Manchester has ranked in the top 10 worst places for potholes in the UK, and this may be causing untold damage to your vehicle suspension and wheel alignment.

Wheel Alignment & Suspension: Understanding the Basics

Wheel alignment refers to the angle that your vehicle’s wheels are set to; you may have also heard this referred to as ‘tracking’ or ‘four-wheel alignment’.

There are three main areas that we look at when assessing your vehicle’s wheel alignment, and these are toe, camber and caster.

Toe

This is the angle that your tyres face in relation to each other. In other words, if your right front tyre is pointing forwards, your left front tyre should be pointing the same way. Toe misalignment – where your tyres could be pointing towards or away from each other – can cause your tyres to wear more quickly. This will mean you need to replace your tyres more frequently than you’d otherwise need to.

Camber

The camber of your tyres refers to their tilt. Are your tyres leaning one way when they should be completely level with the ground? If your vehicle has poor suspension, this can lead to negative camber, which is when your tyres lean inwards. In turn, negative camber can lead to your vehicle drifting, as well as wearing your tyres out sooner.

Caster

The caster describes the angle of the tyres relative to suspension. In other words, are the tyres sitting in the correct position beneath the steering axis? If the caster of your tyres is too far forward or behind your steering axis, your vehicle may struggle to steer as well. It may also pull to the side when you’re driving in a straight line, or under heavy breaking.

What Causes Tyre Misalignment?

Your tyres will naturally drift away from their manufacture’s specific requirements over time, but there are a number of things that will cause tyre misalignment to occur more quickly and more severely:

• Scraping or hitting the curb
• Going over speed bumps too quickly
• Traffic collisions or accidents
• Any damage or wear to your suspension
• Potholes

Unsurprisingly, potholes are one of the worst culprits for affecting your four-wheel alignment as they can cause a host of problems to your vehicle. Greater Manchester and Stockport especially, is littered with potholes that can lead to tyre misalignment on a much quicker scale than you might think.

For every bump, jolt or skid that your vehicle encounters, you will be taking your tyres further away from their original alignment. Any time that one tyre is off the ground when it shouldn’t be, it can’t turn in the same way as your other tyres. Likewise, taking a curb at speed might literally push your tyre to where you don’t want it to be, and although you may not feel the effects of this whilst you’re driving, your tyres will feel it.

Knock-on Effects of Misalignment

A simple way to understand what kind of effects that wheel misalignment or poor suspension can have on your tyres, is to put yourself in your vehicle’s shoes. Picture yourself walking down the street in a new pair of shoes, except instead of walking comfortably, your left foot is tilted a little so that you are walking on the outside of your foot. You might not mind this at first, but by not correcting this tilt, you are putting the majority of your weight on the outside of your shoe, and wearing the sole in one spot instead of evenly across the whole ground. How long do you think your shoes are going to last with you walking like that? Certainly, not as long as they would have if you had changed your walk.

Significant wear to one area on your tyre will severely reduce the lifespan of your tyres. In addition to the long-term damage to your tyres, you can expect a worse fuel economy which will lead to you spending more when travelling. You may also notice that your driving isn’t as comfortable as it used to be; your steering might feel like more of a chore and it could also take more effort to get your wheels facing forward again after a manoeuvre.

A more serious side-effect could put you at risk when you encounter an accident. Your suspension and wheel alignment – if not properly adjusted – could lead to your vehicle drifting to the side and even veering off when you break heavily. This could put you in danger if you encounter a collision and need to swerve away from it or perform an emergency stop.

Maintaining Your Vehicle & Checking for Signs of Damage

If you have encountered any of the situations that can cause misalignment (such as potholes), if you have been noticing any issues with steering, or even noticed visible differences to your tyres, then you should have your vehicle checked.

When you visit, one of our technical specialists will be able to assess the condition of your vehicle, using the Hunter HawkEye Elite Laser Wheel Alignment. This technology can tell us with a high degree of accuracy, if there is any concern regarding your vehicle’s four-wheel alignment. Our specialists will be on hand to explain the results of our assessment to you, as well as fix any issues you have now, before they become a problem for you down the line.

Barring any accidents or any of the issues listed throughout this article, we would advise you to have your vehicle’s four-wheel alignment checked on an annual basis. This can be done on its own, or as part of your regular annual service and vehicle maintenance.

For more information and to discuss wheel alignment and suspension issues or to book your appointment, call 0161 477 6266, email info@delany-motors.co.uk or book here.