Driving your truck with its wheels pointing in the wrong direction puts you in harm's way. To rectify the problem, you will need to have your wheels realigned. But like many other drivers, you might be wondering what throws your wheels out of alignment in the first place, making you spend a significant amount of money in repair costs. Many different reasons could be responsible for your woes, but here are a few typical ones you may be happy to learn about.

Hitting potholes

No matter how hard you try, potholes are one of those pesky nuisances you can never completely avoid when you are driving. When you run into a pothole, your entire suspension and steering system experiences a shock. Though your truck tends to completely move to the side of the wheel that has been hit by the pothole, the other wheels not hit by the pothole stops the vehicle from doing so. This means the various components that focus on the alignment of your wheels will bend and shift to counterbalance the upset. The extent of damage caused by potholes depends on how big or small the pothole is and your driving speed. So try as much as possible to drive slowly on roads marred with potholes.

Hitting speed bumps

Speed bumps are usually installed to limit driving speed at specific points of the road, especially where there is a sharp bend or at areas that experience heavy pedestrian traffic. Hitting speed bumps too often while over speeding will cause damage to various parts of your suspension and result in misaligned wheels. 

Hitting kerbs

Potholes and speed bumps are not the only things that may cause your wheels to go out of alignment: kerbs are a major threat to your vehicle as well. Unfortunately, drivers can't fully avoid hitting kerbs, as it can happen when they least expect, such as when they are turning the vehicle in a concrete driveway or parking it in the parking lot. To minimise the risk of hitting kerbs, truck drivers should exercise a little more caution when driving and negotiating their way in areas with kerbing systems.

The process of bringing your truck's wheels back to proper alignment is rather complicated. It calls for the use of specialised diagnostic and repair tools and a level of skill only qualified auto technicians can provide. For more information about truck wheel alignment, contact local professionals.

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