When you’re driving around a road with a great deal of cross-traffic or crossing a particularly busy intersection, your car will likely be affected by the appearance of a slight imbalance.
Even when everything looks balanced on the outside, it may strain your vehicle’s different areas, leading to costly repairs down the road if left unattended. Here’s what we’ve discovered on why cars are pulling lower on one side!
Why Is My Car Lower On One Side?
1. Inconsistent Tire Pressure
To make a tire and a vehicle as stable as possible, proper tire inflation pressure aids in equally distributing the weight of a car throughout the tread pattern.
With that, unstable tires harm handling, cornering, and stopping, whether under or over-inflated.
When you accelerate, the air pressure inside each layer becomes more inconsistent, causing the tire to rotate as it deforms.
As a result, if you’ve been driving around with inconsistent tire pressure, your tires will pull unevenly on different sides of the car.
2. Irregular Brakes
In order to keep you safe, your car’s braking system is crucial. The brake pads are one of several components used in this system, ranking as one of its most significant parts.
Further, inside your braking calipers are the brake pads, which contact the rotors to generate friction and provide stopping power.
On the other hand, your brakes won’t stop as they should if they have been damaged.
If you don’t fix the underlying issue, your brakes will keep wearing unevenly, pushing one side of your car harder than the other.
3. Stuck Spring And Strut
Struts, a structural component of the majority of modern independent suspension systems, serve as a connection between the wheel and the vehicle body.
That said, in the majority of front-wheel-drive cars, they are located at the top of the chassis at the front end.
As well as that, stuck struts and springs result from a broken spring that no longer allows the car to rise up or down.
If one of the struts is bent, the other strut will start to draw down on its own rather than pushing upward against the other as it should.
4. Bent Chassis
A car’s chassis is proportionate to the human body’s skeleton.
Additionally, the main job of the chassis is to support the weight of the vehicle both at rest and in motion.
When the chassis of a vehicle is bent, it is likely caused by a collision or other mishap. With that, one or more of the panels that make up your car’s frame may flex due to the crash.
As a result, you can experience a difference in how heavy or light your car feels compared to the opposite side.
5. Tangled Part On Steering
According to top-performing driving schools in the US, good steering technique reduces the likelihood of a car accident and enables you to operate your vehicle more effectively.
On the other hand, suppose there is a twisted and tangled part on the steering.
In that case, it is most likely a component such as a cable, wire, or another tiny metal object that interferes with the steering column’s operation and might malfunction.
When you put the car in reverse with tangled steering, the outcome will affect a lowered other side.
6. Tire Conicity
A tire’s tread and sidewall angle is known as its conicity. Essentially, it determines how much rubber is on the outside or inside of the tire.
That said, when a vehicle is pulled on one side due to a blown-out tire, there isn’t enough rubber on one side of the tire.
Due to an unequal distribution of weight brought on by having less rubber than necessary, the car pulls lower on that side.
Subsequently, one side of a tire will be pulled down if the size of its inner and outer squish zones decreases.
7. Stress Cracks
Stress cracks usually occur when a car’s body is stressed beyond its ability to hold itself up.
If you were to drive over a large crack in the road, your wheels could get stuck in that crack and cause your tires to pinch the surface of their contact patches.
With that, these cracks can be caused by road conditions, weather, and simple wear and tear from everyday driving.
If this happened enough, your wheels would be unable to rotate freely and become stuck in one position, resulting in one side of the car being lower than the other.
8. Imbalance Passenger Weight
Passenger weight can cause the vehicle to pull to one side, resulting in a lowered ride height or a lowered center of gravity.
For example, when passengers sit in improperly balanced seats, the weight of the passengers causes the vehicle to slant one way or the other.
You’ll notice that your car leans to one side or the other when traveling at highway speeds if the weight distribution of your passengers is uneven.
In other words, if you have a particularly hefty passenger in your car, you may experience issues with the front end lifting off the ground and dragging to one side.
9. Stuck Parking Brake
Regular use of the parking brake keeps it functioning well. You risk the emergency brake corroding if you don’t use it, and you won’t notice until you need it.
Furthermore, you may prevent your car from rolling away from where you are parking by navigating the parking brake each time.
Also, if you’re parked on a slope or have something heavy in your trunk, then the weight of your car may cause it to be pulled lower on one side.
Once you notice that your vehicle is pulling slightly lower on one side when parked, there’s a good chance that this problem has cropped up and needs to be addressed immediately.
To know more, you can also read our posts on why your car won’t start with a new battery, why your garage door won’t open, and why your car radio is static.
Conclusion
Vehicles that signify imbalances on either one or both sides of a car should receive more attention for safe driving.
Drivers could prevent accidents with underlying issues such as tire pressure, unreliable breaks, and blocked springs and struts with adequate maintenance.
Ultimately, the lack of adequate car alignment and balancing is a severe concern to road safety.