Wheel Alignment and Balancing

If you’ve felt your car drifting just a little bit when your hands are loose on the wheel or noticed a shake in your steering, your wheels could be imbalanced, or your car could be out of alignment. Lucky for Boulder and Denver drivers, Done Right Auto Repair offers affordable wheel alignment and balancing.
We know that it may sound like a car that’s out of alignment isn’t the biggest concern, but a misaligned car can lead to uneven tire and brake pad wear, which could lead to blowouts or scarred brake rotors. Misaligned wheels are an easy, affordable fix that can help prevent serious, potentially dangerous maintenance issues down the line.

What’s the Difference Between Wheel Balancing and Alignment?

Most drivers don’t quite know the difference between wheel balancing and wheel alignment, though we do know most of our Denver and Boulder drivers are aware of their importance. Our service experts consider it a part of our job to keep our drivers informed, and we want you to know the difference:

  • What is Wheel Balancing? Wheel balancing is sometimes referred to as tire balancing, and it’s a process done to account for imperfections in tire construction. To ensure smooth tire rolling, the wheels are mounted with weights to even things out. Imbalanced tires can express themselves through steering wheel shimmying or vibrations.
  • What is Wheel Alignment? Every vehicle has wear points in the steering and suspension, and as you put the miles on your vehicle, those wear points go out of factory specs and cause your wheels to shift a few degrees one way or another. There are three different angles that can go out of alignment, and just a degree on any single one can cause uneven tire wear and drastically reduce the lifespan of your tires.

How Do I Know When My Wheels Need to Be Balanced or Aligned?

Unlike some engine troubles that can sneak up on you, you can usually tell when your wheels need to be balanced or aligned. As long as you pay attention to your car and how it behaves when you’re driving, you can prevent any serious damage from imbalanced or misaligned wheels. That is, as long as you know the symptoms.

  • Wheel Balance Symptoms: It can be pretty easy to detect the symptoms of a wheel that is out of balance; you’ll notice the steering wheel shaking or vibrating when you’re driving between 60 and 70 mph. Your driver’s seat may shake as well.
  • Wheel Alignment Symptoms: If you notice severe inside or outside wear while the rest of the tire looks fine, your wheels are almost certainly out of alignment. If your vehicle pulls to the left or right, that’s another symptom of misaligned wheels. If you notice either of these symptoms, bring your vehicle to Done Right Auto Repair and let us take a look.

What Exactly Do These Services Entail?

When you bring your car to us for a wheel balance or alignment, we treat it as if it were one of our own and get things back in order as quickly as possible. While that’s enough for some drivers, we know that there are some of you that want to know exactly what we do when we balance or align your wheels, and we want you to know:

  • Wheel Balance Service: In order to balance your wheels, we use state-of-the-art computerized equipment that determines where the weight around your wheel is uneven and where counterbalance wheel weights should be applied. We then apply them to even out each wheel, and you’re good to go. We recommend balancing your wheels with every tire rotation.
  • Wheel Alignment Service: Alignment is a bit trickier than wheel balancing. Like we said, there are three different angles that could be out of alignment—caster, camber, and toe—and they all need to be squared up. We measure and correct your caster, camber, and toe angles on every alignment service using some of the most sensitive equipment in our service center to ensure that each wheel is parallel to its pair and perpendicular to the road.

Is Wheel Balance and Wheel Alignment Cost Worth It?

Yes. We can’t stress this enough. You spend $500 on a decent set of tires, and misaligned wheels could cut their lifespan in half. Yet, aligning your wheels costs a fraction of the cost of a new set of tires, and wheel balancing costs even less. Not balancing your tires or aligning your wheels can lead to costly, even dangerous maintenance troubles.

So again, yes, wheel balance and alignment costs are worth it. And here at Done Right Auto Repair, we offer some of the most affordable rates around.

  • Wheel Balance Cost: Balancing all four wheels runs just $59.75.
  • Wheel Alignment Cost: The cost of alignment will vary based on the type of vehicle you have, but a front-wheel drive car starts at just $79.95.