Tire Rotation vs Wheel Alignment – What Your Truck needs

Do you know the difference between tire rotation and wheel alignment? Tires affect how your truck accelerates, steers, and brakes. However, your tires become worn out and misalign with time, wearing out, and tire misalignment interferes with the ride quality and safety. 

Servicing your tires gives your truck a better performance. Tire rotation and wheel alignment are some of the wheel servicing methods. After reading this guide, you will understand wheel rotation and alignment. 

What is Tire rotation?

Tire rotation involves switching the front and rear tires. When doing this for all-wheel or rear-wheel drive trucks, you will change the positions of tires without switching sides. Tire rotation aims to prevent uneven tire wear.

Importance of Tire Rotation

Smoother Ride

Tire rotation leads to even tire wear, contributing to a smooth and comfortable ride.

Enhances Safety

It prevents uneven wear-out that will enhance your driving experience by giving you better control of your truck when tackling sharp turns, making abrupt stops, or even traveling on wet roads.

Fuel Economy

Unevenly worn tires do not maintain uniform road contact. Your engine will work harder and consume more fuel to move your truck. Tire rotation ensures the tire has even road contact.

What is Tire Alignment?

Tire alignment involves adjusting tires for your truck to travel straight. The suspension system your wheels link to should function adequately to offer you a smooth ride. The suspension system misaligns when driving on bad roads. As the suspension system ages, it becomes fatigued, leading to a change in the ride height, and this also leads to wheel misalignment.

When your truck pulls sideways, the steering wheel is off the center when driving on a straight road, or uneven tire wear are all common signs of poor wheel alignment. When performing wheel alignment, the technician will adjust your suspension system. The suspension system adjustment ensures that the wheels are in proper contact with the road. 

Importance of Wheel Alignment

Wheel alignment is worth performing because it is cheap and beneficial. Here are some benefits of wheel alignment. 

The Best Driving Experience

When your wheels are well aligned, your truck will not pull towards one side, making it easier to control. Wheel aligning gives you an enjoyable and relaxed driving experience.

Improves Safety

A bad wheel alignment reduces your truck’s maneuverability, exposing you to crushing risks. Aligning your wheels improves your safety on the road.

Lengthens Your Tire Life

Aligning wheels make them work together with less road friction. Working together makes your tires wear out slowly and serve you for a long time.

Reduces Expenses

Other parts of your truck will experience premature wear out when you drive with poor wheel alignment for a long. Good wheel alignment protects other parts of the truck from premature wear out.

Conclusion

Both tire rotation and wheel alignment play different roles in your truck. Your truck may need either or both of them at some point. Consult an expert who will determine what to do for your wheels. It is advisable to perform wheel alignment whenever you perform any service that tampers with the wheels, such as fixing the suspension system, the brakes, or new tire tires. 

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