Yo! My name is Adam and this is my cool new auto blog. I live with my parents in the suburbs of Sydney. It might not seem pretty cool living with your parents, but I am planning to move out soon. One massive advantage of living with my parents is that I can save a lot of money to invest in my new car. As well as the extra money in my pocket, I also benefit from lots of advice from my dad who is an auto mechanic. He has helped me to fine-tune and to add accessorises to my auto so it looks really ace.
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Adam's Cool New Auto Blog
4 Reasons to Get Your Truck's Wheel Alignment Checked After Off-Roading
Sherri Craig
When you drive with even slightly is aligned wheels, everything from handling to efficiency will start to suffer. Most truck drivers understand the importance of keeping their wheels aligned, but too few appreciate how off-roading can cause wheels to get misaligned when they usually wouldn't.
Trucks are often driven off-road more than cars, even if that only means going down an unpaved trail instead of a road. Here are just four reasons you should check the truck wheel alignment when you're done.
1. Jolts
Probably the most common cause of wheel misalignment is unexpected jolts from clipping something with a wheel or hitting a pothole. Unfortunately, such jolts are to be expected when you're traveling across an unpaved surface instead of on the road. Even if you're only driving a little way down a trail, the jolts taken as you go over bumps can see one or more of your wheels knocked out of alignment.
2. Suspension Wear
When travelling off-road, your suspension system has to work much harder. In fact, your shocks and springs will be almost constantly at work to keep your ride smooth and manageable. Unfortunately, this can increase wear and cause your suspension to start going slack. This can lead to wheels slipping out of alignment, especially when springs wear down at different rates for different wheels.
3. Excessive Vibration
When you're driving down a regular road, you should experience very little vibration. When you're going across unpaved surfaces, you can expect more. As you might have guessed, vibrations and undulations in the road can put added strain on many parts of your vehicle, including the wheels. They can easily be jerked out of alignment due to excessive vibration, especially over longer distances.
4. Uneven Loading
This is more something to think about if you're doing serious off-roading rather than simply travelling down unpaved trails, but going into the backcountry can lead to uneven balance. When you clamber across rocks, go along an incline, or drive across uneven terrain, it's possible the weight of your truck won't be evenly distributed across all four wheels as it would on a level road. When the load is off balance, wheels are put under added pressure and can come out of alignment.
While it's true that many trucks are built for off-roading, it's still sensible to keep these issues in mind after you've been off-roading and have the wheel alignment checked by a professional.
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