Your car is on curved skis

Does your car pull in one way or another when you are driving? Do you feel an unusual or harsh vibration? Are your tires wearing unevenly? If so, your vehicle may not be level.

Adjustment concerns the suspension of your vehicle. Your suspension determines how the tires make contact with the road. Often people assume that wheel alignment is directly related to the tires, as this is where you feel bad wheel alignment while driving. But think of it this way: if you're skiing and your skis are pointing in, out, or wide apart, the skis aren't broken; rather, it's your legs and knees, your shock absorbers or struts that knock everything off your feet.

Three terms to know when talking about alignment

There are three things to keep in mind when it comes to alignment: toe, camber and caster. Each of these terms defines a different way that tires can be misaligned. Let's not put on skis and delve into every term.

Sock

The sock is simple if you look at your skis. There is a sock in and a sock out. Like your feet, the splints can be slightly pointed towards each other or in different directions. The toe will wear the tires on the outside, and the toe will wear on the inside. Think about skiing with your toes pointing towards each other: snow will accumulate on the outside as the skis scrape, similar to how a tire can wear out on the outside.

Convex

Now, still on skis, while smoothly descending the mountain, try to touch with your knees. It's like negative camber as everything is stacked and the tops of the tires are pointing towards each other. If your car's camber is off, it will cause odd tire wear and affect the car's handling.

Some modified sports cars use negative camber to improve handling. But if you're driving to and from football practice, you don't have to overtake the neighborhood.

caster

Caster refers to the vertical angle of your suspension. A positive caster angle means the top of the suspension is pulled back, while a negative caster angle means the top of the suspension is tilted forward. This affects the behavior and handling of your vehicle. If the caster is off, your skis have shifted in front of your body, and now you are leaning back while moving forward. This is an inefficient way to get down the mountain and no less troublesome for the car. When the caster is off, your car can behave unevenly at higher speeds - just when you need it to drive correctly. 

If your vehicle is not level, simply wheel alignment can provide a quick solution! Wheel and rim repairs can straighten the wheel and rims to keep you on the right track. There is a wide range of tire fitting services available to help you make sure your wheels, rims and tires are in proper working order. 

Call Chapel Hill Tire for all wheel alignment issues.

Your alignment can be knocked down in any number of ways. If you hit a big bump, ride on worn tires, jump over a curb or start a high speed chase - we're kidding! Please do not! - you can disable your worldview.

If you think your worldview may be broken, it's better to be safe than sorry. Poor alignment can lead to increased labor costs, or worse, future accidents. Chapel Hill Tire is a tire service company. We can help you recognize the problem and fix it before it escalates into something more serious. So if your car pulls one way or the other or your tires look uneven, make an appointment today. We will help you get in, out and get on with your life.

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