WHEEL ALIGNMENT & TRACKING
Wheel Alignment & Tracking
Driving over potholes, speed bumps or kerbs can knock your wheel alignment out. This can lead to uneven wear on your tyres and it could feel like your car is 'pulling' to one side. This in turn can lead to an increase in fuel consumption and premature wear on your tyres.
Auto Pneu offer a FREE Wheel Alignment check to make sure your tyres are running on the correct path. Correct wheel alignment ensures that the tyres are perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other and that on a level straight road your car will travel in a true straight line.
Wheel alignment or tracking is one of the key tyre maintenance factors to ensure optimum performance, even tyre wear and a maximised tyre life.
An accurate alignment also provides safe and predictable vehicle control and road holding alongside a smoother and more comfortable ride.
The process of wheel alignment encompasses three elements which require monitoring and adjustment to ensure correct alignment on your vehicle.
Toe in / Toe Out
You may hear the following terms with respect to wheel alignment – toe in, toe out, positive camber or negative camber. “Toe” refers to whether the front of the tyres are closer or further apart than the rear of the tyres.
Different types of vehicles need different toe settings depending on the way the wheels pull either towards each other or apart.
“Camber” is the inward or outward tilt of a tyre and is set by the vehicle manufacturer. It can be affected by potholes in the road and may need to be adjusted periodically.
Wheel Alignment versus Wheel Balancing
People often get confused between wheel alignment and wheel balancing.
They are completely different.
Wheel alignment, or tracking as it’s sometimes called, consists of adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are as specified by your vehicle manufacturer.
On the other hand, wheel balancing allows the wheels to spin without causing unnecessary vibration.
