The Best Repair Shop in Lowell for Wheel and Tire Balancing of Your Acura

by Mechanics Direct November 28, 2021

Properly maintaining your Honda Acura can be tedious, but essential for keeping things running smoothly. Oil changes and break checks are obvious, but we often overlook maintenance tasks such as tire balancing & rotations. It states in your Acura drivers manual that balancing your tires is a critical and essential part of service.

Tire balancing reduces wear and tear on your wheels and improves their overall performance, assuring that you get the maximum use from your tires. Imbalanced tires increase your risk of hydroplaning and makes your Acura less maneuverable on the roadways.

Maintaining your tires and wheels makes driving safer for you and your family. Additionally, proper tire balancing provides better fuel economy and increases your Acura’s total gas mileage. It also provides you with a smoother and safer ride.

What is the difference between balancing and rotating your tires?

While both are equally important, these individual services offer vast differences in how your vehicle performs. Rotating your tires simply means moving your rubber tire to a different position. For example, a tire rotation will move the front tires to the back or the left side tires to the right side. It is simply repositioning the tires to allow for equal wear on all four tires.

Balancing your tires is a little more technical. It’s checking that the weight of your rubber tires and metal wheel hubs are evenly distributed throughout the vehicle. All wheels have weights that are either adhesively attached to the inner metal wheel or hammered into the rims. Unfortunately, standard wear and tear and regular use will wear down the tread on the tires, which eventually throws it off balance. By using specialized tools and machinery, technicians are able to compensate for this by adjusting the weights accordingly.

The Difference Between Balancing and Alignment

These are often mistaken as the same service, but while they both require regularly scheduled maintenance, they are different. While balancing is correcting the weight distribution throughout the wheel and tires as discussed above, wheel alignment refers to the angle the wheels are connecting to the road. If your Acura seems to be pulling to the left or right, they require alignment to face forward for a straighter angle.

How often should your tires be balanced?

By rule of thumb, you should get your tires checked for balancing every time you get an oil change, which is usually between 5,000 to 6,000 miles (or every 6 months). This is due to the symbiotic relationship between tire rotations and tire balancing. This duration is stated in your Acura’s owner’s manual.

How to Tell Your Wheels and Tires are Out of Balance

A common symptom of imbalanced wheels are harsh vibrations or wobbles that get worse as you accelerate. When the wheels are not balanced, the tread on the tires wear down unevenly. If the steering wheel begins to wobble or shake as you increase speed, it usually means the front tires are out of balance. If the rear wheels are imbalanced, you will typically experience harsh vibrations in the floorboards and seats.

Other symptoms of imbalanced tires include a decreased fuel economy and rapid tread deterioration. This issue requires immediate attention that will cause more costly damage to the vehicle the longer you wait, not to mention jeopardize the safety of your vehicle. All it takes is a mere half an ounce to throw off the balance of wheels.

How to Fix Imbalanced Wheels/Tires

Fortunately, balancing wheels and tires is often an inexpensive and quickly corrected process, but the job requires precise techniques & specialized tools for the job. The wheels are mounted onto special tire balancing machinery that run the wheel at various speeds. The machine runs accurate measurements on the wobbles and vibrations to determine where the weight is throwing off the balance. It will inform the technician where to spread the weight if necessary.

If an imbalance is found, weight is added to either the rim of the tire or to the inner wheel to rebalance. Unless you have the proper tools and machinery, it is a good idea to take your Acura to a professional and allow them to make the proper corrections.

Bring Your Acura to Mechanics Direct for Servicing

At Mechanics Direct in Lowell Massachusetts, we understand how frustrating it can be to deal with unforeseen car maintenance issues that may arise. We proudly offer services to our neighbors in North Chelmsford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Tyngsborough, and Westford locations.

Our mechanics are certified and truly passionate in our field. This shows in the results of our work and the reputation we have cultivated throughout the community. Call today to schedule a maintenance check or to schedule service if you suspect your car has a problem.

* Acura MDX Car image credit goes to: YuriyVlasenko.