A Wheel alignment is a check of a vehicle’s suspension and steering angles to make sure they are properly adjusted. Suspension and steering components that are even slightly out of adjustment can cause abnormal tire wear and/or prevent your vehicle from driving straight down the road.
Why Should It Be Serviced?
- A vehicle with improper wheel alignment can cause premature tire wear.
- Improper alignment can cause the vehicle to drift out of your lane, causing unsafe driving conditions.
When Should It Be Serviced?
- If your vehicle is pulling or drifting to the left or right when driving
- You are experiencing abnormal tire wear
- Whenever a part on the suspension is replaced
How do it work?
Shops use a piece of equipment called an “Alignment Rack”. This equipment includes sensors that attach to each wheel, and information about the exact postion of each wheel is sent to a computer that provides the mechanic with the necessary information to determine if a wheel alignment is needed, and if so, how much adjustment is needed.
All new alignment machines can provide the consumer with the “before” and “after” results. Good shops will attach this information to your repair invoice.