Regular vehicle maintenance will extend the life of your vehicle, regardless of make or model. Whether you’re a DIY mechanic or prefer to let professionals take care of your vehicle needs, it’s imperative to follow the recommendations for upkeep and maintenance found in your owner’s manual. Each vehicle has its maintenance requirements, plus how you drive your vehicle can impact your maintenance needs.
The Tom Kadlec Kia team in Rochester, Minnesota, is here to help you with all your maintenance and repair needs, including wheel alignments. What is a wheel alignment? Let’s examine this important aspect of vehicle maintenance.
What Is a Wheel Alignment?
Simply put, a wheel alignment is an adjustment to your vehicle’s suspension system to ensure that the tires correctly make contact with the road. A wheel alignment doesn’t adjust your wheels or tires but rather the suspension system that’s connected to them. You improve vehicle safety by having the right amount of tire contact with the road. A wheel alignment also keeps your vehicle from pulling to either side, which can cause driving difficulties.
Why Is Wheel Alignment Important?
Poorly aligned wheels can decrease fuel economy, interrupt your typical smooth drive, damage your tires, and potentially cause an accident. If your suspension is out of alignment, it causes your vehicle to work harder than it needs to, causing wear and tear on the entire vehicle. When you continue driving in an unaligned vehicle, you risk uneven tire wear, steering issues, and a damaged suspension system.
How Often Do You Need a Wheel Alignment?
Every vehicle make and model is different when it comes to a schedule for wheel alignment, and you should consult your owners manual to determine the exact recommendations for your vehicle. However, most vehicles should have the wheels aligned every other oil change or once a year. This recommendation can be as soon as every 6,000 miles or at every oil change on some vehicles. Scheduling your wheel alignment with an oil change is an excellent way to keep track of wheel maintenance.
You should also get a wheel alignment if you notice that your vehicle is pulling to either side of the road when driving. Other symptoms of your vehicle’s suspension being out of alignment include:
- Noisy steering.
- Squealing tires.
- Rapid or uneven tire wear.
- A crooked steering wheel when you’re driving straight down the road.
- Shaking steering wheel.
- Loose handling.
If you’re experiencing any of these common symptoms of a misaligned suspension system, contact the service team at Tom Kadlec Kia for a wheel alignment service today.
What Causes Alignment Issues?
While it’s essential to include wheel alignment in your regular vehicle maintenance schedule for everyday wear and tear, several other factors can affect your alignment. Misalignment can occur due to worn vehicle components, road conditions, or driver habits. The top three causes of misalignment are:
- Sudden impact, including an automobile accident, hitting a curb or pothole, or going over a speed bump at high speeds.
- Worn suspension components, such as struts or shocks.
- Modifying your vehicle, especially by lifting the height or ground clearance.
Small bumps may not be significant enough to knock your vehicle out of alignment after just one time. Still, the bumps can negatively affect your suspension over time and cause misalignment. Road conditions can be unpredictable, and you can’t always avoid an accident, but you can drive safely to help prevent misalignment.
Wheel Alignment and Tire Care
Taking care of your vehicle’s tires is an excellent step in maintaining your vehicle’s suspension system. You should check your tire pressure frequently and adjust it according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for pounds per square inch (PSI). Keeping your tires at an appropriate pressure level is a great way to prevent uneven wear and misalignment issues.
You can find your vehicle’s recommended PSI in your owners manual. Check your tire pressure every other week or at least once per month, keeping in mind that tire pressure will be higher in warmer temps or on tires exposed to direct sunlight.
What Happens If You Don’t Align Your Wheels?
While the danger of misaligned tires is usually not immediate, several issues can develop if you don’t align your wheels properly. These include:
- Steering problems.
- Damage to the suspension system.
- Uneven or rapid tire wear.
- Poor fuel economy.
Any of these issues will cost you more money in the long run, whether it’s spent repairing your steering or suspension, replacing tires, or filling up your gas tank more frequently than usual. These issues also increase the risk of an automobile accident, endangering yourself and those around you.
What Happens During Wheel Alignment?
A qualified professional will use a specialized machine that measures the wheel angles, calculates them, and then compares those angles to your vehicle’s original manufacturer’s specifications. Typically, a wheel alignment takes 30 to 60 minutes, although more time might be required for unique situations, such as off-road-ready four-wheel-drive vehicles or vehicles with damaged parts. The technician adjusts the various suspension angles to alter the tire position and movement. Depending on the vehicle, the mechanic may adjust the camber, caster, toe, or thrust to achieve the proper alignment.
- Camber: The difference in degree measurement of a wheel’s vertical alignment perpendicular to the surface.
- Caster: The angle that is created from the front to the back of the vehicle by the steering pivot point.
- Toe: The angle obtained from pointing the tires outward or inward from a top-down view.
- Thrust: When all four wheels are squared with each other in a thrust alignment.
Depending on your needs, you may also have a two-wheel or a four-wheel alignment.
Wheel Alignment at Tom Kadlec Kia
Whether you need a wheel alignment as part of your regular vehicle maintenance or you’ve noticed your vehicle to be symptomatic of a misaligned suspension, contact the professionals at Tom Kadlec Kia today. Our service technicians are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for your convenience. Call us at 507-361-2700 or schedule your service online to get started. You can find us at 4444 U.S. Highway 52 in Rochester, Minnesota, for all your vehicle service and sales needs.
Kia Sorento SX by loubeat is licensed with CC BY 2.0
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