What is an alignment? Well, it's getting your car or truck lined up… but what does that mean exactly.
When we talk about Alignments what we are talking about is getting all 4 wheels pointed in the same direction and rolling smoothly down the road. We talked last week about tires and tire wear. A big factor in tire wear is a bad alignment. Besides improper tire wear a bad alignment will cause your car or truck to pull to one side going down the road. It can also have poor handling in general.
There are a lot of adjustments to be made on a typical modern car, that's why we have a computer and laser system to help make these changes. Pictured is a car on our rack with the sensors on each wheel and the computer screen displaying the desired alignment numbers and current numbers so our technicians know how much adjustment is needed.
Why do alignments need to be checked? Because your alignment involves your car’s suspension, steering, wheels and tires there are a lot of moving parts that are regular maintenance items. Such as ball joints, tie rods, and various bearings and bushings. All these items and more are considered wear items and will need to be replaced at regular intervals in your car or truck’s lifetime.
Because of this, when they wear, they can start to affect your car’s overall alignment. That's why we recommend an alignment check at least once a year even if you don’t notice an issue yet. Also if you do notice abnormal tire wear or your car starts to pull going down the road etc.
Anytime you install new tires we always recommend an alignment to make sure you get as many miles as possible out of your new set of tires.
At Crabtree Automotive, we work on all makes and models, even European. From Honda to Audi and everything in between! So give us a call or schedule an appointment today with the link below.
https://www.crabtreeautorepair.com/appointments