Guideline on Buying Tires Wheel Balancing and the Performance of Your Car | Page 4

Difference between Wheel Balancing and Wheel
Alignment
Very often, you will hear many people using the term ‘wheel balancing’ and ‘wheel alignment’
interchangeably as if they refer to the same thing. The two, however, refer to very different
aspects of the tire repair process. Wheel balancing is the process of adding small balancing
weights to the rim to allow the wheel to spin without any vibrations. On the other hand, wheel
alignment is the process of adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are parallel to each
other and perpendicular to the ground.
Symptoms that your car wheels might be out of alignment include:
 Rapid or uneven wire on your tires
 Your car wanders on a straight level road
 The car pulls or drifts away from a straight line when you let go off the wheel
 You notice that the spokes of your wheels are off to one side when driving on a straight and
level road