4 Symptoms of Wheel Misalignment You Need To Look Out For

Following our 6 step wheel alignment evaluation, you may have identified an alignment problem. Understanding what that fault is costing the driver is what turns a technical finding into a job the customer agrees to. These are the four consequences worth being able to explain at the counter.

Driver Fatigue

As figure 3 shows, a vehicle that constantly pulls to one side requires continuous steering correction. Over time that affects concentration, and over a long journey it could contribute to driver errors. It is also the complaint drivers are most likely to have normalised, which is why it is worth asking about directly rather than waiting for it to be volunteered.

Fuel Consumption

Alignment settings are designed into the vehicle geometry to give the intended ride and handling at the lowest rolling resistance. When the geometry is out, the tyres are dragged rather than rolled and rolling resistance increases. Correct settings return the vehicle to its designed figures. The effect is most pronounced across a fleet, which Supertracker covers in wheel alignment and fuel economy in the commercial world.

Tyres

Tyres are a recurring cost for every driver and fleet. A modern tyre only delivers its designed life when the contact patch sits on the road as intended, and incorrect geometry moves that contact patch. The result is wear concentrated in one area rather than spread across the tread, and a tyre replaced earlier than it should have been. The pattern of that wear indicates which angle is at fault, covered in our guide to reading tyre wear patterns.

Understeer / Oversteer

Understeer is when the vehicle does not turn as much as the steering input asks, so it runs wide. Oversteer is the opposite, where the vehicle turns more sharply than intended. Both can be symptoms of misalignment, and where that is the cause, returning the geometry to specification resolves them. See figures 4 and 5.

 

Fig 3. Driver Fatigue

 

A Wheel misalignment of 2mm

B Line of travel taken by car forcing the misaligned tyre to go straight

C Angle of travel taken by misaligned tyre if allowed to run free of the car

Fig 4. Understeer & Fig 5. Oversteer
 
Each of these is easier to explain with a measurement than a description, which is why what your alignment printout shows the customer matters as much as the adjustment itself. Supertracker's computerised wheel aligners record before-and-after readings as standard, and the laser range covers fast toe checks where a full four-wheel readout is not needed. Book a demonstration or call 01909 480055.