Despite the huge number of cars on the road, not all drivers know what alignment means, why this operation is required and when it is carried out. RS is a procedure for checking and adjusting the installation angles of the wheels relative to the road and direction of travel.
The installation angles of the wheels directly affect the safety of movement in the car. If the angles are wrong, the car may "drive" to one side. Due to uneven tire wear, the grip of the wheels with the road surface deteriorates. The unevenly distributed load on the suspension deprives it of the necessary rigidity, which, in turn, does not provide the vehicle with directional stability in motion (especially at high speeds). The likelihood of the vehicle skidding when cornering increases. These factors have every chance of leading to an accident.
If you ask the master at the service station: how often do you need to carry out wheel alignment? They will answer that at least once every six months. And this is understandable, because the wizard's earnings directly depend on the number of visits. And if you ask the same question to the manager of a car dealership, we will get a different answer - no more than once every 2-3 years. And this is also understandable, because his direct responsibility is to advertise the product, showing its strengths. In the operating instructions for cars, the boundary frames for carrying out RS are prescribed - up to 15 thousand km for our cars and up to 30 thousand km for foreign cars. But this is ideal, and since most roads are far from exemplary and the accuracy of driving many raises questions, you should not be guided by these terms.
There are a number of cases and signs, based on which a decision must be made to conduct MS:
- uneven or increased wear of tire protectors;
- increased tire noise;
- the car is driving to one side;
- the steering wheel is difficult to self-return when exiting a turn;
- the steering wheel changed its position when driving in a straight line;
- replacement of wheels for wheels with a different radius;
- replacing tires with tires with a different (high or low) profile;
- after the wheel got into the pit, the disc was crumpled;
- after repair or replacement of chassis components;
- after installing heavy equipment on the car, for example, LPG.
As a result of the RS procedure, in addition to improving all the characteristics associated with vehicle handling, the tire life is increased and the fuel consumption decreases.
To achieve minimum errors in setting the angles of the wheels, the RS should be carried out at the service station, in the arsenal of which there are special stands for these purposes. Every motorist knows the "character" of his car, the peculiarities of its behavior on the road. And only he should make a decision on the timeliness of the RS.
