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Tire Alignment

Tire Alignment

Alignment refers to the adjustment of a vehicle's front and rear suspension parts. If your alignment is off, your vehicle isn’t safe to drive. View the animation below to understand the three main adjustments made during alignment:

Caster

Caster is a bit tough to define. If you’re viewing the side of a vehicle, the caster angle identifies the forward or backward slope of a line drawn through the upper and lower steering pivot points. Think of a motorcycle and its front steering forks and front tire. Its angle is towards the rear of the motorcycle, so it has positive caster. Negative is just the opposite. Long story short, positive caster helps your vehicle go straight, much like the motorcycle.

Camber

Camber is the angle of the wheel, in degrees, when viewed from the front of the vehicle. Positive camber is when the top of the wheel is leaning out from the center of the car. Negative camber is when the top of the wheel is leaning into the car. If the wheel leans too far from the center, uneven wear will occur. (However, negative camber helps racing cars improve cornering.)

Toe

Toe is the difference in the distance between the front of the tires and the back of the tires. Usually, tires are set so that they are parallel with each other. If the fronts of the tires are closer, the wheels are toe-in. If the rears of the tires are closer, the wheels are toe-out.

When to Check Alignment

 

Daily impacts such as potholes and railroad crossings, as well as more severe circumstances like a car accident, can knock your vehicle out of alignment. You should have the alignment checked if:

 

  • You’ve hit something substantial
  • You see a wear pattern developing on the shoulders (outer edges) of the tires
  • You notice a difference in your vehicle’s handling
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Please Note

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  • You need to know your vehicle's options to find out the original size of the tires for your vehicle because automobile manufacturers often use different wheel and tire sizes for different variations of a specific vehicle. If you do not know your vehicle's options, check one of these places: 1. The original sales invoice or window sticker when you bought the vehicle. 2. Your vehicle's Owner's Manual, which will sometimes identify your vehicle's options. 3. Look on the vehicle itself. Some vehicles have a decal or lettering that indicates the options located on the side or rear of the vehicle.

  • Your vehicle was manufactured with multiple tire sizes. Please select your size.

    Knowing your tire size can help save time at the tire retailer. It also enables you to make an informed tire purchase. You can find your vehicle's original equipment tire size in one of the following places: 1. On the tire placard located on the driver's door jamb 2. In your owners manual 3. On glove compartment door 4. Inside the fuel hatch or trunk lid You can also check your existing tire's designation on the sidewall. However, there is no guarantee that these are the original tire size unless they came on the vehicle new. Note: Tire Size Image. Show sidewall and tire placard. Example below from UK.
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  • Find the exact tire quickly using your tire size. Check your owner's manual or tire sidewall to find the required specifications.

  • You can determine your tire type by looking at the tire's designation on the sidewall of your tire. The following describes the differences between the tire type designations: P-Metric: A uniform designation of tire sizes in metric measurements. A typical P-Metric tire is P205/70R14 93S. European Metric: This system was a conversion of the numeric system from inches to millimeters. The aspect ratio appears in the size designation in most cases where it is other than 82. A typical European Metric tire is 185/70R14 88S Light Truck-Metric: This system is used for light truck tires, and it mirrors the P-Metric system used for passenger tires. A typical LT-Metric tire is LT245/75R16 120R. Light Truck High Flotation: This type is for light truck tires with lower sidewalls and wider treads that yield better traction on surfaces such as sand and soft soil found in watery, off-road situations. A typical tire is 31X10.50R15 LT LRC
  • This three-digit number represents the width of your tires in millimeters (mm).<div><img src="/assets/mi/system/images/contextual-help/R2-width.png" /></div>
  • The aspect ratio is the relationship of a tire's sidewall height to its section width.In this example, the tire height is approximately 60% of the tire width.<div><img src="/assets/mi/system/images/contextual-help/R2-aspect.png" /></div>
  • The diameter of the rim in inches.<div><img src="/assets/mi/system/images/contextual-help/R2-diameter.png" /></div>
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  • If you know the name of the tire are looking for, select the tire from the list below.

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  • All tires fall into certain categories. If you're wanting to do a broad search of our tire lines, use the list below.

  • All tires fall into certain categories. If you're wanting to do a broad search of our tire lines, use the list below.
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