Is 4-Wheel Alignment Necessary or Worth It? (11 Vital Facts)
Is a four-wheel alignment necessary, and is it worth the bother and expense?
Read on to find out everything you need to know.
1. What Is Wheel Alignment?
A four-wheel alignment is when all four wheels of your vehicle are adjusted back to the manufacturer’s recommended settings.
Wheel alignment, sometimes called wheel tracking, means checking both the wheel’s direction (toe) and angle (camber).
For your front wheels, the mechanic may check the caster as well.
Checking the Toe
The simplest way to visualize the toe adjustment is to think about how you stand in a pair of sneakers.
It is rare that anyone stands with their feet in a parallel position unless they are consciously exercising. Most people stand with their toes pointing inwards (toe-in) or outwards (toe-out).
When considering the toe adjustment on your tires, if the front of the tire is the toe and it points inwards compared to the back of the tire, then the tires are toe-in.
A slight toe-in of around 0.05˚ is the manufacturer’s factory setting because it gives you optimal steering and reduces tire wear.
Checking the Camber
Your wheels are not perfectly vertical, and there is a slight inward or outward tilt known as the camber.
The ideal angle varies between 0.5 and 2˚ depending on the manufacturer’s preferences.
Back to how you stand on your feet: some put their weight on the outer edges and others on the inner edges.
Tire set-up similarly puts a light extra-weight on the outer or inner edges. Although slight, it is essential for stable steering in a straight line and your ability to turn corners.
What About Caster?
Your steering wheel connects to the front wheels.
The connection from the center of the wheel to the pivot point may tilt forward or backward. The manufacturer uses the caster setting to improve the steering.
If your mechanic adjusts the front caster, it means resetting to factory specification.
A front shunt may adversely impact your caster.
If you drive a racing or highly modified custom car, a negative or positive caster lets you set the car’s performance to allow maneuverability on the racetrack.
Your standard family car doesn’t need anything other than factory settings.
The essential issue with checking the caster is that both front wheels need to be as close as possible in angles to avoid excess wear on components.
The front wheels need to act in concert with the same settings.
2. Why Do Your Wheels Go Out of Alignment?
You may be an excellent driver, but you occasionally hit bumps in the road like potholes and traffic calming measures like humps.
When parking, you may miscalculate and hit the curb.
You overlook the immediate impact of these bumps and knocks, but they can put your wheels in a different alignment to the ideal.
If you have damage or work done on your suspension or need to swap out a tire due to an accident, you can have four wheels no longer aligned to work together.
Finally, simply driving around alters your wheel alignment, and after about 6,000 miles, your car wheels are probably not to the manufacturer’s specification.
3. Two-Wheel vs. Four-Wheel Alignment
A two-wheel alignment is also a front-end alignment that involves the front wheels. It typically applies to trucks and large SUVs with solid rear axles for off-roading.
Most other vehicles, including sedans and crossover SUVs, would go for alignment on all four wheels to ensure they are ‘square’ with one another.
An all-wheel drive (AWD) with independent suspensions will require a four-wheel alignment.
4. Is It Worth Having a Four-Wheel Alignment?
Driving with misaligned tires means you have uneven wear on your tires – you need to replace your tires more frequently, and you have potential weak spots that may result in an accident.
Misaligned tires reduce your capacity to steer effectively when cornering and to maintain the car in a straight line.
Besides the possibility of an accident, if you unintentionally drift into the wrong lane, you get more driver fatigue when you fight the car’s steering on your daily commute.
Finally, poorly aligned tires burn more gas, meaning you get fewer miles for your money.
Ensuring your wheels are at the manufacturer’s desired settings ensures your vehicle works efficiently and safely.
Regular wheel alignment is relatively inexpensive and keeps your tires and the associated components running better for longer, saving you repair and replacement costs in the long run.
Yes, it is worth having your wheels working correctly because they are your contact point with the road.
5. What are the Signs You Need a Four-Wheel Alignment?
The chances are that your car wheels aren’t perfectly aligned if you notice:
- Uneven tire wear.
- Shaky steering.
- Steering pulling to the left or right.
- Excess road noise.
- Frequent tire replacement.
As part of general maintenance to keep your vehicle operating at peak efficiency, it is best to schedule a wheel realignment every two years after fitting replacement tires or when you notice the signs mentioned above.
You could inspect the tires visually to check for an uneven wearing of tread depth.
6. Do All Vehicles Need a Four-Wheel Alignment?
If you have a solid rear axle, then your vehicle requires a front alignment (two-wheel) only. And if you have a classic car, you may have a solid rear axle.
The GM 12-bolt and the Ford 9-inch have solid rear axles.
Most modern vehicles have independent rear suspension and require four wheels alignment. The simple test for needing a four-wheel alignment as part of your vehicle’s maintenance is the presence of an independent rear-wheel suspension.
It doesn’t matter if you have a truck, 4X4, or luxury SUV – if your vehicle has independent rear suspension, it needs four-wheel alignment.
