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There’s one serious drawback that comes with driving on poor roads: the damage they can do to your vehicle’s wheels. Hit a pothole while driving at 75 miles per hour, and there’s a good chance that you’re going to need to visit an auto repair specialist in Keller, TX to get your vehicle’s alignment fixed.
Here in Texas, the roads are a little worse than average, and if you drive north on Interstate 35 to Oklahoma, you’re likely going to run into real problems. That’s because the Sooner State placed in the bottom 10 for road quality according to Consumer Affairs in 2019, as did Texas’ eastern neighbor Louisiana.
Given that many Texans are driving on substandard roads, it’s important to know when it’s time for a wheel alignment from a trusted repair garage so you can prevent real damage from happening with your cars. Here are a few of the signs!
THE STEERING WHEEL WON’T SIT STRAIGHT
If you’re driving to west Texas, you’re likely going to encounter several flat, level roads, which is why the speed limit is so high out there. On those roads, your steering wheel should be almost perfectly straight. If it’s leaning to one side while you’re cruising along a straight road, that likely means that you’ve got an issue with your wheel alignment.
A problem like this means that the vehicle’s center isn’t where it should be, and an alignment from an auto repair specialist is necessary to correct the problem and smooth out your ride.
YOUR CAR IS DRIVING YOU
Your vehicle shouldn’t be trying to take you to one side of the road or the other while you’re driving. It should respond to your touch of the steering wheel and go where you want it to go. If it doesn’t, that likely means that something is wrong with the wheels.
If you’re looking for a test before going to a repair shop find an empty parking lot (a high school is a great idea for this because it’s usually going to be empty in the summer and have plenty of parking) and drive straight with only minimal guidance on the steering wheel. If your vehicle starts pulling to either the left or the right and can’t stay within the guidelines set forth by the parking spaces, you probably have an issue with your alignment.
YOUR TIRES ARE WEARING UNEVENLY
There are times when your tires are meant to wear unevenly, and times when they aren’t. For example, your front tires are meant to wear down faster than your rear tires, because they do all of the steering. That’s why it’s important to get a tire rotation, so that all four tires wear at the same amount.
But when your left tires are wearing down faster than your right ones, or vice-versa, that’s not normal. That’s a sign that your vehicle is out of alignment and favoring one side or the other. If you don’t correct the issue, you’re going to end up having to replace all four tires prematurely because all four of them will be wearing down at different speeds. In the long run, contacting an auto repair specialist and getting your vehicle back into proper alignment is a much better deal than having to buy four new tires and get the vehicle properly aligned anyway when they’re put in place.
YOUR STEERING WHEEL FEELS LOOSE
This could be a sign of an improper amount of power steering fluid, but that’s usually the case when the steering wheel goes in the opposite direction and becomes too tight. When it’s too loose, that usually means that you have an alignment problem that’s making it too easy for your steering wheel to favor one side or the other. In either case, a steering wheel that’s not working with you is a major safety hazard, so be sure to call for auto repair help and get the problem solved right away.
YOUR STEERING WHEEL WON’T RETURN TO CENTER
After making a turn or taking a curve on the road, you’ll naturally turn the wheel in the direction that you want to travel. But after the road has straightened out, your steering wheel should return to center or close to it. If it doesn’t, there’s some kind of issue with your wheels, and you need to get your vehicle to an auto repair garage before the problem can get worse.
YOUR CAR JUST DOESN’T DRIVE RIGHT
A lot of driving is knowing the feel of your car and knowing whether something feels off. Sometimes, there’s no obvious problem that’s trying to get your attention, but you just feel that something isn’t working the way that it should. Maybe your ride has been feeling bumpier than usual, or you feel that your car isn’t responding to your touch as well as it normally does. Maybe your car simply makes more noise when you’re traveling at higher speeds.
Whatever the reason is, the issue is the same: you know that your car isn’t driving the way that it normally does, and you’d like to get an auto repair expert in Keller, TX to fix it before the problem gets worse. That’s exactly the right thing to do. If something doesn’t seem right to you, well, you’re the person who owns the car. Chances are that you’re going to know if something is wrong with the car before anyone besides a knowledgeable auto repair expert, so be sure to trust yourself until an expert tells you otherwise.
If you are having problems with your car’s wheel alignment, it’s a good idea to contact Import Car Center and set up an appointment with our auto repair team. We pride ourselves on pinpointing the issue, explaining it to our customers and fixing it right the first time so they can get back on the road. Visit us today for an auto repair job that you can trust!