How Is the Wheel Alignment Made?

Most certainly, every experienced car owner has heard about the geometry of the wheels. The wheel alignment needs to be regularly corrected as they tend to change with prolonged operations. For example,  due to wearing elements of the suspension or driving into a larger hole. 

However, not every person understands what the wheel alignment service looks like. In this article, we are going to explain about the wheel alignment. 

Basic parameters of wheel alignment

Firstly, the basic setting is wheel alignment. Toe is the responsible parameter that tells you about the position of the rear wheels concerning each other. The second essential thing is the camber angle, i.e., the angle between the pane and vertical of the wheel. The third necessary element of the wheel alignment is the kingpin angle. 

This, in turn, is the angle that creates between the steering spindle and the vertical line of the wheel. The last parameter is the lead angle of the steering knuckle, i.e., the angle between the axle of the steering knuckle and the vertical straight line of the wheel (when inspected from the car's side). 

Adjusting the settings

As a basic car owner, you cannot check and adjust the wheel alignment by yourself. Such service is performed by a specialized car repair services with dedicated tools and professional mechanics who can handle it. After making the measurements, the geometry is decided by adjusting the steering rod's length, toe rods and by tightening the screws of the rocker arm. 

How to recognize a misaligned wheel alignment?

The most evident sign of a problem with the wheel alignment is the "pulling" of the vehicle in one direction while releasing the steering wheel on a straight road. In some cases, poorly adjusted wheel alignment makes itself evident by the car's delayed response after starting the steering wheel. The car owner may also notice the squeaking of tires while cornering and notice faster or uneven wear of the car's tires. In each of the following cases, an immediate visit to the
car service becomes unavoidable. 

As you can effortlessly guess, incorrect wheel alignment adversely affects driving safety and makes it challenging to control the car. In such cases, the risk of skidding increases significantly. The car drags more and consumes more fuel, and the service life of the steering and suspension parts also gets reduced. In the case of poor wheel alignment, tires can wear up to half without taking time.

Setting the wheel alignment is an essential activity that every car owner should remember. This adjustment allows you to increase safety levels and driving comfort. Moreover, a vehicle with a properly set geometry utilizes less fuel (less resistance). Correctly set wheel geometry significantly extends the tire's life, as well as steering and suspension elements.

About the Company:

Getpitstop offers professional car repair services in all the metro cities of India. Our garage partner network consists of over 80 services for passenger cars. Our services provide maintenance and repair services, and we serve individual and business customers - car fleets.