Is your car's steering wheel not pointing straight? Are your tires wearing unevenly? Well, your car's wheel alignment is probably out of whack. Wheel alignment is one of those forgettable maintenance measures that can suddenly become a big problem.

What is the purpose of a wheel alignment?

Wheel alignment (also known as tire alignment) is a service that adjusts the vehicle's suspension to ensure that all wheels are oriented correctly for each other and to the road. In practice, wheel alignment ensures that each wheel points in the same direction and that each tire maintains optimal contact with the road. It also helps to maximize your tire investment by preventing certain types of uneven tire wear.

Common causes of bad wheel alignment

Here are just a few of the symptoms, causes, and issues that can arise from a faulty wheel alignment.

Improper Tire Wear: If your alignment is off, your tires can wear irregularly due to the uneven contact patch between the tire and the pavement.

Pulling Side-to-Side: As your alignment worsens, your steering could pull either to the left or the right, depending on where the alignment is off.

Cocked Steering Wheel: If your alignment is off, your steering wheel might not be perfectly centered when driving.

Rocks, Potholes, Curbs: Hitting road debris such as rocks, dropping a wheel into a large pothole, or hitting a curb with some vigor can all negatively affect your car's alignment. 

What is the wheel alignment process?

The wheel alignment process involves using a wheel alignment machine to measure and restore the factory settings of three angles in your vehicle's suspension system.

Camber angle: The vertical tilt of the side of the wheel relative to the side of the vehicle, as viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle.

Steering Angle: The tilt of the steering axle relative to a theoretical vertical straight line, as viewed from the side of the vehicle.

Toe angle: The lateral tilt of one side of the wheel relative to the center of the vehicle as viewed from above the vehicle.

Wheel alignment requires meticulous measurements on an alignment machine, the work of a qualified mechanic using precision equipment. And high-performance wheel alignment machines you can find at RoadBuck, a professional auto repair equipment manufacturer in China.

Wheel Alignment Terms

Toe-In: The wheel is pulled inward, pointing toward the middle of the car's grille.

Toe-Out: The wheel is pushed outward, pointing toward the outside of the car.

Negative Camber: The top of the wheel is pulled inward, pointing toward the middle of the car's hood.

Positive Camber: The top of the wheel is pushed outward, pointing toward the pavement.

Negative Caster: The suspension is canted toward the front of the car.

Positive Caster: The suspension is canted toward the cabin of the car.

What are caster, camber and toe?

Caster, camber and toe are the three primary angles calibrated during a wheel alignment. Every vehicle has manufacturer-specified settings for each, and when all three are properly set, the car is in proper alignment.

Here's a quick explanation of each angle and its importance to your tire's performance.

Caster – Imagine standing at the side of your vehicle with a vertical line through the center of your tires. If the steering axis is tilted forward past that line, it's considered a negative caster; if it's tilted rearward, behind the line, it's positive. If the vertical line and steering match up exactly, it's zero degrees caster.

Caster mostly impacts steering and handling. A higher (more positive) caster provides greater stability, while a lower caster delivers more responsive handling.

Camber – Now imagine you're standing at the front of your car, looking at your wheels. If the wheel leans outward, then the camber is positive; if it leans towards the center, it's negative.

Camber plays a huge role in how tires corner and wear. If the camber is set out of the manufacturer's specified range, it can cause tires to wear prematurely and cause handling issues and poor cornering.

Toe – Toe is the difference in distance between the front and back of the tires. It should be close to zero but differs by the vehicle manufacturer. Toe-in occurs when the front tires are too close to each other, and toe-out occurs when it's the back tires.

Of all three angles, the toe is the most likely to fall out of alignment first. When the toe is out of alignment, the tire's life and fuel efficiency will decrease, which costs you money.

How do you know your vehicle needs a wheel alignment?

When your vehicle needs a wheel alignment, you may notice these symptoms with your steering wheel and tires.

Rolling to the right or left: Point your steering wheel straight ahead on a level road.

Crooked steering wheel: You're driving straight ahead, but your steering wheel looks as if you're making a turn.

Tire noise: The misaligned tires are dragged in a different direction than they're pointed toward.

Uneven tire wear: You see one of these telltale tread patterns: Diagonal wipe, feathering, camber wear, or toe wear. Or you notice a mismatch in tread wear between the two front tires or the two back tires.

It's generally recommended to get your wheels aligned every 6,000 miles. For routine inspection, your alignment should be checked every 6 months and whenever you get new tires installed.

How long does a wheel alignment take?

As a stand-alone task, a wheel alignment takes approximately one hour. Replacing any damaged parts along the way will take additional time. Please allow more time for other tire and wheel services while the wheel alignment is being performed.

How long does a wheel alignment last?

Most vehicle manufacturers do not include wheel alignments as part of their standard maintenance program, so we recommend having a wheel alignment every one to two years. We highly recommend wheel alignments with the purchase of new tires so that you have even tread wear from day one. Also, checking your alignment when you rotate or balance your tires is a good idea.

Does my car need a two- or four-wheel alignment?

Whether you align just two or four wheels depends on your vehicle's drivetrain and suspension type. However, all modern wheel alignment is done as a four-wheel system. Regardless of whether the rear wheels are adjustable, you should measure the rear wheel alignment angle and align the front wheels with the rear wheels.

How does my vehicle's wheel alignment affect my tires?

When your wheels are misaligned, your tires will wear out unevenly more quickly and can create a dangerous driving scenario. Also, when tires wear unevenly, their lifespan is shortened, causing the need to replace them more frequently, and they can become very expensive over the lifetime of owning your vehicle.

The wheel alignment machine offers many benefits, including:

Make your ride smoother

Make your vehicle handle properly

Help your car go in a straight line on the road

Prevent expensive problems with your steering or suspension

Promote even tire wear

Increase fuel efficiency

Can tire alignment cause vibration?

Poor tire alignment can cause your vehicle to vibrate when misaligned wheels are pointing in different directions. The wheels and tires experience strain and friction as they push and pull against each other. As your tire tread wears down at the point of stress, your ride becomes rougher.

Misaligned wheels are only one because of your car's vibration. If you feel vibrations in your steering wheel, you may need to have your tires balanced on a given highway. And wheel vibrations can cause your suspension to service as well as unbalance your tires.

How is a wheel alignment done?

In general, a wheel alignment is completed by trained technicians who use precise measuring technology to adjust a car's toe and camber in relation to the steering wheel.

At the shop, the wheel alignment is mainly consisting of four primary pieces of equipment used to check wheel alignment. It includes a lift, a computer module, post-mounted cameras (usually looks like a cross in front of the vehicle), and a set of four targets/sensors. Once the car is lifted, a target is attached to the outside of each wheel. The cameras/readers work with the targets from that position to record measurements. Those measurements are then transmitted and displayed on the computer. This process should generally take about an hour to complete.

This is one of the rare cases when we recommand taking cars to the professionals because it's not that expensive, and the pros have equipment that makes the task much simpler, quicker, and more exact. However, it is possible to check and adjust your alignment at home if that's what you prefer.