My Honda CR-V had its wheel alignment and balancing done. It seems like car brakes are slightly slower than before. Could wheel alignment and balancing cause some change in brakes operation?
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2Welcome to the site. We appreciate you being here. Can you please tell us what you mean by "brakes are slightly slower"? Do you mean the car doesn't stop as fast? Or are you saying it takes you longer to press on the brakes for them to react? Just looking for clarification as to what you're talking about.– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Apr 20, 2017 at 0:34
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3 Answers
Firstly perception is very subjective. That said I didnt even notice my break system was very degraded, likely due to air in lines after installing new lines... so good thing to be careful.
But Strictly addressing your question, you said it was just aligned and balanced, and doing this does not effect braking at all let alone what you would notice.
speaking of poor front wheel alignment, I would estimate that you would be more likely to notice the effects on control and steering way before a it effected braking.
I would simply answer you question as No.
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I would tend to agree with this post, however, balancing unbalanced tires should enhance braking rather than degrade it, because the tires are not bouncing off the pavement, and provide a consistent coefficient of friction with brake application. Also, generally when an alignment if off, there is a possibility of greater drag from the tires scrubbing. So getting an alignment should help the car roll better. Any effect on braking should be extremely small or non-existant. Can more symptoms and greater description be provided?– mongoCommented Apr 20, 2017 at 14:23
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1agreed, balancing an unbalanced tire might actually improve braking rather than it not being able to effect it at all.– axaCommented Apr 21, 2017 at 0:52
In my opinion poorly balanced wheels can effect your disc brakes. I have had my front tyres replaced and at speeds over 50mph you can feel the car vibrating. This in turn was causing the wheels to pull the discs different directions even if only minimal which caused them to rub against the pads. On a trip to work that was 30 miles you could smell and feel the heat caused from the constant rubbing against the pads that could lead to fading when I stopped. The tyre company that fitted them came back out and found my front offside 15g out and 35g on the nearside front. He didn’t think it would effect the brakes suggesting the discs had warped but having driven home with no vibrating, heat or smell I would disagree.
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This sound more like your wheels where not properly fastend or wedged a little bit.– DanielCommented Mar 15, 2018 at 16:41
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I've only just discovered that the small amount of play that's available in a brake disc / rotor on the studs when you bolt the wheel back on is enough to cause what seemed to be a high spot and rubbing. (This was the rear wheel of a gen2 UK Prius.) I'd put the wheel back hand tight and lowered to the ground to torque the nuts in a star shape, but when I jacked up and span the wheel by hand it always stopped in the same place (<1 rev). Drove okay at low speed though. Needed to tighten a bit more in the air and check it still turns smoothly b4 lowering. (Jacked, now spins 3 revs!)– mwardmCommented Jun 7, 2021 at 20:26
Unbalanced and unaligned wheels gives more rolling resistance, it should feel like engine break if it is bad enough, plus drifting to one side or another.
It also affect the braking negatively, because the tires are not in a continues friction position instead of rolling with minimal friction.
So the "feel" of the brake after adjustment should be:
- Effective braking (less ABS activation).
- Less effective breaking because the car is rolling better when you clutch.