What are the symptoms of poor car geometry?

The geometry of the car concerns the arrangement of the wheels as well as their axles. Hence, this applies to parallelism, bending and hunting. Thus, geometry is important to ensure good traction for your vehicle and optimum performance of the suspension system. In this article, you will learn how to identify the wrong geometry of your car and how to fix it!

🔎 How to detect signs of bad geometry?

Certain parameters can affect the geometry of the vehicle. For example, concurrency is important because it defines the angle formed by the axle of the wheels in accordance with the direction of travel of your vehicle. It needs to be counted differently for the front and rear wheels. As a rule, he must represent clearance from 0,2 to 1,5 mm per wheel by subtracting the distance between the front wheels from the distance between the rear wheels.

Thus, when your wheel alignment is no longer optimal, you will have the following symptoms on your car:

• Deteriorating handling : the car becomes less and less maneuverable, you lose driving comfort, because road stability is no longer optimal;
• The steering wheel is no longer straight : since the geometry and parallelism are no longer correctly adjusted, the steering wheel cannot be held upright;
• Abnormal wear Tires : they will wear out very unevenly or even disintegrate completely prematurely;
• The car pulls, in particular, from one side. : If the geometry is not balanced, the car may pull to the right or left depending on the settings.

These malfunctions can appear, in particular, after a strong impact or collision with another vehicle or any obstacle.

💡 What solutions are there to address these symptoms?

If your car has problems with parallelism, the geometry will have to be done by yourself or by a professional in a car workshop.

This involves checking 3 different angles, namely:

1. Parallelism : it will be necessary to adjust the angle between the two wheels of the same axle. If the parallelism of the front wheels is less than the parallelism of the rear wheels, it means that the wheels are converging. If the distance between the wheels at the front is greater than at the rear, we are talking about diverging wheels;
2. Camber : indicates the angle of inclination of the wheel at the vertical level, can be positive or negative;
3. Hunting : This is the angle between the vertical axis and the wheel axis of your vehicle. Like camber, it can be positive or negative.

The geometry of your vehicle includes these 3 checks which will be systematically performed by the mechanic during this manipulation. Indeed, due to the abuse of the language, geometry and parallelism are often confused.

👨‍🔧 How to achieve the geometry of your car?

If you want to achieve the geometry of your car yourself, you will need to equip yourself with some tools and follow each step of the tutorial. However, you should be aware that the geometry of your wheels will be much less accurate than if it was done in a workshop with professional tools.

Required material:

Protective gloves

Toolbox

One meter

Line

Jack

Candles

Tire inflator

Step 1. Assemble the car

To secure this maneuver, place the vehicle at a height using a jack and jack. You will also need to check the pressure in your tires, it must be in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations in order to measure the exact geometry values.

In this way, you can measure the various required values ​​using a tape measure or rope.

Step 2. Disassemble the wheels.

Then you will need to remove the wheels from your car to adjust the geometry. You can do this with the torque wrench in your toolbox.

Step 3. Adjust the geometry

This takes place via rack and pinion steering or double wishbone suspension, depending on your vehicle's steering type. Thus, in the first case, it will be necessary to rotate the steering ball joint or move the adjusting bushings in the second.

Step 4: assemble the wheels

After completing all the geometry adjustments, you can reassemble the wheels and then lower the vehicle.

⚠️ What are other possible symptoms of poor geometry in your car?

If the vehicle geometry is completely out of balance, you may also experience abnormal increase in consumption fuel. On the other hand, the vehicle will become unstable and it will become difficult for you to steer during your movements.

In addition, the tires will wear differently depending on the camber angle. For example, if it is positive, the tires wear along the outer edge, and if it is negative, they wear along the inner edge.

Correct geometry adjustment of your vehicle is essential to ensure its reliability as well as your safety on the road. If you think this is poorly regulated, feel free to use our online garage comparator to find a professional near you to carry out this intervention at the best price!