Can NOT performing an alignment on your car for MONTHS cause damage?

Question

(other then bad tires? :)

...the reason Im asking....

I encountered some knocking noises on turning....it was the CV joints....

Now replacing those.......just wondering if I caused that by my lack of urgency getting it aligned....

might be 2 diff issues...hope so! Dont need the guilt! LOL

Answer 1

I've been in the car business for quite some time & can offer the following:

I had a vehicle that was 12 years old and aligned it once since it was new, about 7 years into it's ownership. BTW- It had 298,000 miles on it when I sold it, and still ran like a top (Toyota).

I never experience any unusual tire wear. IF you've had a hard knock to the suspension system, or it's pulling slightly one way or the other, then yes, over time you will experience unusual tire wear. This will cost your tires, and can become expensive (set of tires roughly $400 or more) compared to an in-expensive alignment (roughly $79.00).

If you have any doubts, get it aligned.

If you haven't abused the suspension, and are NOT experiencing any wear in ball joints/bushings, etc, then there's really no need to do an alignment.

Hope this helps...regards.

Answer 2

Lol...this is so funny. My car has needed an alignment for 4 or 5 months that I've known of...I can relate. The tires are wearing horribly but other than that, it hasn't really hurt anything else. It's best to go ahead and get it aligned though...it's safer and will save you money in tires. I'm getting a front end alignment tomorrow and they told me it would be like 50 bucks...so that compared to having to keep replacing tires is pocket change. Good Luck!

Answer 3

If your car's been in a serious accident, then the entire car frame should be put on a "frame machine" at a body shop to be corrected. Most cars don't need an alignment unless they've been in some sort of accident or pull heavily left or right when you take your hands off the steering wheel on a level highway. Bad front tires can make the car pull right or left even with a perfect alignment.

Answer 4

Over months, not usually. Depending on the type of suspension employed on your vehicle it can add extra stresses to some components especially the tires. Over months it shouldn't be a major issue unless the alignment was really out. But it is cheap to set the alignment at a tire shop.

Answer 5

You are right, it's 2 differen't issues, when going down a 4 lane highway let go of the steering wheel and if the car tracks straight your car doesn't need aligned, but make sure you have the proper amount of air in the tires before you try it as if one tire is low it could pull that way.

Answer 6

Other than tire wear and increased fuel consumption, no mechanical problem.
The suspension is well able to deal with the
small extra stresses.
If the mis-alignment is severe, be more careful, especially in poor traction situations.

Answer 7

No just destory tires and posibly ball joints,not a big deal cause it'll take several thousand miles to destroy parts including tires.Get alined ASAP though,i apologize for my spelling,i own a body shop not a libray

Answer 8

If it's SEVERELY misaligned, you might cause a little extra stress on the suspension components, but probably not enough to cause premature wear. The tires will take the brunt of it.

Answer 9

it'll just wear your tyres on the inside. so you might end up needing new tyres. an alignment isn't that expensive to get fixed, so safer to fix it now.