my steering wheel shakes a little and if i let the sttring wheel go it goes to the right.my drivers side wheel is more worn out then all of the tires.so i bought a used tire for the drivers side and its not shaking or pulling anymore should i get an alighnment or did the tires just need balanced?iam the only one that drives the car i dive 50 miles a day going to an from work.and i havent gotten my tires rotated ever is this why?
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how do i know if my car needs alignment?
- Thread starter Mandi B
- Start date
Patrick French
New member
Yes i have had this happen with one worn tire and this is what causes that
Terry1ball
New member
Sounds like you have bottom ball joint problems as well as misalignment probably due to the poor state of the roads get the steering checked out thoroughly have it realigned and if any of the front tyres is still legal transfer to the back ,that way you will minimise the costs yourself.
You can check your alignment at a basic level with chalk or crayon and a measuring tape.
First park the car on a flat surface with the steering in a straight line and then measure the distance between the inside edge of the front tires IN FRONT of the axle, and then measure the distance between the inside edge of the front tires BEHIND the axle.
With a little bit of toe-in which for most cars is typical you might measure about 1/8" to 1/4" toe-in, meaning the wheels are 1/8" closer in the front than in the rear of the axle. And you can do the same measurement for the back wheels, but they should generally be zero toe, exactly straight in line, very few cars will have any toe in the rear.
Another way of checking this which is more subjective but nearly as informative, and only works if your car has a similar or wider track in the rear than in the front, is to kneel in front of the car and move until your line of sight along the outside edge of the front tire you see the front and rear edges of the front tire line up, and then see how much of the rear tire is showing. Do the same thing on the other side.
It is also possible you have dynamic balance issues such as having lost a wheel weight. It is better to have a shop check this.
First park the car on a flat surface with the steering in a straight line and then measure the distance between the inside edge of the front tires IN FRONT of the axle, and then measure the distance between the inside edge of the front tires BEHIND the axle.
With a little bit of toe-in which for most cars is typical you might measure about 1/8" to 1/4" toe-in, meaning the wheels are 1/8" closer in the front than in the rear of the axle. And you can do the same measurement for the back wheels, but they should generally be zero toe, exactly straight in line, very few cars will have any toe in the rear.
Another way of checking this which is more subjective but nearly as informative, and only works if your car has a similar or wider track in the rear than in the front, is to kneel in front of the car and move until your line of sight along the outside edge of the front tire you see the front and rear edges of the front tire line up, and then see how much of the rear tire is showing. Do the same thing on the other side.
It is also possible you have dynamic balance issues such as having lost a wheel weight. It is better to have a shop check this.