When you have a busy life, keeping your car in good condition can feel like quite the feat. I started thinking more seriously about what I could do to move forward and avoid issues with my vehicle, but it felt incredibly overwhelming. I began working towards managing the messes instead of trying to eradicate them altogether, and I felt like my efforts were really helping. Within a few weeks, my car was cleaner and more organized, even though there were still a few things laying around. My blog is here to help others to create a more organized space without overhauling your entire life.
If you're like many people, you may only schedule an alignment when the problem becomes critical. Unfortunately, this approach may mean driving a vehicle that's dangerously unstable in inclement weather or at highway speeds. Even if you overlook the impacts of poor alignment during everyday driving, you may suddenly feel the effects of its unpredictable handling during emergency maneuvers.
If you've been putting off a much-needed wheel alignment, consider these four ways that your vehicle may be dangerously unsafe to drive.
1. Inconsistent Steering Feel
Loose or inconsistent steering is one possible symptom of misaligned wheels. Under normal conditions, your steering should feel tight and precise. Accurate steering improves your driving experience and makes it easier to react in an emergency. When your steering is loose or imprecise, you're less able to predict where your car will end up when you need to make a sudden turn.
Loose steering feel can also affect your car even under normal conditions. You may find that you need to correct too hard when avoiding everyday hazards such as potholes or that you have less control over your vehicle at highway speeds. These can create potentially dangerous situations on the road.
2. Unusual Tire Wear
A vehicle with proper wheel alignment should have a consistent, rectangular tire contact patch. As a result, your tires should wear evenly and predictably. Misaligned wheels can produce unusual wear patterns on tire treads, which can, in turn, lead to poor grip in inclement conditions such as wet weather. These tire patterns can also make it more challenging to notice wear in the first place.
Driving on worn tires is never safe, and wearing out your tires due to poor alignment can also force you to replace them prematurely.
3. Drifting
Drifting is the symptom most people associate with poor wheel alignment, and it can be just as dangerous as many more severe problems. You may think you can easily correct for a pull to one side, but this forces you to spend more time fighting your car and less time focusing on the road. It also makes it much easier to drift out of your lane inadvertently.
If your car has a noticeable pull, your alignment issue is already relatively severe, and it's critical to schedule a wheel alignment service as soon as possible.
4. Off-Center Steering
Finally, vehicles with misaligned wheels often have a steering wheel that sits off-center when the wheels are straight. Although this might seem like a relatively minor problem, it can make it challenging to drive "by feel." Since you can't predict exactly where your wheels are pointing, it's much harder to judge maneuvers, especially at low speeds.
In general, misaligned wheels are far more than a minor nuisance. If your car has an alignment issue, quickly correcting the problem is the best option for your safety and the safety of others on the road.
Share30 September 2021
