Stop problems before they happen.You should always take your car to a professional for a wheel alignment check if any of these apply to you:

▪ Your vehicle has hit something hard like a pothole or a curb.

▪ You notice your tires are wearing abnormally or unevenly.

▪ Your vehicle pulls or drifts to one side; your steering wheel doesn’t return easily after you make a turn;

your steering wheel stays at an angle even when you’re driving straight.

▪ Your buy a new set of tires that you want to last.

▪ You’ve replaced steering or suspension parts.

Why is an alignment so important?Normal wheel alignment on cars is designed to minimize wear and tear on tires and maximize driver and passenger comfort. The correct alignment of all four wheels not only reduces tire wear to increase their life and performance, it also increases fuel economy and improves handling and driving safety by reducing stability and steering problems.

How are wheels aligned? An auto repair shop North Dallas TX will align your car’s wheels by adjusting their angles. Camber, caster and toe are the three main angle adjustments.

▪ Camber is the angle that the wheels lean away from the vertical line of your car when viewed from the

front. If the wheels lean too far one way or the other, they will cause uneven tire wear. With positive

camber, the top of the wheel leans away from the car. The top of the wheel leans in toward the car with

negative camber. When there is too much difference between the camber angles of the front tires,

you will notice that your car may pull to the left or right.

▪ Caster is the angle created by the steering pivot point from the front to the back of the car. If the line is

angled forward, then caster is positive. If the line is angled backward, then caster is negative. Caster

misalignments can cause your car to drift or cause problems with steering.

▪ Toe is the direction the wheels are pointing relative to the center line of the car. Toe-in is when the

front of the wheels on an axle are closer together than the rear of the wheels and toe-out is the opposite.

Both will cause uneven wear to your tires.

Most of today’s front wheel-drive cars no longer have adjustable camber and caster – for these cars only toe is adjustable. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t develop problems with your wheel alignment. It simply means that, instead of adjusting parts, your auto repair shop North Dallas TX will have to replace parts. Regardless, wheel alignment issues shouldn’t be ignored. The end result – worn tires, loss of stability and comfort – is still the same. At Christian Brothers Automotive at Midway-George Bush, our ASE-certified technicians have the right equipment to diagnose your alignment problem and the experience to fix it. Call us or visit our website to learn more about our services .