Wheel alignment on cars.

[Pete]

Feel free to move this if this is on the wrong board.

I noticed a few days ago that one of my tryes needed changing as it looked like it had a slow puncture. I took it off and was shocked to find that the inside edge was badly worn down to the cord and this was the reason why it had deflated...if that had blown out at high speed the god knows! I always check my tyres for wear but obviously overlooked the inside edges.
After checking them all they were all worn pretty badly on the inside edge and even though they looked OK from the outside they don't have much life left in them at all.

Does this mean all of my wheels need re-aligned? If so, does anyone know of any decent places that do this for a reasonable price?
I'll be damned if I'm taking it to quik-fit because I don't trust them.

When I looked up the interweb for tyres I notice they do wheel balancing whenever you buy a tyre. Is this the same thing as alignment?

[Removed]

You need to get your tracking done. Pot holes, speed humps, kerbing etc can all knacker it and cause uneven tyre wear.

[(((Fergus)))]

Feel free to move this if this is on the wrong board.

I noticed a few days ago that one of my tryes needed changing as it looked like it had a slow puncture. I took it off and was shocked to find that the inside edge was badly worn down to the cord and this was the reason why it had deflated...if that had blown out at high speed the god knows! I always check my tyres for wear but obviously overlooked the inside edges.
After checking them all they were all worn pretty badly on the inside edge and even though they looked OK from the outside they don't have much life left in them at all.

Does this mean all of my wheels need re-aligned? If so, does anyone know of any decent places that do this for a reasonable price?
I'll be damned if I'm taking it to quik-fit because I don't trust them.

When I looked up the interweb for tyres I notice they do wheel balancing whenever you buy a tyre. Is this the same thing as alignment?

Wheel balancing is something else. Although a wheel rim and tyre are theoretically perfect circles, there are inevitably imperfections that cause one outer area of the wheel/tyre combo to be slightly heavier than the rest. This difference is magnified the faster the wheel rotates and results in vibration of the wheel when driving. To prevent this you have to put a compensating weight on the opposite side of the wheel. These are usually clipped to the outside of the wheel rim but cause damage to lacquer, paint and even metal on an alloy wheel. Ideally weights should be stuck to the inside of the wheel rim (where they are also kept in place by centrifugal force).

PS better to spend good money on good wheel alignment than on new tyres. You also stress the steering system if you are constantly fighting unaligned wheels, plus there's the safety issue of having a car that wants to steer off the road.