7 Signs Your Chevy Needs a Tire Alignment

If your car becomes harder to handle or starts drifting to one side, the wheels may be misaligned. This can rapidly lessen your safety, roughen your ride, and also damage the tires. Fortunately, when wheels become shifted out of proper alignment, they don’t take long to fix. The key is to notice the problem early and request a tire alignment at your local Chevy dealership.

7 Signs Your Chevy Needs a Tire Alignment

Visibly Misaligned Tires

You’ll be able to see when tires are significantly misaligned. By standing in front of the car, you can observe the camber angle: camber misalignment will cause the top or bottom of a wheel to protrude slightly. 

If you look directly down at a wheel from above, you can see the toe angle. The caster angle is harder to detect with an untrained eye and will require specialist machinery to measure.

Pulling to One Side

If any of your wheels are pointed outward or inward, toward the left or right, the car might try to drift in that direction. This makes it harder to steer and could even cause a collision unless promptly repaired.

Less Accurate Steering

With crooked wheels along any of the three angles, you’ll find your steering become less precise. If the steering wheel feels looser in your hands and you lose confidence in the accuracy of your steering, have your car’s alignment checked and corrected.

Crooked Steering Wheel

In extreme cases, misalignment may push the steering wheel off-center. This will force you to hold it slightly to the left or right merely to maintain a straight course, a clearly unsustainable situation. 

Squealing When You Corner

When wheels misalign, they push the tires against the tarmac at awkward angles that the tires are not designed to endure. This often leads to squealing from crooked tires struggling as the car corners. 

Decreased Fuel Efficiency

Without perfectly straight wheels and tires, excess friction is generated against the road. This forces the engine to exert more power for each mile you travel. As a result, your gas mileage will fall.

Rougher, Noisier Driving

If your car seems to vibrate more than usual, check your wheels. Misalignment will also gradually increase road noise, making your car less pleasant to drive overall. 

Measure Alignment Twice a Year at Your Chevy Dealership

Tires typically require realignment every year or two. It’s important to measure them periodically; every six months works well for most drivers. Measurement and correction of alignment is carried out by attaching specialist machines to each wheel and using computerized readouts to adjust the suspension until each wheel is back to its original factory positioning. 

Have your alignment checked today at Paynesville Chevrolet in Paynesville, MN. We provide top-notch cars, upkeep services, and repairs, whatever automotive needs you might have.  

Tags: Chevrolet Maintenance Tips, Chevrolet Service, Paynesville Chevrolet Tire Service, Tire Alignment
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