Regular alignments are as important as rotations for maintaining your tires. While rotations switch your tires around to keep them even, alignment sets them straight, returning each wheel to a perfectly parallel position. It’s a good idea to book an alignment service twice a year at your local Buick dealership.
Tire Alignment Service Offered at Your Buick Dealership
Why Tires Become Misaligned
Whenever your tires are bumped or jolted by potholes, curbs, or rocky surfaces, they become ever-so-slightly less perfectly aligned. This means the suspension holding each wheel in place has been adjusted. Uneven tires also push themselves out of proper alignment. For most drivers, it takes a long time for tires to become noticeably misaligned, when their handling and steering eventually start to suffer.
The Three Angles of a Car Tire
Tire alignment is measured on three angles. The toe angle can be seen from above and measures whether the tires are pointed inward or outward, which would steer the tire toward the left or right. The camber angle is seen most clearly from the front of the car, measuring whether the tops of the wheels are leaning inward or outward. The caster angle, which can be seen from the side, measures whether the wheel’s steering axis is tilted forward or backward.
Problems Caused By Bad Alignment
When car tires aren’t straight anymore, steering can become looser and less accurate, and the vehicle may veer off to one side. The tires will also develop uneven wear patterns, which lessens traction and heightens the risk of blowouts.
Your car’s overall road noise and vibrations will also increase, along with rolling resistance and fuel costs. Eventually, your wheels will look clearly crooked, especially when viewed directly from the front.
First, Measure Your Alignment
Naturally, drivers who spend most of their time on well-maintained highways tend to have better alignment than frequent off-roaders. As alignment issues vary from driver to driver, you’ll need to have the angles of each wheel measured regularly to determine how it’s doing. It makes sense to have an alignment check carried out twice a year, each time you have your tires rotated.
Correct Your Alignment When Needed
If any of your wheels are found to be out of alignment, it’s time to correct them. Your car will be raised, and an alignment machine will be attached to each wheel. This machine measures the three angles very precisely, providing computerized readouts that our mechanic can use to adjust the suspension, bringing each wheel back into its original factory alignment. The entire process rarely takes longer than an hour.
Test the alignment of your tires today at Vachon Buick GMC in Old Saybrook, CT.
