Your Complete Guide to Wheel Alignment Service

Your Complete Guide To Wheel Alignment Service

Whenever you take your car to the shop for any sort of basic maintenance, there’s a good chance they’ll ask if you want your wheels aligned.  But what does this actually mean?  For a lot of car owners, especially first-timers, the whole concept of wheel alignment and balance is a bit mysterious.  

In this article, Fred’s Auto Repair discusses the importance of wheel alignment, and when you should invest in wheel alignment service.  

I. What Is Wheel Alignment and Why Is It Important?

The reason that wheel alignment can seem a bit mysterious and poorly explained is that it actually covers a lot of different factors in your wheels, tires, and suspension system. 

However, what it basically boils down to is this: when your tires are misaligned, that means they aren’t properly pointed straight down the road.  They probably aren’t exactly parallel to each other, either.

Poorly-aligned wheels can cause a lot of problems, including steering problems, tire damage, and potentially even issues with your brakes or suspension.  In worst-case scenarios, it could even damage your axles.  At a minimum, if your wheels aren’t properly aligned, your tires will wear out much more quickly.  If the problem becomes bad enough, it could make the car more difficult to control, particularly on curves. 

So, maintaining tire alignment is critical both for being able to safely drive your car, as well as reducing unnecessary damage to all those systems.

II. How Do Wheels Lose Their Alignment?

When you first drive your car off the lot, its wheels are going to be properly aligned.  However, over time, the alignment will get thrown off.  This is inevitable, no matter how carefully you drive.

If you want to reduce wheel alignment problems, watch out for or try to avoid:

• Especially rough terrain
• Potholes
• Taking speedbumps too quickly
• Hitting curbs
• Collisions or other impacts that might be uneven 
• Situations where one wheel on an axle is going to take an impact and the other won’t

Even by following all the tips above, simple wear and tear will reduce wheel alignment as you drive.  The rubber components will wear unevenly, become stiff, and reduce proper movement.  The ball-and-socket joints will also become worn over time, allowing wheels more travel within their socket.  This also harms alignment.

III. Can I See When My Wheels Are Misaligned?

Sadly, no, not normally.  Wheel alignment is measured in extremely tiny increments, like 1/10th of an inch or a small fraction of a degree.  It’s simply not possible for the human eye to see variations at such small scales.

If your wheels are so badly aligned that you can see it, the car is genuinely unsafe to drive. 

This is why wheel alignment services have to be provided by expert repair shops.  They need fine-tuned electronic measuring devices to verify the alignment, and to make the tiny corrections necessary to create proper alignment again.

IV. Does Every Vehicle Have The Same Alignment Standards?

No.  While the goal is to have the wheels perfectly parallel, pointing exactly straight down the road, how this is accomplished will vary a lot between different vehicles.  For example, small differences in the wheel mounts will create slightly different wheel alignment demands.  As mentioned above, the difference between “aligned” and “misaligned” is tiny, so those small differences matter!

Also, as car manufacturing has become more advanced over the years, the alignment process has become more complicated.  It’s a lot easier to maintain alignment on a 50-year-old Buick than in a modern electric vehicle.  Plus, differences between two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive will also change the alignment process.  Not to mention high-tech cars with computer monitoring of the steering and suspension systems, which further complicate things.

Again, these are all reasons that you need professional wheel alignment service.  This just isn’t a job that you can DIY successfully.

V. When Should You Get Your Wheels Aligned?

Generally speaking, the best rule of thumb is to get your wheels aligned with every other oil change.  This means aligning your wheels roughly every 6,000 miles.

In addition, whenever you get new tires installed, they should be aligned and balanced at the time of installation.  This is standard service at pretty much any professional shop.  If you’re replacing your own tires, be sure to take the car by the shop for balancing and alignment afterward.  Otherwise, they’re guaranteed to be misaligned.

Finally, if you notice uneven wear on your tire tread, this is the biggest red flag that you have alignment issues.  Take it to a shop to be checked out.  This is also a good idea since, if the tire wear isn’t coming from an alignment problem, the actual issue is probably even more serious.

Contact us for wheel alignment service today!

Briarcliff trusts Fred’s Auto Repair for their tire alignment needs and has since 1974.  Our customers in Shrub Oak are receiving the same quality service. If it’s been more than 6,000 miles since your last tire alignment service, contact us for an appointment or call (914) 762-1131.