Being a truck owner comes with a lot of responsibilities. You need to maintain your truck regularly to get the most out of it. If you loosely care, it could not only damage your truck but may also cause accidents. Getting your wheels aligned regularly is one of the essential things you need to take care of when owning a truck.
Proper truck wheel alignment is essential for the excellent handling capability of the truck and plays a vital role in extending tire life. Moreover, good wheel alignment helps your tires perform better and help them last longer. It can also improve handling and restrict your vehicle from pulling in one direction.
The Most Common Indications Your Truck Requires A Wheel Alignment
Steering Wheel is Not Straight:while driving on a flat straight path like a highway, your steering wheel should be straight and centered. Bad alignment will cause your steering wheel to be off-centered when driving flat straight roads.
Drifting or Pulling: If your vehicle pulls or drifts right or to the left while driving straight means your alignment is off.
Uneven Tire Wear: An off-alignment will cause excessive tire wear, particularly on the edges of your tires.
Vibration: If you feel the vibration on the steering wheel when you are driving, this can be another indication your wheels are out of alignment.
The vehicle is unstable: Your truck will be unstable and loose when driving straight and taking turns due to poor wheel alignment.
Vehicle Noise: If you hear squeaking, creaking, knocking, or rubbing when you start driving or go around corners, this may indicate improper wheel alignment.
What Can Cause Your Wheels Misaligned?
There is no defined answer. There could be many reasons behind off-wheel alignment. Some of these are:
- If you make a lot of off-road trips
- In case your car hits a pothole
- If your car gets into an accident
- Hitting curbs or road debris
- Nasty shocks and struts or other suspension parts
- An Overdue Re-Alignment
How Can Wheel Alignment Be Fixed?
Truck wheel alignment is the process of adjusting the angles of the wheels same as your vehicle manufacturer’s specifications. When your vehicle was made, the wheels were perfectly aligned, but over time your vehicle lost its alignment. A truck wheel alignment service will optimize the various angles of your wheels and perfectly balance them.
To perform a wheel alignment Edmonton, you must take your truck to an experienced mechanic, who will use a truck wheel alignment machine to check the alignment so that the truck is returned to its proper configuration. The mechanic will place your vehicle on a wheel alignment machine. This machine uses specific measurements to allow the mechanic to set and adjust the suspension components to the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications. The standard alignment angles are camber, caster, and toe. These sound rather complicated, but here is a quick summary of what each relates to:
Camber: This is the inward or outward tire angle when viewed from the front of the vehicle. Too much inward or outward tilt indicates improper alignment and will need to be adjusted. Suspension parts such as worn bearings and ball joints may contribute to camber misalignment.
Caster: It’s the angle of your steering axis when viewed from the side of your vehicle. The steering axis will tilt toward the driver if you have a positive caster. A negative caster means the steering axis tilts toward the front of your vehicle.
Toe: Toe alignment is the extent to which your tires turn inward or outward when viewed from above. Toe settings affect the handling capabilities of the truck related to the direction of the tires relative to the center line of the vehicle.
Regular maintenance
When it comes to wheel alignment, there is no such time frame within which the alignment needs to be done. However, when you take your truck for regular servicing, the mechanic will decide accordingly if the wheels need to be aligned or not. However, it is recommended that wheels need to be aligned every 10,000 miles. If you get new tires installed, you can also get a wheel alignment done during that time.
Benefits Of Getting Your Truck’s Wheel Aligned:
If your truck wheel alignment is checked regularly, you will see the following benefits:
- Your vehicle will be more stable on the road, and comfort will be optimized
- Tires will last longer
- life of suspension and steering
- components will increase
- Increase fuel efficiency. Trucks that do not have proper wheel alignment suffer a decrease in fuel efficiency by 7%
- Your truck is much safer; if you are driving in wet conditions.
Bottom Line
If you wish to prolong the life span of your tires, you need to get your wheels regularly aligned. However, to ensure the optimal safety of your truck, yourself, and others around you, it is best to choose the skilled and experienced truck repair shop as SRB Equipment. They will be able to align your wheels as necessary. Join hands with us and take your truck for wheel alignment to ensure optimal maintenance.