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Everyone knows the signs of a good alignment. No steering pull, even
tread wear, and long tire life.
But
the signs of a bad alignment are so varied and resemble so many other
things, that it tends to be overlooked in maintenance. Industry figures
indicate that 70% of all units on the road have significant alignment
issues. In fact, many fleet managers just attribute the overall problem
to the steer tires themselves and never consider alignment as an issue.
Looking at the facts can be an eye opener. Consider this:
A
drive axle with a toe misalignment of 1/10" driven over a distance of
100,000 miles produces a result equivalent to dragging the tires
sideways for a distance of 100 miles. This has an adverse effect
on tire wear and fuel economy. Multiply that by tractor after tractor
and trailer after trailer and you will soon end up with a significant
amount of unnecessary expense.
At
Southside Tire, we recommend a
3 axle
alignment.
Industry statistics show that a serious alignment program of first
alignment done at 15,000 to 30,000 miles and every 100,000 miles
thereafter can result in an increase of 20-30% mileage to removal and
around .5 to 1 MPG increase in fuel economy overall in a fleet.
What is an alignment and what does
it do? |
