Why is it important to properly adjust the wheels of the car

Wheel misalignment can greatly contribute to accelerated tire wear and poor braking performance.

Keeping a car on a straight and narrow road is not as easy as it seems.

Something as small as wheel misalignment can go a long way in contributing to accelerated tire wear, poor braking performance, and even a car following contours in tar instead of following the road.

And not only the front wheels need to be checked. As one CarsGuide reader discovered, modern independent and multi-link suspensions require cars to have all-wheel alignment.

“The front tires of our Mercedes-Benz Vito van, a family car, came out after just 10,000 km,” he says.

“We leveled the front several times and it didn't make any difference. Everything looked good, but the tires wore out very quickly.”

He dug deeper and asked for rear alignment. “We found that it came out at 18mm. It's huge. Not only that, but also 16mm on one side and 2mm on the other.”

When the Vito first tracked traffic correctly, the front tires finally wore out normally.

We've heard the same thing about other cars and brands, including some Kia SUVs, that are prone to front-end mishandling if the rear doesn't follow properly and transfers destructive force to the front wheels.

Have you ever had wheel alignment problems in your car? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.