Why Your Car's Tyres Should Always Be Properly Aligned

When you buy a new tyre for your car, you may see the tyre store offers wheel alignments as well. You might forego this service, assuming that it's not very important since your car can still be driven even if you don't have the wheels aligned. This thinking is actually very shortsighted as there are good reasons to ensure that your car's tyres are always properly aligned. Note a few of those reasons here.

1. Saving on fuel

When a car's tyres are not properly aligned, this puts uneven pressure on all the tyres. There is then uneven friction as the tyres tend to push against each other or pull to the outside of the car. In turn, your car's engine needs to work harder against this friction and it uses more fuel.

This means that not only are you paying more for fuel consumption at the pumps, but you're also adding to emissions every time you're on the road. If you're very eco-conscious, you want to keep your car in good working order so that it doesn't waste fuel, and keeping your tyres properly aligned is part of that.

2. Safety

When your car's wheels are not aligned, you may feel it pulling in a certain direction and this can be very unsafe while driving, especially when braking or turning. Your car may skid and slide when you apply the brakes or slide to one direction when turning because it's pulling toward the direction of wheels that are aligned too far to the inner or outer area of the car. If you brake at high speeds, your car may skid and slide out of your control, and this can be very dangerous for you and other drivers on the road.

3. Wear and tear

Your car's parts are all meant to work together and when one part of your car is in poor repair, this can put stress on other parts; poorly aligned wheels are no exception. Your brakes may work harder to squeeze poorly aligned tyres since they do not have a smooth and even surface to press against. Your steering column and system may work harder to keep your car driving straight when your wheels pull in different directions. If you don't have your wheels aligned as they should be, you may see that you need to replace your brake pads and rotors more often or will need repairs to your steering column sooner rather than later.