Did you know that majority of vehicles on the road today are probably due for an alignment? At Car Smart Auto Service we take vehicle alignment seriously, and perform an alignment check on every vehicle that arrives at our facility.
A wheel alignment is a type of vehicle maintenance that should be done on a regular basis. The service consists of our technicians using state of the art technology to adjust the angles of the wheels on your vehicle to meet car manufacturer’s specifications.
The most common question we get asked, is how do I know if I need a wheel alignment? Your vehicle may need an alignment if:
Any of the symptoms listed above can indicate your alignment being off. Alignments are performed in order to help extend the life of your vehicle. So driving your car, truck, van, SUV or any vehicle with bad alignment can cause issues with other vehicle components.
The most obvious issue a driver can see is the tread on your tires. The tread will wear unevenly as well as wear down significantly faster than normal if alignment is off. Other parts and components can also wear faster, if the engine has extra strain placed on it to compensate for the misalignment.
If you noticed when driving to your last destination some of the symptoms listed above and wonder if your vehicle is out of alignment, you can stop by the shop or book an appointment for an alignment check. Our team can conduct an alignment check, where we measure the vehicles wheel angles to determine if they are correct or if they need attention.
We inspect your tires for signs of damage or wear as well as vehicle suspension and steering for possible problems. During this shorter service, if we determine your vehicle has proper alignment, we can then move on to diagnosing a possible other problem. If we see that the wheel alignment needs adjustment, than we can book you in for the full service to get it corrected.
If it has been determined that your vehicle requires a wheel alignment, our qualified technicians can help! When working on fixing the alignment of a vehicle, our technicians focus on three main things: the camber, toe and caster.
Technicians will analyze the current camber of the vehicle. Camber refers to the tilt of a wheel inward or outward when looking at the front of your vehicle and is measured in degrees. If the tires tilt inward that is considered negative camber and if the tires tilt outward that is considered positive camber. Zero camber means the tire is perfectly vertical.
Having proper camber alignment can help reduce wear on bearings, ball joints and other wheel suspension components. The required percentage for alignment of camber can differ for each vehicle.
The toe position refers to how the wheels are aimed when looking above down on the vehicle. When the wheels are aimed inwards, it is a toe in. When the wheels are aimed outwards it is a toe out. There is also zero toe, which means the wheels are aligned straight ahead with no angle.
The position of the toe is also measured in degrees, and the required angles differ depending on the vehicle.
The caster position refers to the angle of the steering axis of each front wheel when looking at the vehicle from the side. When the axis tilts backwards that results in a positive caster, and when it tilts forward it results in a negative caster. The caster can also be completely centered as a third option. The Caster is also measured in degrees, and having proper alignment can help with steering, stability and cornering.
Alignment work is best left up to the professionals. Give Car Smart Auto Service a Call today to book your next alignment service. Our shop has top of the line equipment and only uses the best quality products for each customer. Our team is professionally trained and can handle any service or repair your vehicle may need.
Still not sure? Check out our 190+ Google reviews with a 4.5 star rating to see what past and current customers have to say. We are proud to offer our automotive services to our Sumner community as well as a number of other local areas such as Puyallup, Fife, Milton, South Hill and Alderton to name a few.
Our auto repair shop is the solution for your vehicle needs. Excellent workmanship is important to us, so we complete each repair with a dedication to quality. You can trust our honest and reputable mechanics for outstanding workmanship done at competitive rates.
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