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Wheel Services
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Electronic Wheel Alignment
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Why the need for Wheel Alignment?
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Displaying page 1 of 1
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The symptoms of a car that is out of alignment are:
* Uneven or rapid tyre wear
* Pulling or drifting away from a straight line
* Wandering on a straight level road
* Spokes of the steering wheel off to one side while driving on
a straight and level road.
The Various Wheel Alignment Solutions:
Camber: -
Camber is the angle of the wheel, measured in degrees, when viewed
from the front of the vehicle. If the top of the wheel is leaning
out from the center of the car, then the camber is positive ,if
it's leaning in, then the camber is negative. If the camber is
out of adjustment, it will cause tire wear on one side of the
tire's tread. If the camber is too far negative, for instance,
then the tire will wear on the inside of the tread.
If the camber is different from side to side it can cause a pulling
problem. The vehicle will pull to the side with the more positive
camber. On many front-wheel-drive vehicles, camber is not
adjustable. If the camber is out on these cars, it indicates that
something is worn or bent, possibly from an accident and must be
repaired or replaced.
Caster: -
When you turn the steering wheel, the front wheels respond by
turning on a pivot attached to the suspension system. Caster is the
angle of this steering pivot, measured in degrees, when viewed from
the side of the vehicle. If the top of the pivot is leaning toward
the rear of the car, then the caster is positive, if it is leaning
toward the front, it is negative. If the caster is out of
adjustment, it can cause problems in straight line tracking. If the
caster is different from side to side, the vehicle will pull to the
side with the less positive caster. If the caster is equal but too
negative, the steering will be light and the vehicle will wander
and be difficult to keep in a straight line. If the caster is equal
but too positive, the steering will be heavy and the steering wheel
may kick when you hit a bump. Caster has little affect on tyre
wear.
Toe in: -
The toe measurement is the difference in the distance between the
front of the tires and the back of the tyres. It is measured in
fractions of an inch and is usually set close to zero which means
that the wheels are parallel with each other. Toe-in means that the
fronts of the tires are closer to each other than the rears.
Toe-out is just the opposite. An incorrect toe-in will cause rapid
tyre wear to both tires equally. This type of tire wear is called a
saw-tooth wear pattern
Four Wheel Alignment: -
There are two main types of 4-wheel alignments. In each case, the
technician will place an instrument on all four wheels. In the
first type the rear toe and tracking is checked, but all
adjustments are made at the front wheels. This is done on vehicles
that do not have adjustments on the rear. The second type is a full
4-wheel alignment where the adjustments are first made to true up
the rear alignment, then the front is adjusted. A full 4-wheel
alignment will cost more than the other type because there is more
work involved. |
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