A car alignment is the process of adjusting the position of the wheels to the proper angle to the ground and to the other wheels. It is an important part of vehicle maintenance to avoid steering problems and premature tire wear.
There are several ways to tell when it’s time for your car to undergo an alignment. The easiest way, without even getting out of the car is to loosen your grip on the steering wheel while driving on a straight and smooth pavement. Does your car pull to the left or right or does it continue to travel straight? If the vehicle travels straight, your car has no alignment problem.
If you need to constantly apply pressure to the wheel to keep the car go straight, your car may have camber problem. Camber is the angle at which the wheels are positioned with the road. There is misalignment if the top of the tires are leaning slightly inward (negative) or slightly outward (positive), viewed from the front of your vehicle.
Wandering on a straight level road is another sign of an improperly aligned car. If your car consistently pulls to one side because of camber, it can also have other steering problems because of caster. Caster is the angle of the steering pivot.
Uneven or rapid tire wear is one the most obvious symptoms of misalignment. The camber as well as toe-in will affect how a tire wears. Toe-in is the distance between the front and the back ends of the two front tires. It means that the front tires are not parallel to each other. Excessively worn out treads on the outside of the tire could mean the camber is too positive, or there is too much toe-in. Inside tire wear would indicate the opposite alignment problem.
ABQ Transmission and Auto Repair