How a Wheel Alignment Service Can Extend Tyre Life and Improve Fuel Efficiency
Maintaining your vehicle’s alignment is crucial for optimal performance, safety, and tyre longevity. A wheel alignment service ensures that your car’s wheels are set to the correct angles, which not only helps prevent premature wear and tear but also improves fuel efficiency and driving safety. In this guide, we’ll explore why regular wheel alignment is a vital part of preventative maintenance and how it benefits your vehicle.
Why Wheel Alignment Service is Essential for Preventative Maintenance
A wheel alignment service is a key component of preventative vehicle maintenance. Misaligned wheels can lead to uneven tyre wear, poor handling, and even increased fuel consumption. Regular alignment checks help prevent these issues before they become costly repairs.
Preventative maintenance, including regular alignment services, saves you money in the long run. By ensuring your tyres wear evenly and your steering remains responsive, you avoid the need for premature tyre replacements and ensure your vehicle performs at its best.
Recommended: How To Make My Tyres Last Longer
2-Wheel vs 4-Wheel Alignment: Which Service Do You Need?
Choosing between a 2-wheel alignment and a 4-wheel alignment service depends on your vehicle’s setup and the extent of the misalignment.
2-Wheel Alignment is also known as front-end alignment. It involves adjusting only the front wheels to the correct angles. This service is typically suitable for vehicles with a solid rear axle or when only the front wheels are out of alignment.
4-Wheel Alignment Service, on the other hand, aligns all four wheels. Modern vehicles with independent rear suspensions benefit most from a 4-wheel alignment service. It ensures that all four wheels are perfectly aligned to maintain proper handling, tyre longevity, and fuel efficiency.
Benefits of 4-Wheel Alignment Service
A 4-wheel alignment service offers several advantages, particularly for modern vehicles:
- Improved Tyre Longevity: Proper alignment reduces uneven tyre wear, allowing tyres to last longer and perform better.
- Enhanced Handling: Alignment ensures that all four wheels work together for better handling, especially at high speeds.
- Fuel Efficiency: Misaligned wheels create more resistance, making your engine work harder. With correct alignment, your vehicle consumes less fuel.
- Safer Driving: A 4-wheel alignment improves overall vehicle stability, making driving safer in all conditions.
Is Wheel Tracking the Same as Wheel Alignment?
Wheel tracking, often confused with wheel alignment, specifically refers to the front-to-rear wheel alignment to ensure they are perfectly parallel. While wheel alignment covers adjusting the camber, caster, and toe angles of the wheels, wheel tracking focuses on ensuring that the front and rear wheels follow the same path.
Wheel tracking issues can lead to uneven tyre wear, especially on the inside or outside edges, and affect your vehicle’s steering and handling. Correct wheel alignment service includes wheel tracking adjustments to ensure your car remains stable and safe on the road.
Wheel Alignment and Wheel Balancing: What’s the Difference?
It’s important to understand the difference between wheel alignment and wheel balancing. While both are essential for vehicle performance, they serve different purposes.
A wheel alignment service adjusts the angles of the wheels to ensure they are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the road. It helps with tyre wear, handling, and overall vehicle safety.
Wheel balancing ensures that the tyre and wheel weight is evenly distributed around the axle. Unbalanced tyres can cause vibrations and lead to uneven tyre wear. Both wheel alignment and wheel balancing should be part of your regular maintenance routine for optimal vehicle performance.
How Wheel Alignment Service Extends Tyre Life
One of the main benefits of a regular wheel alignment service is that it helps extend the life of your tyres. Misaligned wheels cause uneven tread wear, meaning you’ll need to replace your tyres sooner than expected. By keeping your wheels properly aligned, you ensure that the tyres wear evenly, which not only improves their lifespan but also enhances your driving comfort.
Wheel Alignment Centres Near Me
Don’t wait for uneven tyre wear or steering issues to arise—book a wheel alignment service today to keep your vehicle running smoothly and safely. All Elite Garages offer two and four-wheel alignment in these locations:
- Wheel Alignment Canterbury
- Maidstone tyre and wheel alignment centre
- Mannings Heath wheel alignment centre
- Four-wheel alignment in Brighton
- Pulborough wheel tracking centre
- Haywards Heath four-wheel tracking centre
- Salisbury alignment centre
- Wheel alignment Bournemouth
- Four-wheel tracking centre Deal
- Portsmouth wheel alignment and tyre fitment centre
- Strood car alignment services
- Car alignment centre Caterham
- Four-wheel alignment Shaftesbury
- Wheel alignment in Eastbourne
- Southampton car alignment centre
- Newport wheel alignment centre
- Shaftesbury car alignment centre
Tyres and Wheel Alignment at Elite Garages
Regular wheel alignment service is a vital part of preventative maintenance that every car owner should prioritise. Whether you need a 2-wheel or 4-wheel alignment service, keeping your wheels aligned ensures better handling, tyre longevity, and fuel efficiency.
Looking for new car tyres? As a proud member of Group Tyre, we have access to over a million tyres across a range of brands to fit any budget. Choose Elite Garages for your next wheel alignment, tyre replacement, tyre rotation, MOT, or vehicle service. Find your nearest location by visiting our Locations Page.
FAQS
Click the + to read any answer or visit our most FAQ page to review the most frequently asked questions across all our Elite Locations.
If you click on a ‘Category’ or ‘Tag’ link, the page will ‘refresh’ and reload the page showing the top of the page first, you’ll then just need to scroll down to the FAQ section to see the results for the Category or Tag you selected.
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
A typical wheel alignment takes around one hour, regardless of whether it’s a two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive vehicle. However, if any components exhibit excessive wear, tear, or damage, the process may take longer due to potential replacements.
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
To determine if your vehicle requires a wheel alignment, start by observing its behaviour while driving in a straight line. Take note of any tendency to veer left or right, particularly when you’re not applying pressure to the steering wheel. This could indicate that a wheel alignment is necessary.
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
Yes, it is possible to perform a two-wheel alignment, also known as a front-end alignment where technicians perform the service on only the front wheels. This may include a camber, toe, and caster adjustment.
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
Yes, it is recommended to get a four-wheel alignment when you fit new tyres. Even brand new tyres can be affected by improper wheel alignment, which can lead to uneven tyre wear, increased fuel consumption and poor handling.
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
To determine whether you need a two-wheel or four-wheel alignment service, you first need to consider your type of vehicle and the symptoms you are experiencing. If you need assistance, please contact your nearest Elite Garages branch for more information or you can book your wheel alignment online!
Category: Wheel Alignment Advice
Put simply, two-wheel alignment is a procedure that corrects the positioning of your front wheels, while four-wheel alignment adjusts all four. Generally speaking, it’s not necessary to perform the latter on large SUVs or trucks with solid rear axles unless an accident has occurred and caused misalignment in its frame which translates into “dog tracking”.
