A few winters ago, I was unaccustomed to driving in the Minnesota winters. (Now I’m doing great, by the way) So, I was taking a turn too fast on the snow and plowed right into a curb. Upon visual inspection, I could immediately tell that the hub was bent. I hoped I could just get a new hub and everything would be fine.
When I went to drive home, however, I dreaded that I had mangled the axle. The car was barely drivable. I made it home and ordered a new hub. My dad suggested that I try that first because I’d be surprised at how bad an off-balanced wheel could make things.
The came and I put it on, and the car rode smooth! I couldn’t believe it. I was incredibly relieved not to have to spend money on other repairs.
Recently, the car had become nearly undrivable again. It would only drive smoothly when I was turning to the right. Because of that symptom, I guessed that I would be replacing the CV joints. The tires were old, and needed replacing, so I would do that first, then see how bad the rest of the damage was.
Once the service tech (trust me, if I owned a wheel balancer, I’d do it myself. The prices they charge!) drove my car around with the new and freshly balanced tires, I was amazed. I guess the CV joints wouldn’t need replacing after all. The ride was smooth again.
Since this is the second time this has happened in three years, it makes me wonder whether I need to draw the obvious parallel to my life and do a balance check. Being off-balance by a little bit can mean big results.
I’m glad we’ve got this vacation coming on Tuesday. It’ll be a chance to re-balance and re-align. And warm up.