Maintaining the wheel alignment on your car is an integral aspect of its overall maintenance and upkeep. However, this very important step is often ignored or skipped until the first symptoms of poor wheel alignment show up, in the form of ruined tyres. Here are some common signs to look out for:

1. Uneven or accelerated wear on the edges of your tyres. Usually caused by a toe out or toe in condition.
2. The steering has a "mushy" feel or has become less responsive. While poor steering can be caused by wheel alignment it may also be linked to a more serious problem requiring professional diagnosis.
3. If your cars steering wheel is not returning to the dead ahead position or pulls to one side.
4. Pulling to the left or the right.

Naturally, the best time to get a wheel alignment done is when symptoms of poor alignment are noticed. But Smithfield Car Diagnostics suggest that there are also other “best” times to do this, which will save you time & money, such as:

1. When you rotate the tyres - this allows us to properly inspect the tyres for signs of uneven wear patterns that may have gone unnoticed as the wheels are on the car.
2. When you replace one or more tyres - this ensures that the new tyres are not damaged by any variations in wheel alignment settings that you may not have noticed before.
3. When you replace standard steel rims with lightweight alloy rims - even if the alloy rims have the same width and offset as the original wheels, a critical factor when alignment angles are determined during the design phase of all cars is the weight of the wheels.
4. Whenever you have maintenance or repair work done on the steering or suspension systems - since many of these procedures mean that at least some dismantling of the suspension system is required, which in turn can upset or disturb alignment settings when reassembled.
5. When you perform any modification to the vehicle that changes its ride height or weight distribution, since these factors are critical to maintain proper (and correct) wheel alignment settings.

You can request to have a Wheel Alignment check done during your regular car service or while you are having repairs undertaken in our Smithfield, QLD workshop. If we find that your Alignment Settings are not optimal, we can rectify this for you on the same day. This will increase the life of your tyres saving you money in the long run.

Smithfield Car Diagnostics are mechanical experts and are ready to assist. Use the easy online booking form below 24/7 or call us today to talk about your needs.