Does Your Car REALLY Need a Wheel Alignment? Everything You Need to Know about Car Alignments

hello and welcome to the car carut channel in today's video I'm going to talk to you about alignments car poles and related problems and how how you can diagnose them on the DIY side or even if you're not going to fix it yourself but how can you distinguish what is needed I see this all the time in the shop where people describe the issue incorrectly and then it leads into a very big confusion and then we find out what the issue is so I want to share this with you for you to get a better understanding of what's causing the pole what's the does it need an alignment does it not need an alignment and a lot of information in between let's get started we'll talk about it more let's start with alignments and the basics because this is so important that we understand how is the car geometry happening now there's a term with alignments four-wheel alignments folks let's just say that that's a fancy marketing word you always do a four-wheel alignment because if it's possible most cars you actually can't adjust anything in the back but let's start with the most basic angle and the most important one and the one that always is the offending one that is out because this is the one that gets wear and tear involved and it does change as you drive the car tow or tow in you'll hear this term so basically this is your wheel how pushed in or out in the front it is or the back but basic basically if you push the front out the rear comes in that's your Towing it needs to be straight sometimes pushed in a little bit for stability sometimes pushed out for kind of better maneuverability but it depends on the design of the car and there's a specification for it usually toe adjustment is done at the at the rack and pinion or the tie rods it themselves or if you don't have a tie rod like the arms that go to it and if you have a steering gear or whatnot but this is something very important that you realize toe will go out with time as you drive the car and toe does affect tire wear this is what you need to know about alignment angles what causes what toe will cause abnormal tire wear then moving on to the second angle which is also somewhat of an important one camber camber is this is your wheel how pushed in or out is the top camber will be very tricky with cars because now we're entering the complicated angles where it's not something that will change drastically unless there's been an accident bent components severely worn components will wear camber like a loose B joint will but normally it will not change unless there is problems camber does wear tires camber does cause poles and it will cause the car to pull one way or another let's move on to the last angle the important angle there's more angles there's more little stuff but these are the most important three Caster Caster is actually not an actual angle it's kind of a interesting one there so Caster is how is the angle between where your suspension mounts at the top and the bottom if you have it pointing back that is positive cter you're applying the weight of the car this way on the wheels it promotes stab ility it promotes kind of straight tracking but at the same time the more positive Caster you have the harder it will be to turn this wheel because you're putting way too much force on it negative Caster is the opposite your bounding point of the suspension is forward of where the pull wheel is so you're putting pressure on the wheel this way and kind of and the wheels going that way it makes it very unstable but the steering wheel will be extremely light to turn because you're not applying for against where it's turning this is a confusing angle and I will share with you the truth majority of cars I mean alarming number of cars Caster is not adjustable because it is built into the body of the car if you have Caster that is out nine out of 10 times you have something severely bent following an accident something in the suspension is really bad and something you will notice without needing to know if the caser is out or not some cars like for example Toyota Lexus L the trucks you can adjust the Caster people will be all over it just know that Caster adjustments from the factory usually are minimal I mean it is something minute that you can adjust it because it really tricking the suspension into getting it to adjust the Caster it is minute and and if something is out severely out in Caster something is bent you need to really know that Now cter does not wear tires however if you have really out of spec Caster it could cause PS let's talk about car pulls cuz this is so important and there so much misinformation regardless of everything you will read on that friendly local certain chain that loves to sell alignments as maintenance you will rarely have a car pull at 5 10 m an hour because of alignment unless something is like severely out where the car is basically undrivable if you have a poll and speeds below 20 M hour nine times out of 10 you have a problem with your tires we're going to talk about this in a little bit pulls at higher speeds and the higher speed you go the more you'll start pulling is the an alignment pole but there's something very very important about PS that I see people make a mistake with every time does the car pull or is your steering wheel off center let's distinguish between the two cuz this is very important you drive your car straight you drive your car you're going straight line when you Center your wheel where it's centered the car goes one way but if you slightly Let It Go it'll move a little bit then it'll stop and you'll start going straight that is a steering wheel that is off center not a pole so folks will see the steering wheel it's a little bit off center they'll straighten it the car will start going one way they'll assume it's pulling that's not a pull folks that is actually the steering wheel's off center where when