Is Wheel Balancing Necessary During Wheel Alignment?
3 Answers
Wheel alignment requires wheel balancing. Without balancing, noticeable tire vibration may occur at certain speeds. Wheel alignment involves adjusting the geometric angles between tires and steering/suspension components to ensure proper tire-to-road contact. Situations requiring wheel alignment: 1. Damage to chassis or suspension from accidents; 2. Replacement of steering system or components; 3. Uneven wear on front/rear tire sides; 4. Replacement or adjustment of suspension system; 5. Vehicle pulling left or right during straight driving. Benefits of wheel alignment: 1. Significant tire advantages; 2. Improved handling; 3. Fuel efficiency enhancement; 4. Ensured driving safety.
Actually, these two services are not the same thing, but they often get confused. From my own experience, wheel alignment mainly adjusts the angle parameters of the suspension system to solve issues like pulling to one side or uneven tire wear; while wheel balancing only deals with the weight distribution during tire rotation to prevent steering wheel vibration at high speeds. So, wheel balancing is a must after tire replacement or repair, but if the car doesn’t have vibration issues, you can completely skip wheel balancing when only doing an alignment. However, many repair shops nowadays like to bundle these services—when you go for an alignment, they’ll ask if you want to add wheel balancing. I think the key is to assess the actual situation—if the tires have been removed or reinstalled, or if the car feels unstable at high speeds, then it’s worth adding wheel balancing; otherwise, there’s no need to spend extra money.
Last time my car was pulling to one side, so I took it to the repair shop. The mechanic said both wheel alignment and dynamic balancing needed to be done, which left me quite confused at the time. Later, I learned that dynamic balancing is a separate procedure for tires and rims, where small lead weights are attached to the wheel to balance the weight. On the other hand, wheel alignment adjusts mechanical parameters like suspension links. Normally, alignment doesn't involve touching the tires, but if you've had a tire repaired or the rim is deformed, it's convenient to do the dynamic balancing along with the alignment. My usual practice is to do dynamic balancing first if the steering wheel shakes, and only consider alignment if the car still pulls to one side while driving, since the latter is more expensive and time-consuming.
