment. This will often make your car feel twitchy and unstable, especially when driving at speed, such as on a dual carriageway or motorway.

4. Limited Performance

If your wheels aren’t correctly aligned, you’ll be limiting the performance your car can achieve. With reduced contact between your tyres and the road surface, your brakes won’t be working optimally, and you’ll find it more difficult to steer your car into a corner.

If your car has toe in or toe out, it’ll take more effort for your tyres to travel across the road surface. Wheels pointing in different directions will limit performance and hamper fuel efficiency.

What Can I Do To Remedy Wheel Alignment?

There are a few things that you can do to sort some alignment issues including:

• Remove excess and unnecessary weight from your boot
• Ensure your tyres are correctly inflated
• Drive in a conservative manner to reduce strain on your steering and suspension system
• Avoid driving through potholes or contacting curbs

Wheel Alignment

If you are looking for a low-cost wheel alignment service, we can help. We offer 2 and 4 wheel alignment using our state of the art Supertracker STR420RW 8 sensor system on site in Poole. This system is extremely accurate (within 0.01mm) and impressively quick.

Our wheel alignment service costs £35 for a single axle and £60 for 4 wheel alignment. There’s no need to book, simply drive in and our team will be happy to help. We also offer a FREE wheel alignment check on site. If you’re unsure if your wheel alignment is correct we can find out for you, show you any issues on screen and suggest what you should do next.