What Are Alignment Angles?

Having your car's wheels aligned is an essential part of keeping your vehicle in good condition. Proper wheel alignment helps keep your tires in top shape and reduces the risk of tire wear and potential issues like pulls or premature tire wear. In addition reducing tire life, improper alignment will cause drag that reduces fuel economy.  In this blog, we will explore what wheel alignment angles are, and why they are important. Wheel alignment angles are the angles at which the wheels of a vehicle are set relative to one another. These angles determine how the tires contact the road, as well as how evenly they wear. The four main wheel alignment angles are camber, caster, toe-in and toe-out. Camber is the angle of the wheel in relation to vertical. It affects how much tire contact is made with the ground and the overall stability of the vehicle when turning. Caster is the angle of the steering axis in relation to vertical. This helps determine how well your car turns corners. Toe-in and toe-out refer to whether or not the front of a tire is closer or further away from its counterpart when viewed from the top. This is an important factor in determining how evenly tires wear and affects ride comfort. Having your wheel alignment angles checked regularly can help improve handling, increase tire life and even improve fuel economy. It’s important to have your wheel alignment checked whenever you get new tires, after hitting a major pothole, especially the big ones on Big Bend and Watson Road. Also, when worn suspension components, like suspension struts and control arms, or worn steering components, like steering gears or tie rod ends, are replaced, it is important to have your car properly aligned. The alignment technicians at Sant Automotive uses top of the line equipment from locally owned Hunter Engineering, the world leader. If you'd like to learn more about alignments, please call our Service Advisor, Jeff Colburn, at 314-849-2900. Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do Tires Expire?

Image
  Do tires expire is a question that our customers often ask. For years many motorists have relied only on tread depth to know when it is time to replace them. Unfortunately, the age of your tires is also a factor. Over time, tires can dry out and crack. Excessive heat and sunlight contribute to this and can cause tire to unexpectedly fail, even when there is plenty of tread remaining on the tire . Tire manufacturers offer different opinions regarding how long tires will last, but the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NTHSA) recommends that you replace tires after six years . How do you know how old your tires are ? The best way to know the age of your tires is to check the Department of Transportation (DOT) code. The manufacturer stamped it in the sidewall of your tire. DOT numbers identify the manufacturer and the make of tires, but they also tell you when the tires were made . The last four digits of your tires’ DOT code tell the month and year of manufa...
Read more

What is a Belt Tune Up?

Image
A Serpentine Belt is the rubber Drive Belt that causes the pullies on your car's Alternator, Air Conditioning Compressor, Water Pump, and Power Steering Pump to rotate and to create electrical and mechanical power. Rotation of the alternator creates your car's electrical power. Gas powered vehicles have one or more Drive Belts, at least one Belt Tensioner, and they may have one or more Idler Pulleys. Belt Tensioners insure that the Alternator, A/C Compressor, Water Pump, and Power Steering Pump continue to spin with the rotation of the engine. Idler Pulleys are simply pulleys that do not drive other components. Idler Pulleys are used to route the Serpentine Belt.  With use, a Serpentine Belt will stretch and wear.  Belt Tensioners and Idler Pulleys also wear, and this will cause additional belt wear. When a Serpentine Belt breaks, the components that it drives will not longer function. Because of this, Sant Automotive recommends that you replace your Serpentine Belt(s), Idler ...
Read more

What Do Spark Plugs Do?

Image
  Spark Plugs are the small electrical parts that provide the power to ignite the fuel in gasoline powered devices. As electricity passes between the Spark Plug's electrodes, gasoline ignites causing an explosion that powers your vehicle. Spark Plugs fire once every two engine rotations. This means that if your engine is running at 800 RPMs, your Spark Plugs will fire 400 times per minute. The heat produced by these explosions causes the Electrodes to wear which increases the gap between the Electrodes. The increased gap causes your vehicle to use more fuel to produce the same amount of power.  Worn Spark Plugs reduce Gas Mileage, and unburnt fuel will damage your car's Oxygen Sensors and its Catalytic Converter. Also, the longer that plugs stay in a vehicle, the more likely they are to become stuck in the engine's cylinder head. If a spark plug breaks, it can be very expensive and time consuming to extract it. For these reasons, Sant Automotive recommends that you change y...
Read more