Wheel Alignment Services

Car Care For Vehicle Alignment

It doesn’t typically happen overnight, but over time, many drivers experience alignment problems that cause their vehicle to pull to the right or the left. If your steering wheel is off-centered when traveling straight, you likely have an alignment problem on your hands.

The Problem

While alignment issues are uncomfortable, they also cause big problems for your tires. Uneven wear can shorten your tires’ lifespan and even cause a dangerous blowout while you’re driving. If your vehicle is exhibiting any of the following symptoms, it’s imperative that you get your alignment checked out immediately:

• Uneven or Cupped Tire Wear
  • Cupped Wear: Also known as tire scalloping, this wear pattern appears as dips around the edge of your tire tread.
• Vehicle and Floorboard Vibrations at Highway Speeds
• Pulling To One Side When Driving Straight
• Diminished Handling Capability
• Steering Wheel Off-Centered While Driving

You should also get your alignment checked if you’ve recently been in a collision–either with another vehicle or with a curb or parking barrier. Additionally, if you frequently drive over potholes, it’s likely that your vehicle is out of alignment, so your best bet is to get it looked at before bigger, and more costly, problems arise.

Understanding Alignment

Imagine taking a long walk in a pair of shoes with one 3” heel and one 3 1/4” heel. Though a quarter of an inch is a small difference, you would quickly run into problems. You’d be forced to walk with a noticeable limp, and be more careful with each step you take. Over time, your joints and muscles would have to work harder on one side of your body than the other, just to make up for your uneven shoes, leading to lasting trouble for your health.

Now picture your tires as your car’s shoes. Just like the points of a pair of heels, the tire rubber is the only part that actually touches the ground. Even subtle discrepancies in alignment can cause lasting damage to your vehicle’s health and handling ability, and force you to steer more carefully in otherwise safe conditions. If a vehicle is not properly aligned, some joints and mechanisms are forced to do too much work, while others aren’t used at full capacity, eventually requiring costly repairs.

How Christian Brothers Automotive Can Help

Without the correct wheel alignment, your gas mileage, tire life, and overall performance of your vehicle will pay the price. This is why we recommend checking your alignment every 6,000 miles or 6 months.

You may not always notice improper alignment right away. But even subtle changes can cause uneven tire wear and rob your valuable investment of thousands of miles. As your partners in automotive care, we offer a free courtesy inspection check when performing any service. Through our courtesy check, we are usually able to spot alignment problems when changing your oil or performing routine maintenance. However, if you believe you have an alignment problem that needs to be fixed, don’t hesitate to let us know.

When checking your alignment, our experienced technicians consider the following:

• Toe–In an alignment, the toe is the inward or outward slant of your wheels, as seen from the top. An inward tilt would be like standing pigeon-toed and an outward one would be duck feet. Could you walk like that in heels? Probably not very well.
• Camber–This refers to whether your wheels are vertically aligned, perpendicular to the ground. Think of it as the angle of your legs when your feet are either far apart or close together.
• Caster–This one is more complicated, but it has to do with the relationship of the wheels to the steering column and ball joints, steering knuckles, and tie rod ends connecting them. Caster measures how this steering and suspension system, including the steering axis, is connected to the wheels, based on the position of upper and lower tie rods within the wheels.
• Thrust angle–This compares alignment of the axles. They should generally be squared off with the car’s centerline.

Whether you need just a basic alignment check, a front-end alignment, a total four-wheel alignment, or a thrust angle alignment, we can return your vehicle to manufacturer alignment and safety standards.

Why Choose Christian Brothers Automotive

At Christian Brothers Automotive, we are dedicated to reshaping the way you think about car repair and service. Through loving our neighbor as ourselves and our commitment to the Nice Difference®, we aim to always go above and beyond what you’d usually expect from an automotive shop. This commitment includes:

• Certified Technicians.
• Complimentary Shuttle Service.*
• Leading-Industry Warranty: 3 years or 36,000 miles - whichever limit comes last.
• Free Courtesy Inspection Offered On Every Visit.
• Complimentary WIFI and Beverages.

*Complimentary shuttle service available up to three or five miles of the shop. Contact our store for more details

Schedule Your Vehicle Drop-Off Today!

If you suspect you have an alignment issue on your hands, call us or bring your vehicle in to our automotive repair shop. Our technicians will diagnose and fix the problem to get you back on the road as efficiently and safely as possible.