7. When Do You Need a Four-Wheel Alignment?
There are circumstances when it may be best to have a wheel alignment to ensure efficient steering and maximum tire life.
New Tires
Technically, you don’t need a realignment when you replace your tires.
But it makes sense to get the alignment check and any adjustments made because you want to make the best use of your new tires.
If you are replacing your tires because of uneven wear, you probably need a realignment.
You Spot Issues
If the steering doesn’t feel right and you regularly drive on challenging surfaces or go off-road, then you want to schedule a four-wheel alignment as a routine process either once or twice a year, regardless of tire changes.
Impact
Even a small bump in traffic or a relatively shallow pothole may be enough to misalign your wheels, although compact cars are at higher risks due to their lower load design.
Instead of waiting for a problem to develop, it is worth scheduling a wheel alignment after any event that violently bounces your car.
If you watch soapbox racing, you will soon notice that what breaks the wheels is the rise in the air and the crash down to the ground.
Your vehicle is more robust than a soapbox but still suffers the same stresses on wheel alignment whenever it bumps up and down.
It is only in the movies and the showground that a car successfully flies through the air, lands, and continues to perform.
Passing Time and Traveling Miles
The frequency of scheduling a four-wheel alignment depends on what you do with your vehicle and the manufacturers’ guidelines.
If you travel on bumpy roads or drive many miles, you may need more frequent four-wheel alignments than someone who does a few daily miles on perfect road surfaces.
The oft-recommended once-every-two-years alignment schedule may not necessarily apply to you.
8. What Happens If You Don’t Bother with a Four-Wheel Alignment?
The vehicle designer puts time and effort into working out the best settings for the whole car to run smoothly and efficiently.
If you run your vehicle with misaligned tires, then:
- Expect to change your tires more frequently because of uneven wear.
- Expect higher repair bills because of knock-on effects on the engine and steering.
- Beware of drifting into the wrong lane at high speed.
- Live with an increased risk of accidents.
- Spend more on fuel.
If you are the sole driver of your vehicle, you may be happy to live with the need to wrestle with the steering and play Russian roulette with the possibility of an accident or high repair bills.
But if other family members with less driving experience are driving your car, you want to ensure the vehicle is as safe as possible.
Looking after your tires’ tread and wheel alignment is fundamental to having a safe car that performs as expected.
9. What Does a Four-Wheel Adjustment Involve?
These days computer diagnostics mean that your mechanic gets a step-by-step adjustment guide to restore your vehicle’s wheels to factory setting.
The computer tells the mechanic what to adjust and how and then confirms everything is as it should be with the toe, camber, and caster.
The process takes under an hour while you enjoy a coffee and some downtime.
Wheel alignment is probably part of the routine if your car is on a regular service schedule. It is worth checking that it is part of the service deal – getting it added will cost very little and may be free.
A competent mechanic will check the tire pressure, tread, suspension, and steering components before aligning the wheels.
The wheel alignment is the finishing touch to a more comprehensive check of your vehicle.
10. What Will a Four-Wheel Alignment Cost?
How much can you expect to pay if you need a four-wheel alignment outside a regular service?
Different garages charge different premiums depending on choice and availability, but you can expect to pay between $100 and $200 for a four-wheel alignment.
The price doesn’t vary much between a compact car and a large pickup truck for the alignment part of the job.
The precise cost of your wheel alignment depends on:
- Make and model of car – you may need a specialist garage.
- Tires – may require replacements.
- Other necessary repairs – suspension may be compromised.
- Available service stations.
If your mechanic must spend excessive time adjusting the wheels, labor costs will significantly increase the standard fee.
Many garages will offer a free wheel alignment as part of a package for replacing tires or checking your suspension.
A simple wheel alignment is a low-cost adjustment regardless of vehicle size, but the complication arises when the reason for your misaligned wheels results in another repair.
A wheel alignment is often part of a more extensive repair or routine service.
11. Can You Do It Yourself?
Honestly, this is one job that’s best left to a professional team.
If you have a classic car with front-wheel drive and access to a well-equipped garage – maybe, you can adjust the wheel tracking.
It is best to rely on a professional set-up with computer diagnostics for a four-wheel drive vehicle that needs all four wheels adjusted simultaneously.
Poorly aligned wheels put excess wear and tear on your vehicle and reduce driving safety.
The cost of having a professional wheel realignment is minimal and will give you peace of mind.
Conclusion
Keeping your wheels in line with factory settings is safer and more economical.
Incorporating a regular wheel alignment into your servicing and maintenance schedule will save you money by improving fuel economy and tire performance – preventing more costly repairs.
Unless you notice an issue or suffer an impact, it is probably not worth having a standalone visit to the garage for a wheel alignment.
But it is worth incorporating a routine wheel alignment check as part of your service package or anytime you have work done on the car, such as a tire change or repairs to the suspension or steering.