you put it on the center of your vision you're actually turning the wheel to go one way very common for this to happen actually after alignments when technicians don't get the steering wheel locked in a perfect position if you have the car has been aligned and the steering wheel is off center that can actually fix be fixed without an alignment because you're just going to move the wheels equal equally move the toe toe will cause the steering wheel to be off center and like life is good you just move them equally and we're good but a pull is described as this you're driving straight you momentarily safely let go of the steering wheel the car will just automatically start going one way or another you see the difference between the two the other one when you let go of the steering wheel it move a little bit then stop and you're going straight pull is you you're driving straight the car is driving straight you let go of the steering wheel momentarily it just wants to go one way or another over 20 M hour folks if you have poles the first thing you look at before the alignment is Tires Tires develop a condition and sometimes they they have this condition from day one when they were new because of bad storage habits something called Tire chicity when the surface of the tire is is one way or another you basically have a tire that is turning when it's standing straight I hope that makes sense Tire pull will be at very low speeds you literally rolling down in your driveway and the car is already wanting to go one way or another that's usually Tire related and the easiest way with Tire stuff rotate the tires front to back first side to side should change sometimes it'll go away sometimes it'll start pulling the other way that's not an alignment pole that's a tire pole and that should be the first thing that is done before we go do an alignment I feel like the alignment is becoming kind of a selling point for shops or dealerships that that's the first thing they do automatically you have a poll oh yeah let's do it well what if when you put the car on the alignment and everything is in Spec then what oh yeah you need you need tires but why don't you tell me that from the beginning why after the alignment that's that's kind of cuz nobody looked at it you should never go to a shop and tell them I need an alignment cuz they're going to do the alignment send you out the door then when you say well my car is still pulling they'll tell you sir but you never said that you just want an alignment don't do this if you have a poll ask for a diagnosis for the poll not an align alignment that's key Point here let me iterate something very important folks alignments or camber that is out of spec Caster that is out of spec you will not feel the pull until you're at higher speeds if you drive at 70 M an hour and the car wants to Dart one way or 40 m an hour it wants to Dart the other way you may have an alignment issue but only after you have verified you don't have Tire pull is when you go after an alignment and you should see it you should see something that correlates to what your symptom is in the alignment machine when you pull up this the current readings you should see it and most of the time I I work in the automotive industry nobody looks at that they just get it all in Green Let's go well did you look at what if the current readings were actually correlating to the condition that we have most of them don't that's very important part there now let's talk about something that is a big problem for mechanics actually for you you need that you need to know about the following the crown of the road folks all roads are not flat by the way they have a crown the middle part's High the size are curved down for drainage that is pretty normal see most cars when you drive them in a condition like this the steering wheel will turn off center because the suspension is designed to compensate for that and now it's driving straight but the only way for you to compensate for that is where the steering wheel is off and if you do let it go it's going to actually want to follow that it's just there's no way around it so many people you drive the same road every day that is crowned and you're driving on the left plane especially left lane drivers you will be following that Crown into the shoulder that is not something in alignment and what exaggerates that is soft suspensions folks if you have a car that you turn the wheel so much until it makes a turn those were the type of cars that will really follow the crown of the road and it'll feel very annoying but the ones that are sharp like you turn a little bit and the car will turn a lot those are the ones that are less susceptible to it and you will feel it less for example I'll give you a personal example 2008 Toyota Avalon very comfortable car very good reliable car and it's it's a beautiful car that I've owned but that really bothers you in that car cuz that car is like a giant boat you turn the wheel off we go it takes a really long time for it to start changing direction because it's a big floaty sedan but when you follow the crown it will want to follow it very aggressively most drivers actually don't notice that they usually get used to it but some will notice and they'll be going in the shop let's get an alignment nope that didn't fix it let's get different tires nope that didn't fix it the only thing I will tell you is if your car follows the crown you may want to get the alignment checked if everything in Spec just know that this potentially will be normal with the exception of one thing tire brands not specifically Brands but kind of how aggressive is your tire softer tires will tend to want to wonder because they're soft and they're kind of follow things more aggressive tighter or harder tires will tend to want to track straight that is one thing especially with Toyotas and their soft suspension and kind of conservative suspension design they would love to do