One of the best things you can do to improve the safety and enjoyment of driving your car is to have it properly aligned. Our skilled and experienced technicians expertly adjust alignment to optimize tire wear and provide stable handling for daily driven vehicles, and consult with and optimize spec alignments to help our customers who participate in track and HPDE events get the most out of their sessions.
When should you get your vehicle aligned?
1. When you get new tires mounted on your vehicle you should also have the alignment checked and adjusted, especially if the old tires exhibited abnormal wear on the inner or outer edges. As we perform adjustment during the alignment, we can often spot other things you should have addressed such as worn tie rod ends, ball joints, control arm bushings, sway bar bushings and end links.
2. When preparing for track events or following events when you have observed how your vehicle handles and wish to change some of the dynamics such as decreasing understeer. Perhaps you want more camber to increase grip, or zero toe for quicker steering response, or more rear toe for increased stability.
3. After you have replaced steering or suspension components such as struts, control arms, tie rod ends, a steering rack, or installed coil overs or lowering springs. Springs settle over time, so an initial alignment should be performed after allowing new springs to settle at least overnight, and then again after 500 miles or 4-6 weeks when the springs are fully settled.
4. If you have hit a severe pot hole or other road hazard, and / or when you notice that your vehicle “pulls” to one side, or when your steering wheel is turned slightly to the left or right in order to steer straight ahead. The forces generated by something as irritating as a pot hole can range from hundreds to thousands of pounds of force. This kind of hit to your suspension should be checked and can often be adjusted back to normal settings on the alignment machine.
5. If you spot unusual tire wear. Are your tires beginning to wear on the insides only? (see example below) Are the outside edges wearing? These can be signs that your toe settings have changed and need to be adjusted before you prematurely wear out your tires.
Give us a call and ask us if an alignment check is in order. We can handle most vehicles and wheels.
What can you do before you show up to make the most out of an alignment?
1. Fill up your fuel tank. The difference between an empty tank and a full tank can be a couple of hundred pounds of weight. This can affect the settings. (Some drives might want to use a 1/2 tank to minimize the difference in values between a full and empty tank)
2. Check and adjust your tire pressures. Low tire pressures can lead to premature tire wear and potential failure and will also affect the readings on the alignment machine. It is a good practice to keep an eye on your tire pressures to ensure your safety and to achieve the best fuel mileage. (We will also check them during the alignment process)
Our software and calibrations are updated annually to enable us to support current and past models and enable us to support track enthusiasts as well as daily drivers.
