Incorrect wheel alignment can take a toll on your car’s tyres resulting in you having to replace them soon than expected. Misaligned wheels significantly contribute to the diminished lifespan of your tyres, so it is vital that you check your wheels’ alignment regularly.
Wheel alignment helps your tyres last longer and to perform efficiently. It also improves handling as well as prevents your car from pulling to one side.
Here are a few signs that your wheels need realignment:
Gals Garage, in association Toyota Motors South Africa recently hosted a Tyre Safety Workshop aimed at female motorists.
Supported by Toyota Motors South Africa (TMSA), the first Gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop of 2021, took place in Gauteng recently. Although all COVID regulations had been taken into account, organizers of the event took further precautions by hosting the Workshop over a few 4-hour sessions at different venues, thereby giving guests the added comfort of knowing their health had been taking into consideration.
The Gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop not only allowed guests to simulate a flat tyre scenario but also gave them an opportunity to test drive the Toyota Urban Cruiser, Toyota Starlet and one of 2 Toyota Agya vehicles.
It used to be safe to ask a stranger to assist you to change your flat tyre but times have changed, so it is to every woman’s benefit to know how to do so herself.- FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
It used to be safe to ask a stranger to assist you to change your flat tyre but times have changed, so it is to every woman’s benefit to know how to do so herself.
– FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
Kicking off with an interactive discussion about tyre rotation, wheel alignment, and wheel balancing, the important topic of knowing how to change a tyre led to a few of the ladies relating personal stories about the inconveniences and dangers of being stuck on the side of the road.
It is important to align the jack with the car-jack point. If you jack the vehicle at any other point, the car’s weight may cause damage to its frame.
– FOUNDER, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPS
Excited about learning this basic life skill, the ladies gathered around the 2 Toyota Agya vehicles and set about changing a tyre; all the while talking about causes of a flat tyre, how to identify you have a flat tyre (while driving), and safety measure to adhere to in the event of a flat tyre. These include pulling out of traffic as slowly as is safely possible, parking on a flat surface where possible, ensuring that the handbrake is engaged (either in gear in manual transmission or Park if in an automatic).
“In some instances, it is advisable to place a brick in front or behind one of the other tyres to further secure the vehicle,” Vuyi mentioned, “but you must remove these before you leave so as not to cause damage to another motorist’s vehicle, particularly at night when visibility is generally reduced”.
Another important element under discussion was identifying the optimal position to place the red reflective triangle which serves as a warning for other motorists, as well as learning the correct names of each of the tools required to successfully change a flat tyre – wheel spanner, nut-lock, car jack, reflective red triangle, spare tyre.
In some instances, it is advisable to place a brick in front or behind one of the other tyres but you must remove these before you leave.
– Founder, GALS GARAGE WORKSHOPs
It came as a surprise to some of the ladies that all cars have a car ‘jack point and that it is the safest location to position the car jack. By running their fingers along the edge of the bottom of the body of the car, the ladies discovered either one or two jack-points positioned either a short distance behind the front wheels or positioned a short distance in front of the rear wheels.
“It is important to align the jack with the car-jack point. If you jack the vehicle at any other point, the car’s weight may cause damage to its frame or, the jack may slip off, causing the vehicle to crash to the ground. Either way, this could result in serious injury to yourself and expensive damage to the car,” Vuyi said.
I will never forget the day my children and I nearly spent a night at the side of the road just because I did not know to change a flat tyre.
– GUEST, GALS GARAGE TYRE SAFETY WORKSHOP
To their surprise, the ladies accurately and safety completed the tyre change exercise in less time than they had anticipated. Most could barely believe how simple the task was.
“I will never forget the day my children and I nearly spent a night at the side of the road just because I did not know to change a flat tyre. Looking back I feel annoyed with myself because I put us in unnecessary danger yet here I am, doing this simple thing in 20 minutes!” remarked one of the guests.
When it came to test driving the various Toyotas on display, the Starlet proved to be a clear favourite among the ladies. “It stylish, spacious, comfortable to drive and quite spacious,” one guest remarked.
“The Agya is much bigger than it looks”, remarked one of the guests. “When I first glanced at it, I felt it was a ‘toy’ but, out of curiosity, I drove it and now I’m surprisingly impressed. I would love to have it as my weekday car because it would be easy to park,” she continued.
Some car salesmen can be very pushy, but his job is to listen to my needs and give me the best product which fits my budget.
– Guest, gals Garage Tyre Safety Workshop
Many of the ladies expressed appreciation that they had had an opportunity to test drive the Toyota vehicles in the comfort of their environment because they find car dealerships intimidating.
“I am not looking forward to buying a car because some car salesmen can be very pushy,” one lady said. “I feel that car salesmen judge women based on appearance and I am not about to make the extra effort just so the salesman will want to approach me when I walk into a dealership. His job is to listen to my needs and give me the best product which fits my budget – not to make me feel unknowledgeable and small,” she concluded.
Gals Garage Workshops, Because Women Deserve Better, was conceptualized and launched in 2016 by motoring journalist, Vuyi Mpofu when she identified a gap in the market to engage with female motorists. The Workshops aim to inform, educate and empower female motorists about the nuances of various elements of vehicles and serve to encourage women to become aware of the vehicle components which affect everyday driving safety.
Other than the Tyre Safety Workshops, the Gals Garage brand offers a variety of courses being:
It is important to be alert to the warning signs that your wheels might be out of alignment.
Uneven tread wear is a sign of a car which has been driven over a long period of time on misaligned tyres. Often, the inner tyre tread wears down quicker and more smoothly than that of the outer section of the tyre, which usually has plenty of outer tread left on it. Of course, the opposite of this is true and it could be the outer section which wears out sooner than the inner section of the tyre. The result, however remains the same in that the tyres would need to be replaced sooner rather than later.
Your driving behaviour will decide how often your vehicle requires wheel alignment. In order to preserve the wheel alignment on a vehicle, avoid potholes, climbing curbs, and parking up against curbs. If you have to climb a curb, do it very slowly and at a slight angle.
Alignment should be checked every 10,000 km or 6 months, whichever occurs first unless you know that you have hit a pothole, or some other object; in which case it should be done immediately as a precaution.
Other facts drivers should know about wheel alignment:
A camera unit (sometimes called a “head”) is usually attached to a specially designed clamp which holds on to a wheel. There are usually four camera units in a wheel alignment system (a camera unit for each wheel). The camera units communicate their physical positioning with respect to other camera units to a central computer which calculates and displays how much the camber, toe and caster are misaligned.
Often with alignment equipment, these “heads” can be a large precision reflector. In this case, the alignment “tower” contains the cameras as well as arrays of LEDs. The system flashes one array of LEDs for each reflector whilst a camera centrally located in the LED array “looks for” an image of the reflectors patterned face. These cameras perform the same function as the other style of alignment equipment, yet alleviate numerous issues prone to relocating a heavy precision camera assembly on each vehicle serviced.
In conclusion – More attention should be given to wheels and tyres as requirements for safe driving. Tyres allow you to start, stop and change direction and are the only components which keep your vehicle in contact with the road’s surface.
If we compromise their ability to perform these basic functions we put ourselves and other road users at risk. Have your wheel alignment checked periodically byt a professional from a tyre specialist.
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Alignment should be checked every 10,000 km or 6 months, whichever occurs first unless you know that you have hit a pothole, or some other object, in which case it should be done immediately as a precaution.
Other facts drivers should know about wheel alignments:
