So many of the recommended services that you find in your car’s owner’s manual might seem like ones that you can ignore. Some of them, like tire balancing, are so much more important than you may have ever realized. Lakelands Tire & Auto wants to help you to understand what’s so vital about tire and wheel balancing for the health of your car.
What Is Tire Balancing?
There’s a common misconception that your car’s wheels and your tires are both perfectly round and even. That’s not the case, though. And when you put them together, they can be even more unbalanced as they spin. Tire balancing involves measuring that spin, verifying where the balance issues are, and adding weights to make the tires and wheels spin evenly when they’re on the car. Done properly, wheel balancing helps to protect your car’s tires, engine, and suspension system from the damage that unbalanced wheels can cause.
Why Does it Have to Be Done Regularly?
Tire balancing needs to happen every 5,000 to 8,000 miles or so because that weight distribution can change. As securely as the weights are attached to the wheels, sometimes they do come off. Also, damage to the wheel or rim can change the balance. Finally, as your tires age, they change. The tread wears, and it doesn’t always wear completely evenly all the way around the tire. So as the tread wears down, the balance is constantly changing. Recurring tire balancing services help you to stay on top of those changes.
What Happens if You Skip Tire Balancing?
But you can skip it, right? Remember the part where we mentioned tire damage, suspension damage, and even engine damage? That’s all very real and very possible if you keep putting off tire balancing. Your tires are definitely not going to last as long as they should and that can affect the suspension. But probably the biggest problem is engine damage over time. Your car’s engine has to work harder if it’s fighting the tires to get the car moving and keep it moving. That means poor fuel mileage and more wear and tear on the engine itself.
Ready to get back on track with regular tire and wheel services? Let Lakelands Tire & Auto in Greenwood, SC help you out. We’ve got experienced technicians who are standing by to help you with all of your auto service and repair needs, including tire balancing.