Imagine driving down a straight road one day when your car starts pulling to one side. You’ll never experience such a serious handling issue if you catch the early symptoms of bad tire alignment and have your tires promptly corrected at your Acura dealership. Here’s what to look out for.
Less Responsive Steering
Misaligned tires strain closely connected components, including the steering column, which will gradually make your steering feel less firm and accurate. This is worsened by each oddly angled wheel no longer pointing perfectly straight, which prevents the car from responding to your steering inputs as precisely as usual.
Crooked Steering Wheel
As misaligned wheels put pressure on the steering column, a steering wheel can occasionally be pushed off-center. This means your steering wheel may appear crooked even when you’re steering in a straight line.
Veering to the Left or Right
With misaligned wheels, your car may also begin drifting to the side on its own. The direction of the veering (left or right) will depend on which way the crooked tires are pointed. At this stage, your handling is seriously diminished.
Rumbling and Vibrations
Smooth driving requires all four wheels to be perfectly parallel. With one or more wheels angled strangely on the camber, caster, or tow angles, road friction increases. This heightens road noise and vibrations.
Squeaking When Cornering
With the treads of misaligned tires no longer flat against the road, cornering may cause them to squeal noisily. This sound means your tires are suffering excessive wear and tear.
Unevenly Worn Tire Treads
Another result of misalignment is uneven treads. This happens because each tire is pressing against the road at a different angle, wearing down in a different way.
As your tires become unevenly worn and unmatched in size, traction is lessened. Your tires are more likely to become damaged or cause a skid, and the full set of four will need to be replaced sooner.
Reduced Fuel Efficiency
With increased rolling drag from crooked tires, your gas mileage will drop. You’ll find yourself spending more money on both tires and gas.
Book Bi-Annual Alignment Checks at Your Acura Dealership
You’ll avert the hazardous and costly consequences of bad alignment with routine checks. We can use specialist machinery to measure each of your tire’s alignment with pinpoint precision. If any tire is slightly misaligned, we’ll set it perfectly straight at once, keeping your drives smooth, responsive, and safe.
Come to Open Road Acura of East Brunswick in East Brunswick, NJ, today to have your tires aligned, rotated, balanced, or replaced. We’re an award-winning local dealership that holds your satisfaction as a highest priority.
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