Wheel Alignment

Wheel alignment is where the tyres of your car are properly angled based on the body of your car to the angle of the tyres. Using the best technology for properly adjusting the parts of the wheel, we are able to properly realign your tyres without damaging the system of your vehicle. 

It is adjusted by fixing the suspension of the vehicle giving it more or less the same angle it had when the vehicle was newly made. Doing this will bring your vehicle to a perfect face forward position again.

Proper wheel alignment guarantees the movement of a vehicle as it was supposed, & was built, to move. It will be able to traverse longer distances, use less fuel for travel, and reduce the wear and tear of your tyres and the vehicle. 

There are various factors that could cause your vehicle’s wheels to be misaligned. Each of these factors can increase maintenance costs, running costs and even risk your safety. One of the most common causes of wheel misalignment is sudden impact, such as hitting a curb or pothole. When you knock something with considerable force, it can change the angle that your wheel is facing. 

Most people are able to tell if they have wheel misalignment as they will feel the vehicle pulling to the right or left, and their tires will have worn down much quicker than they should. 

Your vehicle works hard to keep you and your passengers safe and wheel alignment helps to improve the efficiency of the car whilst it is in operation. If wheels are misaligned, the vehicle will not be able to perform its best, will increase tyre wear, put the suspension under more wear and tear and will use up more fuel than normal.

The quality of the ‘drive’ on the road is also reduced a significant amount making it harder for the vehicle to move.

Here are some situations where your vehicles would lose efficiency because your wheels are misaligned:

Steered axles - incorrect toe-in/toe-out 

If the toe-settings are out of tolerance, the results are:

• Poor steering quality
• Longer braking distances
• Irregular tyre wear on the inner or outer shoulders
• Increased rolling resistance
• Fuel consumption increases by up to 4.5%

Trailer axles - out of square

A trailer with axles out of square will require constant correction to the steering as well as taking extra road width. Out of square axles produce:

• Increased driver fatigue
• Increased mechanical wear and tear on the suspension
• Increased rolling resistance
• Irregular tyre wear on the inner or outer shoulders
• Fuel consumption increases up to 18.5%

Misaligned wheels are safety and financial risk. That is why you should have your vehicle’s wheels properly aligned with us at Imperial Tyres.

We start the wheel alignment process by ensuring there is no joint or bush play and then setting the tyre pressures to guarantee the vehicle is at sitting level. The targets are then placed on each wheel. Once all customer details and vehicle specs are loaded, the vehicle is moved a quarter of a turn, which then records the alignment results, toe and camber angles. The caster measurement is then taken, by turning the steering wheel to the left and then to the right. Once all measurements have been taken, the vehicle is ready to be adjusted. 

The process is meticulously done and is usually done by professionals to ensure that your vehicle will be working properly after the alignment of your vehicle. You can be assured that your vehicle will be working the more or less the same way since the day it was purchased. 

It is important to understand that not all vehicles are fully adjustable. In this case, we will adjust every point that the vehicle allows.