Summary
- The wheel alignment is a process that ensures that the wheels are parallel to one another.
- It ensures that your car runs smoothly and has no problems with handling, braking, or tire wear. It improves gas mileage and safety.
- Rash driving over potholes, hitting curbs or road debris, a car’s faulty suspension system, uneven tire wear, and bad steering assembly may cause improper wheel alignment.
- If the suspension system, steering assembly, wheel bearings, and wheel balancing are in good condition, the process of wheel alignment can be completed within an hour.
Wheel Alignment & Its Benefits
Wheel alignment is the adjustment of the angles of the wheels so that they are set to the manufacturer’s specifications. It is considered one of the most crucial aspects of vehicle maintenance.
Alignment angles are measured in degrees, with 0 degrees being straight ahead and 90 degrees being perpendicular to the ground. If it’s not aligned, technicians use a machine called a wheel aligner to adjust it so that all four wheels are parallel with one another.
Benefits of Wheel Alignment
- It ensures that your car runs smoothly and has no problems with handling, braking, or tire wear [1].
- It assures that the car travels in a straight line and that all four tires wear evenly.
- It improves your gas mileage or reduces fuel consumption [2]
- It improves road grip and decreases the chances of a road accident, which may occur due to skidding or sliding of the car’s wheels.
Reasons for a Bad Wheel Alignment
Many different factors can cause wheel alignment problems. These include, but are not limited to:
Rash Driving Over Potholes
Rash driving on potholes is one of the main reasons that cause bad wheel alignment. When a car is driven rashly on a pothole, it makes its tires jump up and down with great force. This forceful movement shakes the entire car. The shaking can loosen or break the bolts that hold your wheel in place and dislodge parts of the suspension system.
Hitting Curbs or Road Debris
When a driver hits curbs or road debris, it can cause bad wheel alignment. This is because the impact causes the wheels to move out of their normal position. It also pushes the tire to wear on one side more than the other and renders uneven wear on tires.
Car’s Faulty Suspension System
The first and most common factor is the car’s suspension system. A car’s suspension system is made of many parts. Their function is to absorb the kinetic energy generated while the vehicle is being driven on bumps and provide the driver and passengers with a smooth and safe drive. A car’s suspension system is important because it connects the vehicle to the wheels. Tires get unaligned when the suspension system gets out of adjustment [3]. When any part/parts of the car’s suspension system wear out, they disturb the suspension’s adjustment, and resultantly, the wheels get unaligned.
Uneven Tire Wear
Another cause of bad wheel alignment is uneven tire wear. As the tires wear down, they tend to become unbalanced. While driving on a flat surface, unbalanced tires cause the car to pull in one direction. Such action of unbalanced tires not only causes the suspension parts to wear out but disturbs wheel alignment too.
Bad Steering Assembly
A bad steering assembly can also cause a bad wheel alignment. If there is too much play in the steering linkage, it will affect how much force is needed to make turns, and this will lead to an improper wheel alignment.
How Long Does an Alignment Take?
Although alignment is not a lengthy process and can be completed within an hour; however, certain factors may elongate the time required to complete the wheel alignment process.
Here is the step-by-step process followed to complete the wheel alignment task; usually, it takes not more than an hour.
Pre-conditions for Having a Wheel Alignment
As has already been discussed, it almost takes an hour to complete the wheel alignment procedure; however, certain pre-conditions must be met; otherwise, wheel alignment may take longer than an hour. Therefore, a mechanic first needs to meet these pre-conditions before performing the wheel alignment procedure.
- The suspension system must not have any leaks or broken parts.
- The steering system must not have any leaks or broken parts.
- The suspension system must not have any leaks or broken parts.
- The steering system must not have any leaks or broken parts.
- Wheel bearing should not be broken and loose.
- There should not be a tire imbalance.
- There should not be uneven tire wear.
- Tires should be properly inflated.
Procedure Involved in the Wheel Alignment
A wheel alignment can be performed with a laser, a dial indicator, or a special tool called an alignment bar. The wheel alignment procedure involves the following steps:
1. Examination
In the first step, the car is thoroughly examined to get an idea about how bad the alignment is and if there is any other mechanical problem that caused the wheel alignment to turn bad. To examine, the mechanic takes a test drive of the car and then checks the vehicle’s suspension and tires. If everything is in order, the mechanic moves to adjustment of angles.
2. Adjustment of Angles
In this step, the mechanic hooks up your vehicle to the alignment machine. By using this machine, the mechanic adjusts the angles of the suspension. These adjustments set the angles of the wheels according to the manufacturer’s specifications. The adjustment of these angles is divided into four main categories. These categories are classified into toe, camber, caster, and thrust [4].
- Toe
Toe wheel alignment is the angle between the wheel’s centerline and a line perpendicular to the ground. It is an important measurement because it affects how well your car’s wheels align. If your wheels are not aligned, you may experience uneven tire wear, vibrations, and a rougher ride. The amount of toe-in wheel alignment is measured in degrees and can be set using a dial or shims.
- Camber
The camber in a wheel alignment refers to the angle created by the top of the tire leaning inward or outward relative to the vertical plane of motion. Camber angles are usually measured in degrees and typically range between -0° and +12°, with 0° being straight up and down. To measure the camber angle, an inclinometer is used. The inclinometer measures the inclination of a surface relative to a perpendicular plane. The device can be mounted on either side of the surface and will provide accurate readings for both sides.
- Caster
Caster helps the vehicle stay on a straight course while moving through sharp turns, i.e., mountain roads. The caster can be identified from the side view of the car. Caster is further divided into two types. In a positive caster, the wheel will be bent towards the driver. In a negative caster, the wheel will be bent towards the front of the car.
- Thrust
This angle refers to the position where the front and rear axles are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground. In such an alignment, the rear wheels and axle are realigned to be parallel with the front axle and perpendicular to the car’s center line.
After performing the alignment of angles, the mechanic loses the steering wheel to re-center it. After re-centering the steering wheel, it gets tightened, and the car is handed over to the customer to test it.
