Thai
Elite Member
The importance of proper wheel alignment
by Jim Kerr
Keeping your vehicle travelling in a straight line on slippery and rutted winter streets can be a challenge. Rough roads and cold, stiff suspensions tend to bounce a vehicle around. Dragging brake pads and shoes can cause a vehicle to pull and make it difficult to keep straight, but so can other vehicle problems. Incorrect wheel alignment is one of them.
In an ideal world, your vehicle's wheels and tires would sit perfectly vertical and point straight ahead. Tires would have their maximum contact with the road and there would be no bumps on the road. Sounds great, but a vehicle's suspension has many moveable parts and wherever there is a joint, there is a little play or movement. Correct wheel alignment tends to compensate for this play and more.
There are three main angles measured when an alignment is performed on a vehicle: Camber, caster and toe. Camber is the in or out tilt of the tire at the top. Most vehicles will have close to zero degrees camber, which means the tire is sitting vertically. Performance vehicles may have the tire tipped in at the top so during cornering the body roll will bring the camber close to zero for the best traction. As long as the camber is within about
by Jim Kerr
Keeping your vehicle travelling in a straight line on slippery and rutted winter streets can be a challenge. Rough roads and cold, stiff suspensions tend to bounce a vehicle around. Dragging brake pads and shoes can cause a vehicle to pull and make it difficult to keep straight, but so can other vehicle problems. Incorrect wheel alignment is one of them.
In an ideal world, your vehicle's wheels and tires would sit perfectly vertical and point straight ahead. Tires would have their maximum contact with the road and there would be no bumps on the road. Sounds great, but a vehicle's suspension has many moveable parts and wherever there is a joint, there is a little play or movement. Correct wheel alignment tends to compensate for this play and more.
There are three main angles measured when an alignment is performed on a vehicle: Camber, caster and toe. Camber is the in or out tilt of the tire at the top. Most vehicles will have close to zero degrees camber, which means the tire is sitting vertically. Performance vehicles may have the tire tipped in at the top so during cornering the body roll will bring the camber close to zero for the best traction. As long as the camber is within about
