How often should a car’s wheels be aligned?

One question that we hear regularly from customers who are having serious repair work carried out on their vehicles is how often they should get the wheel’s of their car aligned. The truth is that most cars should be able to go for miles and miles before needing a wheel alignment. In fact, there’s every chance that you won’t need to realign your car’s wheels for the entire time you own or lease it. Most automotive manufacturers don’t even include wheel alignments in the regular maintenance schedules that they provide. That being said, it often makes sense to have your vehicle’s wheel alignment checked annually, even if you think the car is driving fine.

How can you tell if a vehicle needs a wheel alignment?

There are several tell-tale signs that your vehicle needs a wheel alignment.

If you find that it is necessary to turn the steering wheel at a constant angle in order to keep the car driving in a straight line, this is a big giveaway that the car could have misaligned wheels. The same goes if your vehicle pulls to one side of the road or the other whilst driving. Both of these indicate serious issues with your car, whether or not the wheels or misaligned.

The first thing you should do is to check whether the tires are correctly inflated. Poorly or unevenly inflated tires can cause the car to pull to one side while driving. If all four tires are correctly inflated, however, you should absolutely get your tire alignment checked out.

You should regularly check the wear and tear of your tires. Not only will it make sure that you get your tires changed before they go bald, it can also help you identify unaligned wheels before they cause serious damage. If you notice that one tire has much more wear than all of the others, you could have an issue with tire alignment. Another symptom of unaligned wheels is if it looks like chunks have been taken out of your tire. In either case, take your vehicle to a trained expert to get your wheel alignment checked.  

You should ask for a wheel alignment to be included every time that new tires are put on the car—even if it is just one wheel. New tires can cause the car to drive differently and may require subtle changes in the alignment to make sure that they are working properly.   

Naturally, you should also ask for wheel realignment when you take your vehicle in for collision repair. Any self-respecting collision center will be quick to provide this service but double-check that it has been carried out to ensure that your vehicle is safe to drive.

If you need wheel alignment, don’t hesitate to get in contact with Chaney’s Collision Repair Centers for a trusted and effective service.