When your wheel alignment is off, it can cause a roadblock in terms of safe driving. Wheel alignment, also known as tire alignment, is an important aspect of keeping your car in top condition.
Misalignment can damage your tires, causing them to wear out before they’re supposed to. It can also cause the steering wheel to be off-center or cause the vehicle to pull.
What is Wheel Alignment?
Wheel alignment, or tire alignment, is how the tires are angled onto the vehicle, maximizing contact with the road. Tire alignments impact the suspension system, so any adjustments help to ensure a smooth ride with minimal tire wear and tear.
When the wheels are out of alignment, the tires are not at the correct angles and they’re pointing in different directions. This causes uneven and accelerated tire wear. It also causes your vehicle to pull to the right or the left.
Easily correctible, a dealership service department, tire retailer, or automotive service center can straighten things out for you.
Remember that precise wheel alignment does not last for the life of your car. The potential exists for even brand-new vehicles to have a chance encounter with a curb or pothole.
These impacts can cause your vehicle to fall out of alignment instantaneously. In most cases, alignment can degrade gradually and almost imperceptibly over time as components start to show wear.
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How Do I Know If I Need a Wheel Alignment?
Wheel alignment is necessary for the best possible driving experience. Every vehicle comes preset with specific tire angles and positioning.
For your vehicle to travel the way it’s supposed to, your wheels need to be precisely aligned to OEM specifications. Misalignment can lead to uneven tire wear, poor handling, and shorter tire life. Keeping your tires properly aligned can help them last longer.
There are a few noticeable signs you need an alignment. Just use your eyes, ears, and hands. Here are some common signs that you may be dealing with poor alignment:
- Your vehicle pulls to one side.
- Uneven or rapid tire wear.
- Your steering wheel is crooked when driving straight.
- Squealing tires.
- Shaking or vibrating steering wheel.
- Your steering wheel feels loose or unresponsive.
Tire Angles: Camber, Toe, and Caster
When a technician checks your tire alignment, he or she is mainly concerned with three things:
#1. Camber.
This is the inward or outward angle of the tire when viewed from the front of the vehicle. Too much inward or outward tilt, also known as negative and positive camber, respectively, indicates improper alignment and will need to be adjusted.
Worn bearings, ball joints, and other wheel-suspension parts may contribute to camber misalignment.
#2. Toe.
Distinct from camber alignment, toe alignment is the extent to which your tires turn inward or outward when viewed from above. If that’s confusing, just stand up and look down at your feet.
Angle them inward toward the center of your body. When the tires on your car are angled the same way (remember, we’re thinking in terms of birds-eye-view), we call this toe-in alignment. Angle your feet outward and you have toe-out alignment. Both require adjustment.
In general, setting the front tires toe-in and rear tires toe-out will produce oversteer characteristics. If set the other way, with the front tires toe-out and rear tires toe-in, it will result in understeer.
When you set toe-out settings for the front tires, it is possible to make the turn-in for cornering sharper. If the rear tires are set toe-in, it will improve the stability when accelerating out of corners. However, it is important to remember that extreme toe-in or toe-out settings will both result in driving resistance.
#3. Caster.
Your caster angle helps balance steering, stability, and cornering. Specifically, it’s the angle of your steering axis when viewed from the side of your vehicle.
If you have positive caster, the steering axis will tilt toward the driver. Negative caster, on the other hand, means the steering axis tilts toward the front of your vehicle.
How Much Does a Wheel Alignment Cost?
The national average for a complete wheel alignment service is between $50 to $168. Although, the cost can vary depending on the service provider and the type of alignment.
Wheel alignment should be performed once a year, but it may be required more frequently, depending on your driving style and where you drive.
The cost of an alignment depends on several factors:
- The number of wheels. A front-end alignment (or two-wheel alignment), which involves only the front two wheels, typically costs anywhere from $50 to $75. While a four-wheel alignment costs more, usually $100 to $168.
- Type of car. You may find that the answer to “How much is a wheel alignment” is higher for luxury cars. That’s because some vehicles require specialized equipment or have engineering designs that make the job more difficult and time-consuming.
- Extra services. While performing the alignment, the technician may find that more work — like tire balancing or car suspension repairs — is needed. Local labor costs and rates can also vary by city, state, provider, and technician.
- Alignment packages. Some automotive shops, including Pepboys and Firestone, offer lifetime alignment service packages. In this case, you will receive alignments every six months or 6,000 miles for a single up-front cost.
What Is Involved in a Wheel Alignment?
In the past, as with body-on-frame vehicles and those having non-independent rear suspensions, front-end alignment was usually all you needed to have you on the straight and narrow again.
With today’s unibody designs and multilink independent rear suspensions, four-wheel alignment is recommended to have all tires working together and tracking in the same direction.
Depending on the adjustments available on your vehicle, alignment is a procedure that involves adjusting the camber, the outward or inward tilt of the tires when viewed head-on; caster, a front or rear tilt when viewed from the side; and toe, which way your tires are pointed when viewed from above.
Toe-in means they’re pointed inward, and toe-out means they’re turning away from each other.
Tire alignment services require specialized equipment and trained technicians. It requires the proper tools to diagnose, repair, replace, and properly align your vehicle. It’s not an easy fix like changing your motor oil, and it should be done by a dealership or repair shop.
While they check alignment, consult with them on wheel balancing. Vibrations can crop up from an out-of-balance tire, which in turn causes excessive tire wear.
With so many components responsible for specific causes and subsequent effects, it’s a good idea to have all these exams and services performed at the same time.
What Happens If You Don’t Get An Alignment?
You Pay More In Gas Money
Did you know that when your wheels are out of alignment, it can decrease your car’s fuel efficiency? That’s because poor alignment can cause your wheels to work against each other and need more power to make up for their difference in positioning.
We don’t have to tell you that gas can get expensive, so keeping up on alignment maintenance can help prevent you from paying more at the pump.
You Could End Up With A Flat Tire, Excessive Tire Wear, Or A Blowout
When you don’t keep up with wheel alignment, your tires are the first place to feel the consequences. Good wheel alignment helps each tire have even contact with the road, so when alignment is askew your tires will wear unevenly.
You may see excessive tire wear or steel belt showing around the inner or outer circumference of the tire.
The longer tire problems like this are left unchecked, uneven tire wear can make tire tread rub down fast and leave you vulnerable to failures like a flat tire or blowout.
Your Handling Is Not As Safe
A blowout or a flat tire is bad enough to cause an accident. But when you skip wheel alignment maintenance, it can also mess with your car’s handling. Wheel alignment is tied to your vehicle’s steering and suspension system.
So if it is neglected, your car could drift and be difficult to control. This is just the kind of unpredictability that puts you at risk of an accident.
You Pay More On New Tires Or Suspension Repair
Whether you end up with worn tires, a flat, or suspension issues, letting wheel alignment go by the wayside can damage your vehicle. Fixing that damage will come at a cost, one that’s higher than what preventative maintenance has you pay in the first place.
Keep that trade off in mind, do you want to risk paying for new tires earlier than expected or schedule regular wheel alignment at a fraction of the cost?
How Often Do You Need A Wheel Alignment?
How often you need a wheel alignment depends on your typical road conditions and how you drive your vehicle.
It’s important to note that bad roads can often be the cause of alignment issues. If you frequently ride over potholes, drive down poorly maintained roads, or even hit a curb, your alignment can be affected.
The general recommendation is to have your alignment checked at the first signs of misalignment, once a year, every 5,000 to 7,500 miles or during every oil change.
Your vehicle manufacturer may also recommend an alignment inspection as part of the vehicle’s ongoing maintenance.