What is a Wheel Alignment Service?

If you’re wondering why a proper wheel alignment is important, this service ensures your wheels and tires are meeting the road at the right angle. Your vehicle’s wheel alignment affects your tires, brakes, gas mileage, and even your driving. That’s why it’s important to have your wheels aligned when needed to maintain your vehicle and its parts and extend its longevity.

At Crown Hyundai, our Service Center is equipped to check and adjust your vehicle alignment and ensure your vehicle maintains optimum driving performance and safety. Our certified technicians will inspect your vehicle and make any needed repairs with state-of-the-art machines and Genuine Hyundai Parts.

We service all makes and models, so feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or would like to schedule your appointment.

Why Do I Need a Wheel Alignment?

A wheel alignment, or tire alignment, can help improve handling and keep your vehicle from pulling in one direction or vibrating while driving. It helps your tires last longer, boosts fuel efficiency, and prevents additional issues with your brakes.

Wheel alignment service is an adjustment of your vehicle’s suspension. A proper alignment ensures the angles of your tires and wheels are correct.

There are three main areas our technicians will check when performing your wheel alignment:

Camber: This is the inward or outward angle of your tire when looking at the front of your vehicle. Too much inward or outward tilt, or negative and positive camber, indicates improper alignment. Worn bearings, ball joints, and other wheel-suspension parts can affect your camber misalignment.

Toe: This is the inward or outward angle of your tire when looking down from above your vehicle. Similar to a person's feet being pigeon-toed or duck-footed, a vehicle can have toe-in or toe-out alignment, which needs adjusting.

Caster: This is the angle of your steering axis when viewed from the side of your vehicle, and it helps balance steering, stability, and cornering. If you have a positive caster, the steering axis is tilted toward the driver. A negative caster means the steering axis is tilted toward the front of your vehicle.

How Can I Tell I Need a Wheel Alignment?

Here are some of the symptoms of a poor wheel alignment and other signs your alignment may not be correct:

• Are your tires wearing unevenly or wearing too quickly?
• Is your steering wheel crooked even when you're driving straight?
• Is the steering noisy, or does your steering wheel vibrate?
• Does your vehicle pull to the right or left?
• Are your tires squealing?

If you’ve recently hit a bad pothole or bumped a curb, your alignment may have been tweaked, even if you don’t notice any of the signs listed above right away.

And if hitting a pothole is unavoidable, don't brake! It might seem counterintuitive, but taking your foot off the brake is the best thing you can do right before going over a pothole, aside from steering around it.

Why is this? When you apply the brakes, your vehicle’s front end dips down as the suspension compresses over your front wheels. When the suspension is compressed, it’s unable to absorb as much road impact. Plus, this can be damaging to other components, such as your shocks or struts, which affect your vehicle's wheel alignment.

Why Choose Crown Hyundai for Wheel Alignment Service?

When you choose Crown Hyundai for your wheel alignment service in the Tampa Bay area, you can rest assured your vehicle will receive the expert care it deserves. Our trained team knows Hyundai vehicles and can get you in and out quickly and efficiently.

We’re proud to offer the utmost in customer service excellence, whether you’re here to find your next Hyundai vehicle, to get a routine oil change, or to find the perfect parts and accessories to customize your ride. Be sure to check our website for our current specials for even more savings.

Contact us today if you have any questions or to schedule your visit.