Wheels are arguably the most important components on any vehicle. Without them, your car is going nowhere, no matter how good your engine is. That’s why it’s vitally important to look after them – and their tyres.
Wheels and tyres have a tough job. They are the only parts of a car that touch the road and as such, are subjected to all manner of road, weather and temperature conditions. So it’s no wonder that they should have regular checks and, sometimes, remedial action.
The everyday cocktail of bumps, potholes and uneven surfaces can upset a wheel’s tracking and balance, and if those wheels aren’t balanced properly, they can’t give you 100% performance.
Having correctly balanced wheels is just as important as having the correct and legal tread on your tyres. Indeed, unbalanced wheels can actually contribute to premature wearing down of tyre tread.
How does wheel balancing work?
Wheel balancing ensures that the weight of each wheel on your car is evenly balanced on their axles. It’s also known as tyre balancing.
An unbalanced wheel won’t make proper and full contact with the road all the time as it spins at great speed across the surface. This can lead to too much wear in some areas of the tyre and not enough in others. It will probably also start to cause vibration – tiny at first but likely to get worse, which can speed up the wear of other components such as suspension and steering set-up.
Anything other than a perfectly balanced arrangement of wheels and tyres can also lead to poorer performance and fuel economy.
Left unattended, this will only get worse. The driver will start to feel the vibrations through the steering wheel – the constant ‘buzz’ can be tiring and distracting, leading to a potential safety risk. It can even be felt through the floor.
Checking and curing
Specialist equipment is used to balance wheels, and the check doesn’t take long to do. Technicians spin the wheels at high speed on a special balancing machine that not only identifies areas of unbalance but pinpoints them with great accuracy. The equipment tells the technician where to counterbalance the wheel with small weights, notifying how much weight to add to its rim.
How often should wheel balancing be done?
Most people only have their wheel balance checked when they’re buying new tyres – and then only because it tends to be part of the service. But you should really do it more often than that.
You should have your wheels checked for balance at least during each regular service. Every 9,000 miles is a good guide – less if you travel regularly over rough road surfaces.
You can, of course, book your car in for a wheel balance check at any time, and you should do this if the car’s steering or general driving feel doesn’t seem right. Certainly, consider a balance check if you have hit a particularly bad pothole in the road which you think might have damaged a wheel, tyre or suspension arm.
All four tyres should be checked at the same visit – it’s no point having just one looked at – and the technician can also look for cuts, bulges or other tyre damage while the vehicle is up on the ramp.
What’s the cost?
Wheel balancing costs will vary according to supplier but look to pay between £5 and £10 per wheel. If you’re buying brand-new rubber for your car, you should expect wheel balancing to be done free of charge by the fitter.
What is wheel alignment?
Alignment is just as important as balancing. If a car’s wheels aren’t aligned properly, all the good work of a wheel balance check can be undone. Balancing deals with the weight distribution around the wheel while alignment ensures the wheels are pointing accurately down the road. Wheels that turn slightly inwards or outwards (toe in or toe out) can lead to premature wearing of the tyres as they slightly ‘scuff’ along the road surface.
It’s not obligatory to have your wheels aligned but you might as well have them checked while you are getting the balancing sorted.
Once everything is done you can expect many miles of safer, more comfortable motoring, happy that you are also getting the best performance and value from your tyres.
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