What does it mean to have your tyres alligned?

Question

Following on from my first question...someone in their answers suggested that I may need my tyres alligned. What does this mean...and could the sub contractor who came out to see me on the motorway..when I stopeed...known this (please read previous q for further info on whta happened tonight)

Do your tyres need re-alligning if one was punctured and replaced? At the garage they just took the wheel off and put the new tyre on...what does realligning tyres mean?

Answer 1

I didn't see your original post, so I'm not sure what the recommendation for aligning was about.

Alignment is actually about the car, rather than the tires. It refers to the mechanism in the front end that keeps both the tires rolling exactly parallel to each other. It keeps the tires from wearing too quickly.


Alignment should be done when you get new tires, or if you hit an object hard with a tire, or if your front tires are wearing strangely, or if the car is "pulling" one way or the other.

Stingray....Rules are that we use English here. The english spelling of the subject of this thread is TIRE. Thank you.

Answer 2

Alignment can mean 'TRACKING' or 'BALANCE'.

TRACKING is the direction each wheel faces; if any of the wheels are not following the proper 'track', then the tread on the tyre will be scrubbing slightly sideways across the road surface. The amount of error is minute; even a very experienced mechanic wouldn't be able to see a difference in the wheel's position, but the EFFECT can be pretty dramatic. The misaligned wheel will show uneven wear on the surface of the tyre, either towards the inside or the outside of the tread.

(Too much wear towards the CENTRE of the tyre means the air pressure is too high inside; low tyre pressure can wear BOTH EDGES down, leaving unworn tread in the middle)

This problem can cause a tyre to fail ('puncture') early, which is why a roadside recovery mechanic might tell you to get it sorted out; he's equipped to fix the puncture, but not to fully adjust the tracking.

Your tyre can also fail early when the wheel is out of BALANCE.
This would be felt as a vibration, so the mechanic might be using your description of the car's handling as a guide to the advice.

He could also have noticed some minor distortion in the wheel itself, possibly caused when the tyre deflated. The wheels are balanced by adding little metal weights around the edge of the rim. If this has been done before, then the place where a weight has fallen off (again, possibly as a result of the puncture) would be visible.

Answer 3

Quiet down, children. When your car is assembled, the suspension is adjusted to the factory specifications. All four wheels are adjusted so that they are pointing the right direction and the car steers correctly. This means that the car rolls down the road straight, the rear tires follow the front tires exactly, and all four wheels are set at the proper angles in order to minimize tire wear and optimize handling. Over time, the springs sag, bearings and bushings wear out, and repeated contact with the curb or accidents cause parts to bend or become misadjusted. An alignment brings all these settings back to factory specifications. Replacing one or more tires does not necessitate an alignment. It's not a bad idea to get an alignment maybe every 2-3 years, or if you bounce off the curb or get in a wreck, but not just any shop can do it. They need an alignment rack, and special training.

Answer 4

Tracking is adjusted to make sure your front wheels are set at the correct angle for your car, it generally varies for each model and should be done if your tyres are wearing unevenly or if you've hit one wheel fairly firmly against a kerb or suchlike. It takes minutes to check, can be done by most tyre fitting companies, and adjustment shouldn't take long or be expensive. It's not necessary to check it at every tyre change but if you're paying 75-100 pounds per tyre why not pay an extra 15 pounds for the tracking to be done? It could cost you 1 or 2 new tyres very quickly if it's out.

Wheel alignment is done to ensure your front and back wheels are in line. This is done to make sure the car is travelling in a straight line, it's important because under extreme braking the car needs to be travelling straight to stop in a straight line.
It's a bit more time consuming and expensive to correct but unless you have a damaged vehicle it should be correct.

If either are out and can't be corrected by adjustment it is a very good indicator of a much more serious fault, bent or twisted chassis, extremely worn or broken suspension components or possibly axle or driveshaft problems.

I've not read your previous email but if you have a puncture there isn't any reason to suspect either tracking or alingment needs checking, but there might have been other reasons to suggest having it done.

Hope that helps

P.S. to the guy who thinks american spelling is correct: it's spelt tyres. The correct spelling is aluminium and there's generally no pork in beefburgers.
Tires, aluminum and hamburger are all incorrect.
Yours in international misunderstanding.

Answer 5

Its not the tyres that are aligned its the wheels.

Basically the garage adjusts the tracking so that the wheels are pointing in the direction they should be pointing.

The correct direction is not exactly parallel, they should be slightly 'toe-in'.

If your wheels are not correctly aligned the steering, handling and braking may be affected, and your tyres will wear out unevenly.


p.s. for Alien and the others who can't spell. "Tire" means to become exhausted.
The rubber thing on a car wheel is a "Tyre".

Answer 6

Your can't align your tires.... you align the wheels. It means that all four tires are in perfect alignment with the frame. In other words they all point in the same direction when going straight.

If they alignment is off you may feel the car pulling to the left or to the right. Take your hands off the steering wheel and the car should continue to go straight. If not then an alignment may be need, but please take note of the road as you do this.... to much of a tilt in the road will make your can move around too.

Shouldn't cost too much to have this done if you need it

And if your alignment is off then it will also cause unnecessary wear on the tires.

Answer 7

Your wheels particulary at the front need the *toe out on turns* setting. This is because the inner wheel on a turn is at a sharper angle than the outer, the setting is usually in about 0.125 inches. Meaning that looking from head on the wheels are slightly pointed inwards. The Caster Angle is also set, this gives the car the self correcting action. Then there is the Camber Angle whereas the wheels lean out from the top slightly, this gives the car stability.

Answer 8

When you have come out of a corner and the steering wheel returns to centre on it own its because the front wheels are properly aligned , the should (on 90%) of cars be pointing in to centre about 2% if they are not it wears them uneven , providing the caster and camber angle are correct , the other 10% the caster angle is so pitched to create the same effect

Answer 9

you dont get your tires aligned... its a "wheel alignment". The technician will put your vehicle on an "alignment rack" and attach sensors to your wheel rims. The machine that the sensors communicates with will tell the technician where to adjust the suspension components to, so the car or truck drives straight on the road and does not wear your tires excessivly. A properly aligned suspension will also improve fuel economy by approximately 3-5%

Answer 10

yes the contractor COULD tell if the tyres(UK spelling) tires(US spelling) needed tracking by the pattern of wear on the tread & no they should not need realignment just if 1 Tyre was renewed just balancing to prevent wheel shimmy at speed