Three Things That Go Very Wrong With Not Aligning Your Wheels Regularly And How They Are Fixed
Wheel alignment problems are just the first sign of something really bad happening to your vehicle. If ignored, much more serious damage can occur to your vehicle. Here are just a few of those really not fun things that can happen to your vehicle if you do not correct and align your wheels regularly.
Wheels Come off Going Down the Road
Wheels are secured via a series of bolts. When your wheels are not aligned, this puts intense pressure and wear and tear on these bolts. Eventually, the bolts wear through, and the tires break off the bolts: sometimes a couple of bolts at a time, creating bent wheels and rims, sometimes all the bolts and the wheels pop off and roll down the road as you come to a screeching, grinding halt on the road. (If you are lucky, you will come to rest on the road with no traffic behind you. That is the best-case scenario.)
Axles Break
Axles can definitely break as the result of a lack of auto alignment. If your axle breaks, that is a very costly repair that will need to be done if you expect to continue driving this vehicle. When an axle breaks, most people just send their vehicles off as salvage because the repair may cost more than the vehicle is worth. If proper care of the vehicle's alignment had been consistent, the axle(s) would not have broken.
Car Accidents Happen
If you are lucky enough to avoid a broken wheel and a broken axle, your luck may not hold out for long. Wobbly wheels and wheels that pull to the right or pull to the left frequently cause drivers to compensate, and then overcompensate, the steering wheel to keep the vehicle going straight. If you forget that your wheels are acting wonky, you could end up in a car accident when you fail to compensate for the alignment.
The One Answer That Fixes Everything
It is simple. Avoid all of the above problems by completing annual tire rotation and wheel alignment with a licensed technician/mechanic. If any of the above occurs, you will have to decide if you want to replace the broken parts and fix your vehicle or send the vehicle off as salvage. A good rule of thumb is to have your vehicle maintained and aligned at least once a year, twice a year if your car is older than fifteen years and you want to keep it going.
For more information about auto alignment repair, contact a local auto shop.
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