WHEEL ALIGNMENT IN ALLEN, TX
WHEEL ALIGNMENT IN LAYMAN’S TERMS
My service advisor tells me that my car needs a wheel alignment!
Well, to begin with, what is a wheel alignment?
Great question!
Let’s think of a shopping cart that is brand new versus one that has been loaded and unloaded, beaten and crashed against parking stops, curbs, and other carts for years.
Most of us have had the experience of pushing the shiny new carts that are easy to handle and the ones that are hard to push because the cart’s wheels are not so straight anymore. Sometimes these shopping carts will go whichever way they want when we try to push them. This condition is very similar to what happens to our daily driver car or truck.
If we can picture in our minds the wheels of the new shopping cart all pointing the exact same direction and standing perfectly straight up as we push the cart forward in a straight line, the cart would require minimum effort to push and would actually go further without too much pushing effort because the wheels are rolling ON the floor surface evenly and in cooperation with each other. Think of this like shopping cart wheels team work, every wheel helps the cart the same way and the cart performs as intended. No issues here.
However, the cart that has had the years of service and the rough life doesn’t perform as well because its wheels aren’t all working in the same plan. The team isn’t working 100% as some wheels are pointing a little to the left, some a little to the right, some are tilted a bit inwards some a bit outwards etc. The wheels are not so much rolling ON the floor surface as they are rolling AGAINST the surface causing friction. One must use more effort to get these carts to move. On your car, this would cause the engine to work harder and use more fuel.
Remember the shopping cart that we pushed that tried to go whichever way it wanted? This happens in our vehicles because their wheels are not pointing as designed.
In a nutshell, this is what a wheel alignment is about.
How does a car or truck get aligned at EBA Automotive?
Car and truck wheels get realigned by technicians using special equipment with lasers and cameras and fancy stuff like that – not joking, it really is like that.
Want to know more? Keep reading!
What causes my vehicle’s wheels to be “out of whack” or misaligned if my car was ok before?
There are different reasons why the wheels in your car or truck can get out of alignment, normal wear and tear being one of the most common ones.
The suspension in your car, which can be thought of as the part that allows you car to be “bouncy” or feel “smooth” as you drive over rough surfaces, speed bumps, gravel roads, potholes etc., is made of many components and these components have joints and bushings (think of these like the human body joints that allow us to move our arms, legs, fingers etc. as needed). Car and truck joints allow the vehicle’s components to move, steer the wheels and allow the car to bounce and sway as needed. If your car didn’t have these components it could not steer and it would have a horrible ride that could even hurt you if the car drove over something big or hard enough. Kind of like a buckboard wagon – if you are old enough to know what a buckboard wagon is! These components will wear over time and the wear of said components will cause the alignment to start becoming…… well, misaligned.
What else causes a car to be misaligned?
Replacing worn steering or suspension components will require the car to be realigned because these components have adjustments as part of their design once installed. Also, if the car has been in an accident, even a small accident like running off the road or hitting a curb, can damage steering and suspension components and as we read before, their replacement will require adjustments (alignment).
Are all alignments the same?
Well, yes and no.
Simply speaking, all alignments are about getting the wheels in your car or truck back to pointing where they should; however, not all cars or trucks align the same way. Confusing? No worries! Here is a simple explanation: in some cars all four wheels are alignable or adjustable, where in others only the front will be able to be aligned. This is because vehicles are built differently. For example, a big truck that has four wheels in the back, usually referred to as a “Dualie”, normally used to carry or pull heavy loads, will have an axle in the rear that has no adjustments, so only the front wheels will be aligned. This is usually called a “front end alignment”.
Other smaller cars can have adjustments on all four wheels. This is normally referred to as a four-wheel alignment.
Confused still?
Your service advisor at EBA Automotive will recommend the correct alignment type for your car so you don’t have to worry about this part.
Whether it is a 4-wheel alignment, a front-end alignment, an alignment for a dual wheel truck with extended cab or if you drive a compact car, EBA Automotive can help, give us a call and we will take care of the rest.
Can my alignment cost more than what was initially estimated?
It’s possible, this usually has to do with the adjustments that we previously covered and here is why:
There are 3 main angles that are adjusted in a car while being aligned. These angles are named Caster, Camber, and Toe. Manufacturers provide adjustment points for the technician to set said adjustments. A problem can arise when the technician finds one of these angles to be “off” or out of specification, and there is no adjustment point provided by the vehicle’s manufacturer. In other words, it cannot be adjusted. Luckily, the aftermarket industry has made parts that can be installed to make such adjustments, but it takes additional labor and parts cost. Some of the options here are to align as best possible or to source aftermarket adjustable parts, install them and perform the adjustments. You can always choose to adjust as best as possible and the price should remain the same, though you are encouraged to ask your service advisor questions here to choose the best option at the time.
