Wheel Alignment For Cars, SUVs & 4WDs

Wheel Alignment For Cars, SUVs & 4WDs

If the wheel alignment is out you risk wearing out your tyres and suspension prematurely. At worst, your car can be unpredictable and dangerous over bumps or when braking.

Book your in for a wheel alignment immediately if you notice that your car:

Pulls to one side while driving or braking,
The steering wheel is off-centre or
If you notice the tyres wearing unevenly.

Hitting potholes, kerbs, or speed bumps can jolt the suspension and knock the wheels out of their correct angles.

If you own a four-wheel-drive and enjoy rough tracks the suspension will take a pounding. It's wise to save those expensive off-road tyres by getting a wheel alignment check more often than road going vehicles. After 5,000kms or after a particularly rough trip.

Lowered suspension or lifted suspension changes the suspension geometry and alignment. You'll need a wheel alignment check and adjustment if the suspension or steering is modified.

Help your tyres last longer with a rotation and a wheel alignment

The wheel alignment of your car changes over time as suspension bushes and components naturally wear. This change happens gradually and it's difficult to notice.

You'd be mad not to get your cars wheel alignment checked if you've just purchased new tyres. In fact, stores sometimes offer a discount wheel alignment when you purchase 4 tyres.

To make your tyres last longer, it's a good idea to rotate them and align the wheels every 10,000 kilometres. This gives the hard working tyres a rest and ensures your wear evenly and last longer. Front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars benefit by rotating tyres between the front and rear.

All-wheel-drive vehicles like SUVs benefit from rotating tyres diagonally.

Is a Front-end wheel alignment enough?

The cheapest and fastest alignment is to simply have the toe angle of the front wheels adjusted. Otherwise known as a toe and go. This only deals with the direction the wheels on the front axel are pointing.

A proper front wheel alignment checks and adjusts the camber and caster too. Caster is the tilt of the wheels when viewed from the front of the car. If the top of the tyre tilts inwards, it is negative camber. Racing cars often have more negative camber for better cornering.

Caster is the tilt of the steering axis (the line through your suspension) when viewed from the side of the car. A positive caster means the steering axis tilts back toward the driver. Caster affects steering stability, feel, and how well the wheels return to centre after turning.

Complicated caster and camber measurements are easy with modern wheel alignment machines. Most car manufacturers design the front axles to allow for adjustment.

Do you need a four-wheel alignment?

When your car is having the front done, the technician will discover if the rear wheels are out of alignment too. Adjusting the rear axle isn't as straight forward as the front suspension. As a result a four wheel alignment may be more time-consuming and expensive.

Cars with independent rear suspension usually have adjustment capability for camber, caster and toe like the front-end. The difference with the rear is that it has an extra measurement called the thrust angle.

The thrust angle is the direction the rear wheels point. It is compared to the vehicle’s centerline. The centerline is an imaginary line that runs straight down the middle of the car.

If the thrust angle is not perfectly straight the vehicle will "dog track". It'll drive at an angle relative to the direction the car is travelling. Rather than straight ahead. A bit like a shopping trolley.

Find a tyre shop near you that does wheel alignments.

Not all tyre shops perform wheel alignments. Stores have to invest in a perfectly level hoist with turntables as well as a precision wheel aligner. That's about a $50,000 investment. They also need a wheel alignment technician or a trained mechanic.

The vast majority of Tyres and More stores have wheel alignment machines. Contact your nearest store and book your car, SUV or 4WD in. Your car will drive better and you'll reduce tyre wear.