A shudder through the steering wheel on the A414 North Orbital or heading for M25 J22 generally signals uneven weight on a wheel. In St Albans the wheel is balanced where you park.
Inside the city, cobbles round the Market Place and slow queues on London Road mask the problem. Balance trouble shows once the car reaches speed: the A414 between Hemel and Hatfield, the A1081 down to M25 J22, or the M1 from J6 and J7. Feel it through the steering and a front wheel is the likely culprit; feel it through the seat and look at the rear. Cupped patches on the tread are another sign.
St Albans wheels want balancing each time fresh rubber is mounted, after any patch-plug that meant demounting the casing, once a stuck-on weight has vanished, or following a solid strike on a Sopwell kerb. The fitter lifts the car on your Fleetville or Jersey Farm drive, fixes the wheel to the electronic balancer on the van, spins it, and fits weights where the reading shows.
Driveways in Marshalswick, Jersey Farm, Chiswell Green and Bricket Wood work well, and so does a legally parked residents' bay in the cathedral quarter. Colney Fields has space; the low-headroom Christopher Place and Maltings car parks mean meeting at street level.
| Near | St Albans Cathedral, St Albans City station, St Albans Abbey station |
|---|---|
| Typical arrival | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
About wheel balancing nationwide → · Wheel balancing on the St Albans page
Balancing is not alignment, and wheel alignment is not something Rescue Tyres offers. If your car drifts across the lane on the A5183 through St Stephens, or one front tyre is bald on its inner shoulder, that is a job for a garage with alignment kit. Vibration rising and falling with speed on the North Orbital is what balancing fixes. Say which you notice when you call, and the AL postcode price is agreed.
Steering shake on the North Orbital? Book wheel balancing at your St Albans home.
