Car Care and Roadside Skills

1. Your steering wheel shakes at highway speed, but the car tracks straight and the tires are new. What is the most likely fix?

• Raising every tire to the maximum pressure printed on the tire sidewall
• A wheel alignment, so all four tires point in exactly the same direction
• Balancing the wheels, so the weight is spread evenly around each one
• Rotating the tires, so each one moves to a different corner of the car

2. All four tires are at the right pressure, but your car keeps drifting left on a flat, straight road. What should you have checked?

• The wheel balance, which spreads the weight around each wheel
• The valve caps, which can leak air slowly on one side of the car
• The lug nut torque, which decides how quietly the wheels turn
• The wheel alignment, which sets the angles the tires point at

3. You get a flat on a busy road. What should you do before you get the jack out?

• Stop right where the tire went flat, so you don't damage the wheel rim by driving any further
• Pull well off the road onto firm, level ground, switch on the hazards and set the parking brake
• Start loosening the lug nuts while you roll slowly to a stop, so the job is quicker later on
• Let some air out of the other three tires so the car sits level while you change the wheel