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Wheel Alignment

Prolong the life of your tyre investment

At your local Bridgestone Select Auto Service store, we believe one of the most important considerations to vehicle maintenance is to ensure your wheels are correctly aligned.

The signs of misaligned wheels can be obvious because your car can feel as though it’s pulling to one side of the road, or your steering wheel is shuddering or vibrating.

Either could mean that your wheel alignment is out and it can happen gradually from everyday driving, or from incidents like hitting a curb or pothole.

Understanding the wheel alignment process

There are five factors involved in determining the correct alignment:

If viewed from the side of the vehicle, caster is an imaginary line drawn between the centres of the upper and lower ball joints which forms an angle with true vertical.

Caster is important to steering feel and high-speed stability.

If viewed from the front of the vehicle, camber describes the inward or outward tilt of the tyre.

Camber adjustment maximises the tyre-to-road contact and takes into account the changes of force when a vehicle is turning.

Camber should be set to manufacturer’s specifications according to steering geometry.

If viewed from the front of the vehicle, toe describes whether the fronts of the tyres are closer (toe-in) or farther apart (toe-out) than the rears of the tyres.

Toe is set so that the tyres roll in parallel when your vehicle is in motion.

On solid rear axle vehicles, a thrust angle alignment allows the technician to make the necessary adjustments so that all four wheels are square with each other.

Ride height is simply the distance between the vehicle’s chassis and the road, and is the reference point for all alignment measurements.

Any vehicle customising very often includes the raising or lowering the vehicle.

Don't forget to have your vehicle aligned afterward.

Put yourself in safe hands

As well as compromising your vehicle’s safety, it can greatly increase tyre wear, which means it costs you money in the long run because you have to replace tyres well before you need to.

When your wheels are correctly aligned, your car handles better. Your local Bridgestone Select Auto Service technicians use the latest alignment technology so that your wheels are perfectly aligned to steer true and deliver the least wear. And it’s all done efficiently and without blowing your budget.

You should have your wheel alignment checked every time you rotate your tyres — and, of course, when you replace them. If you think your wheels may be out of alignment, your vehicle’s steering doesn’t feel right, or even if it’s simply been a while, let the qualified technicians at your local Bridgestone Select Auto Service store take a look.

When do I need a wheel alignment?

If your vehicle’s wheels are not correctly aligned, they could cause premature wear on your tyres and suspension components. This can cause problems with your vehicle’s handling, performance and the overall safety.

There are many ways for your wheels to become misaligned. You’ll probably be familiar with most of the causes, but what you probably didn’t think was that each one could quite easily do some damage to your vehicle’s alignment.

Alignment angles are measured in degrees, minutes or inches and millimeters. Over time, a slight misalignment can cause a lot of uneven or premature tyre wear. Therefore, it’s important to get this fixed quickly before it leads to larger problems.

Road hazards

Driving over pot holes or even hitting the curb or running into concrete parking stalls.

Tyre wear and tear

Rubber components can start to crack or lose their elasticity and ball and socket joints develop looseness the older your vehicle gets. Gradually, they start to give a little more and get slightly worse over time.

Minor bingles and accidents

Just because the vehicle’s exterior looks undamaged, there may still be damage you can’t see, including the wheels being knocked out of alignment.

How does a wheel alignment work?

In simple terms, a wheel alignment is the measurement, analysis and adjustment of your vehicle’s steering and suspension angles to ensure the wheels are perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other.

A wheel alignment is a key maintenance factor to ensure that you get the best wear and performance out of your tyres.

A regular wheel alignment provides safe vehicle control plus a smooth and comfortable ride free of pulling or vibration. It also extends your tyre’s mileage.

The suspension system of today’s front and rear wheel drive vehicles requires precise wheel alignments that can only be delivered by state-of-the-art alignment systems.

There is also more variety on the road these days with vehicles having stability controls or dynamic stability controls, active stability management or SAS (Steering Angle Sensors). And because every vehicle manufacturer is unique, it requires different methods of adjustment.

Your local Bridgestone Select Auto Service technicians are fully qualified and trained to ensure you get the most precise wheel alignment available by using the latest, state-of-the-art aligning equipment.

What else should I know?

Wheel balancing

One of the easiest ways to tell when something is not right with your tyres is from behind the wheel. Most of us would have encountered steering wheel wobble or vibration when we’re driving at high speeds, and this can mean that a wheel is out of balance.

To fix the problem, your Bridgestone Select Auto Service technician will use tiny, but important, weights to counterbalance the heaviest part of the tyre and wheel assembly. If that weight becomes loose, the wheel will wobble — and the faster you’re travelling, the more it will wobble. This will increase tyre wear and is potentially unsafe.

Your Bridgestone Select Auto Service technician can easily fix the problem using Bridgestone’s Ultra-Ride System.

Tyre rotation

Different vehicles will wear their tyres at different rates. For example, a front-wheel drive vehicle will wear its tyres very differently from a rear-wheel drive. Station wagons and utilities — because of the lack of weight over the rear wheels — will also wear at varying rates.

One of the best ways you can look after your tyres is by rotating them regularly. Swapping the rear tyres to the front and vice-versa ensures that tyres wear evenly and last significantly longer. As a guide, tyres should be rotated every 5,000 to 8,000 km even if there is no sign of uneven wear.

Nitrogen inflation

Most motor racing teams use nitrogen gas to inflate their tyres —chiefly because nitrogen molecules are around four times larger than oxygen molecules and therefore don’t leak as readily. Less leakage means tyre pressures are maintained — and that’s great for performance.

Nitrogen inflation also gives you benefits for everyday driving — such as better tyre life and better fuel economy, because when your tyre pressure decreases, your fuel use increases. Lower tyre pressures can also reduce the durability and life of your tyres.

Talk to your Bridgestone Select Auto Service technician to find out how nitrogen inflation can help your vehicle.