that they'll follow the crown and if you have that drive on a flat surface or if you're driving on a highway driving in the middle like more in the middle Lanes you'll notice it'll start driving straight and then one last thing on poles and all this stuff you should never let go of your steering wheel to see if your car pulls that is actually dangerous you could hit a bump the car will Dart to one side don't do that but if you find yourself physically having to force the steering wheel stay straight and it's kind of putting a strain in your arm there is a problem whether there tires or not but that is a pull but don't go driving your car letting go of the steering wheel and expect it to continue to drive straight like an arrow for miles and miles that will not happen folks actually the spec is 2 seconds you should let kind of release the pressure on the steering wheel while still having your hand there for 2 seconds the car should go straight after that it will not because the crown of the road you basically you're not controlling the car nobody drives like that the idea is if you're fighting it or you're driving and the steering wheel is this way and you're driving straight that's off center you do need some attention to the alignment potentially so when should you get a wheel alignment or four-wheel alignment let us check your alignment in the service Drive of the dealership and let us sell you this $19.95 alignment because you need it every 20,000 Mi do you you don't actually folks alignments are not a maintenance item however there are some recommendations you just change your tires they will recommend an alignment with the new tires your first question should be is to your old tires that you are retiring you're shaking hands with them hopefully you're happy with them saying goodbye to them were they worn abnormally or they were perfectly worn normal well if they were perfectly worn normal that means you don't have issues with alignment so maybe save yourself that take your family for dinner instead instead of paying for an alignment that you don't need I see this all the time in alignment shops you get a car oh yeah we just need an alignment after tires becomes kind of the norm you put it on the alignment machine everything is in Spec okay well we're done we did nothing at that point there was no reason to do an alignment there however you need to check your old tires this is the number one thing with alignment I see customers do an alignment every year you actually do not want to do that some of the older alignment machine actually scratch your wheels in case you didn't know that newer ones are getting better you don't need to be doing alignments every year just as a maintenance nothing changed did you hit a big po hole did you have an accident did you have a major suspension repair or overhaul these are the reasons you need to get an alignment things will wear over time with toe but they're not going to be extreme where every year is going to be out no maybe every five 10 years even in some cases mean you see some cars never get alignments they don't wear tires they don't pull they drive straight and they never get anything and you see some customers every year they're getting an alignment of dealership for no reason folks don't fall into this you don't need an alignment on a specific basis hey every 20 20,000 a 25 no do you have a problem that's the first question you ask yourself and then if you don't have a problem did your all are your tires wearing uneven or there's a problem with them no you get you got to your 50 60,000 miles tires are not worn abnormally but they're worn normally why do we need an alignment we actually don't and here's the biggest one should you align your car you do need an alignment should you align it with the old tires or the new tires or I think it's better with the new folks the alignment of the car does not change with the tire unless you put an oversized Tire you did something it doesn't matter whether you get the alignment done when the tire was worn but just before you replace it or after the alignment should not change unless you had a very AB severely abnormally worn tire then maybe only in that case but if your tires were worn normally and you're at a place with does alignments and the tire place doesn't just get the alignment done if you want to and then get the tires it doesn't really make any difference I see this all the time and then the biggest thing one last time I will say it I said it multiple times if your old tires were good worn normal no issues you do not need an alignment to get for the new tires because here's what shops will do and I have to say that the truth you bought a set of tires for 600 bucks protect your investment get regular alignments so you would not wear your tires well did you know that when you end up doing the math you actually paid for a second set of Tire by doing these alignments every year every two years and by the time you replace the tires you already paid for another set but now you're paying for the third set to save your money folks is there a problem no if it ain't broke don't fix it folks I hope this video is helpful informative I hope you learned something new if you like it consider giving it a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some my other videos until the next video folks may the Lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 159,865

Keywords: wheel alignment, car care, car care nut, the car care nut, take care of your care, tires, tire alignment, car alignment, camber, caster, toe, car maintenance, toyota, lexus, car, diy, car repair, car owner, mechanic, toyota mechanic, tccn automotive, repair, car pull, alignment pull, car explained, alignment explained, what is car alignment, 4 wheel alignment, car wizard, scotty kilmer, toyota maintenance, south main auto

Id: jtptaIYgIHQ

Length: 17min 58sec (1078 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 10 2024