What Impact Does Tire Balancing Have on Tire Life
Tire are rightly regarded as amongst the top-most critical components of the car. Before discussing the impact of tire balancing on the tire life, there is a need to know what exactly tire balancing is.
What is Tire Balancing?
Many people use the terms 'tire balancing' and 'wheel alignment' interchangeably. However, they must understand that these are two different concepts. The reason that most people get confused is that both of them are mostly done together. Hence, people often confuse the two.
Tire alignment means correcting the forward-facing position of the tires. In simpler words, it means to adjust the angles of the wheels to match the requirements laid down by the manufacturer. On the other hand, tire balancing is a totally different phenomenon.When tires are manufactured, they seem perfect in size, shape, or weight. However, it is not true.
The naked eye might not be able to point it out, but the tires have negligible variations in size, shape, or weight. In some cases, the tread might be thicker on one side than the other. Likewise, the shape might not be perfectly symmetrical. As tires wear down, the difference comes even more profound and starts impacting the overall drive.
To counter this, installers/mechanics perform tire balancing. Tires have small metal attachments that are attached with the rim. To balance out the variations, tire professionals strategically place these metal parts at different locations to achieve the perfect balance.
To determine where the metals must be placed, the unbalanced tire is mounted on a spinner to check for vibration. Then the metals are moved along the tire — the point where the vibration stops, the installer simply fixes the metals at that point. Balancing must be carried out regularly as regular driving can wear out the tire. Balancing can counter irregular tire wear.
However, new cars will rarely face this problem. The reason is that new vehicles have their tires balanced in the factory before the vehicle is delivered to them. However, if you have bought an old car, take it to a professional to have your tires balanced. Otherwise, you might not be able to get the experience that you had hoped for.
Impact of Tire Balancing?
All four tires must be evenly balanced to ensure a safe and smooth drive. Not only this, evenly balanced tires ensure optimal steering response, excellent traction and increased durability for the tires. If the tires are improperly balanced, the entire wheel assembly can be severely affected and might prove costly to repair.
Therefore, tire balancing does not have a positive impact on tire life alone but the overall car performance as well.
How to Know that Tires Require Balancing?
Many of you will wonder how they can recognize that their tires need balancing. The answer is quite simple. If the steering wheel is vibrating more than usual at a specific speed, your front tires require balancing. Likewise, if the driver seat is vibrating excessively, rear tires require balancing.
Another way to know that the tires require balancing is that certain parts of the vehicle would require replacement quicker than usual. Unbalanced tires can negatively impact the entire wheel system and other components.
Moreover, your tires will wear out quicker than usual, which is another way to know that tires require balancing. Unbalanced tires start to wear out from the edges as compared to the middle in case of properly balanced tires.
Conclusion
Therefore, when you realize any of the above symptoms of unbalanced tires, get your tires balanced immediately. It will help you increase the life of your tires and help you achieve the driving experience that you had hoped for.