What’s The Difference Between Wheel Balancing And Wheel Alignment In Kanata?

You have probably heard about wheel balancing and wheel alignment for your vehicle in Kanata, and you might be thinking they are the same thing. However, these are two separate services offered. Let us look at what each one means.

Wheel Alignment

For an optimum driving experience, it is important that your tires are correctly aligned to the road. For example, if your tires are angled outwards away from your vehicle or sloping inwards towards your vehicle, then the incorrect surface of the tire is contacting the road. This will cause inconsistent wear on the tires, shortening their useful lifespan and leading to tire safety issues.

To correct these problems, the suspension of your vehicle (the system by which your tires are attached to your vehicle) will need to be adjusted to ensure the position of the tires in relation to the car is optimized.  

Fortunately, this task can easily be carried out by companies offering wheel alignment services using specialized equipment. When checking your suspension for wheel alignment problems, the following will also be checked:

• damage to compression bumpers on shock absorbers
• damage to protective boots
• wear and tear to rubber mounting bushings
• abnormal or uneven wear on tire tread
• leaking housings
• dents or damage to the struts and shock absorbers

Wheel Balancing

Wheel balancing has to do with the tires themselves (rather than the suspension system).  Wheels that are out of balance indicate a problem with the weight distribution of the tires.  Not all tires have the same apportioning of weight around their circumference. These imbalances can be caused during manufacture or by poor road surfaces, hitting potholes or curbs, tire wear and tear or leaving a vehicle standing for long periods in the same spot.

Wheel balancing should be carried out every time you replace or rotate your tires.

Wheel balancing is first tested by spinning the tire and wheel assembly on a special machine that can measure any imbalance. A technician will then use this information to adjust the weight distribution and balance the tire assembly.

Wheel balancing and wheel alignment in Kanata are routinely carried out at the same time. However, they are not the same thing. Contact Stittsville Automotive Service today for more information on how and when to carry out these two important maintenance functions.