What is Wheel alignment & Wheel Balancing? Alignment Vs.Balancing

Wheel balancing and wheel alignment are often confused to be the same. Car owners who have little knowledge about tyres tend to think that wheel balancing and alignment are one and the same thing. However, they are different, in fact, way different. One common string that unites the two is your safety. Overlooking either of the two would not only hurt your financials in the long run but also pose an immediate safety threat.

Often, the burgeoning number of road accidents in our country are attributed to our negligence with respect to the maintenance of the vehicle and its components. And, of course, vehicle tyre tops the charts when it comes to neglected factors in our automobile. Any unusual sound or vibration in your car is an alarm for you to act. And if you know it’s from the tyres then you need to address the issue as early as possible because remember tyres are your only contact with the surface. Any trouble to the rubber is directly linked to your safety.

Let’s delve into more details on wheel balancing and wheel alignment.

What is Wheel Balancing?

As wheels tend to lose balance with time, wheel balancing helps in restoring the same. With tyres munching miles after miles, the tread wears and, most times, not in the correct order which disturbs the distribution of the weight in the tyre. This leads to a kind of imbalance between the tyres which shakes or vibrates the vehicle on the go. Compared to wheel alignment, wheel balancing should be done more frequently to ensure the right balance is maintained on either side of the vehicle.

If you are driving the car, you will feel the vibrations on the steering or seats if the wheels are improperly balanced. Not limited to the front wheels, the vibrations of seats or steering could be because of the imbalanced rear wheels. If you continue driving the vehicle with imbalanced wheels, the tyres will wear unevenly as the wheel won’t be able to complete the rotation perfectly.

Read More – Tyre Care

When is wheel balancing a must?

The wheel balancing becomes a must when vibrations keep creeping in and their level increases gradually. The vibrations owing to imbalance are only noticeable when the vehicle is zipping at higher speeds. The higher the speed the more the vibrations filtering in.

To know whether the wheels of the front or rear are imbalanced, you need to figure out the nature of vibrations. For instance, if the vibration is felt in the steering, the problem is likely in the front wheel. However, if the vibration is felt mostly in the seat, the problem is probably in the rear wheels.

Indicators for wheel balancing

The good thing about wheel balancing is that you can feel it and thus, it is easy to detect. If you feel vibrations in the steering wheel at certain speeds or specific vibrations in the seat or floorboard, then your vehicle needs a visit to the service centre for wheel balancing. At times you might not feel the vibrations, but in your regular checkups, if you find a cupped or scalloped wear pattern on the tyres, it’s time to rush to the ‘tyre’ doctor.

If the tyres are wearing from the middle, they are evenly balanced, however, if the wear is restricted to only edges, it’s time to balance your tyres.

Why is wheel balancing necessary?

Frequent wheel balancing (mostly after every 6 months) is necessary to make sure your tyre wears evenly. If you wish to ignore the signals from your tyres and continue running your vehicle, here are the risks you are inviting.

-Unbalanced wheels produce vibrations which make it difficult to drive, and handling of the car is negatively impacted

– Apart from damaging themselves, wheels which are not balanced put a severe strain on suspension setup and the wheel bearings.

-The disease might spread to steering components as well and may damage its parts permanently in very extreme cases.

– The parts impacted by unbalanced tyres wear premature. These include suspension, steering components, rotating parts and tyres.

– Additional pressure is mounted on the engine which also impacts the fuel efficiency figures of the vehicle.

-Negligence of its warning signs will lead to mounting repair bills apart from being unsafe.

What is Wheel Alignment?

Wheel alignment is getting your wheels aligned with each other so that when you steer, the response should be quick and in the intended direction. The major reason for wheel alignment is impairing of wheels due to poor suspension. The probable reasons for the impairing could be your vehicle hitting massive potholes or regular driving on highly uneven surfaces or installing a new set of tyres in your vehicle. Through wheel alignment, the angle of the wheels is corrected so that your vehicle moves in the right, intended direction.

A typical sign for misaligned wheels is the car drifting or pulling to one side of the road from the straight line without your input to the steering. Now, consider long journeys when you need to drive the car, the constant steering correction is required as the car keeps moving to one side of the road. This requires more concentration and effort of the driver which would lead to further stress on him. It is directly related to the safety of the co-passengers. And not to mention the premature wear of tyres which would eventually hurt you in repair bills. In a country like India where urban areas are filled with potholes and rough roads, timely wheel alignment should be an integral part of your car service.

Types of wheel alignment

Typically, there are three methods of wheel alignment – Camber alignment, Toe alignment and Caster alignment.

Camber alignment- It is when the tyres tend to appear showing an inward or outward angle when looking from the front of the vehicle. While inward tilting is known as Negative Camber, outward is called Positive Camber. Increased tilting of the tyre in either direction needs immediate adjustment. The Camber misalignment could be linked to worn ball joints, bearings and other wheel suspension components.

Toe alignment– Toe alignment is when you see the tyres of your vehicle from above the vehicle and find them either pointing inward or outward. It is distinct from the Camber Alignment. While the angle where your tyres tilt inward towards each other, it is called as toe-in alignment and similarly, when the tyres tilt outward, it is known as toe-out alignment. In either case, you need a wheel alignment.

Caster alignment– A perfect Caster angle ensures balanced stability, steering and thus, cornering. It is basically the angle of your steering axis viewed from the side of your vehicle. In the case of Positive Caster, the angle will point towards the driver, whereas, in the case of Negative Caster, it will point towards the front of the car.

Indicators of wheel alignment

Just like any ailment, misaligned wheels also give you the signals which need to be noticed. If you observe your vehicle and find there is rapid tyre wear or uneven wear, then chances are highly likely that it could be due to misalignment. Moreover, while driving you can see it for yourself if the car drifts or pulls from a straight line to one side of the road or it starts wandering on a straight level road. Lastly, while you are driving on a straight level road but the steering wheel spokes are not in their ideal setup, it is time to go for wheel alignment.

Ideally, after every 6 months or 10,000 km, you should go for wheel alignment.

Why is it necessary?

If you tend to ignore the indicators of wheel misalignment then you are compromising your safety and putting your loved ones at risk on the road. Here is how dangerous it could be to ignore the alignment call.

-Misaligned wheels will limit your ability to steer.

-The ability of braking, handling, cornering is deeply impacted along with compromised reaction to steering inputs.

-On a straight line, the wheel will pull or drift on one side of the road

-With the wheels dragging to one side, uneven and premature tyre wears occurs

-As the tread wears quickly, tyres ability to grip the road also goes for a toss

-Lastly, misaligned wheels might impact fuel consumption too.

In the interest of your safety, the signs of wheel balancing and wheel alignment should never be ignored. Remember, the tyres are your only contact with the surface and if their basic actions of turning and braking are compromised, you are definitely putting your safety at stake. We would suggest you take professional help in doing both the procedures.

Both the tyre-related processes should be timely done without any delay. Keep your eyes and ears always open when you drive the car as most of the time, the vehicle alerts you beforehand but it’s our negligence that causes