Straight wheel, straight line, tires that last
High-precision alignment for anything that pulls, wanders or wears its tires on one edge, plus tire mounting and balancing in the same bay. Most alignments are done while you wait or within the day.
Three things a misaligned car does
- It pulls. Loosen your grip on a flat, straight road and the car drifts left or right. (A low tire can do this too, so we check pressures first.)
- The steering wheel sits crooked. You are driving straight but the wheel is off-center, or it shimmies at speed.
- The tires wear unevenly. The inside or outside edge goes bald while the middle looks new. Run a hand across the tread and feel for a saw-tooth edge.
Any one of these after a pothole, a curb strike or a set of new tires is reason enough. Left alone, misalignment quietly scrubs off tread and costs fuel, and a new set of tires can be ruined in a few thousand miles.
Camber, toe and caster: the three angles
An alignment adjusts the suspension so the wheels sit at the angles the manufacturer designed, measured on the rack to fractions of a degree. These are the three that matter.
Camber
The tilt of the tire seen from the front. Too much inward or outward lean and one edge of the tire carries all the load and wears first.
Toe
Seen from above, whether the front of the tires point slightly in or out. The angle most often knocked out by a pothole, and the main cause of saw-tooth tread wear.
Caster
The forward or backward tilt of the steering axis, seen from the side. Right, and the wheel returns to center on its own and the car tracks straight; wrong, and it wanders.
You get the before-and-after numbers. If a worn part (a tie-rod end, a ball joint, a bent control arm) is what put the angles out, you hear that first, because an alignment on a loose part does not hold.
The four times an alignment pays for itself
New tires
The single best moment. New rubber on an out-of-line car is the most expensive way to find out it was out of line.
After a hit
A pothole on Veirs Mill Road, a curb in a parking garage, a minor collision. If the steering felt different afterward, it probably is.
After suspension work
Struts, control arms, tie rods and ball joints all move the geometry. A job that touches them finishes on the alignment rack.
Uneven wear you can feel
Catch it early and the tires may still be saved. Catch it late and the alignment is the cheap part of the bill.
Tire mounting & balancing
New tires mounted and computer-balanced here. A vibration through the seat at highway speed is usually balance, not alignment. We tell you which.
Not sure?
Call to book a look, or walk in and wait your turn. Checking whether the alignment is out is quick; you only pay for an adjustment if one is needed.