Wheel alignment

Incorrect alignment can result in rapid irregular tyre wear and can even affect the handling and safety of the vehicle.
Wheel alignment, or tracking, is the process of ensuring your vehicle’s wheels are set to the optimum position, as per the car manufacturer’s specifications, so that tyres wear evenly. Incorrect wheel alignment can be caused by hitting a kerb, driving into a pothole in the road or by excessive wear to steering or suspension components. It is important to get your wheel alignment checked annually to ensure you get the most out of your tyres.

Alignment terminology

Wheel alignment involves checking the direction and angle of the wheels. The misalignment positions are often described as toe in, toe out, positive camber or negative camber.

“Toe” refers to whether the front of the tyres are closer or further apart than the rear of the tyres. Different types of vehicles need different toe settings to allow for the way that wheels pull either towards each other or apart.

“Camber” is the inward or outward tilt of a tyre. The camber is set by the vehicle manufacturer, and can be affected by potholes in the road and may need to be adjusted periodically.

Hunter wheel alignment

At Kwik Fit, we are installing Hunter wheel alignment technology in a growing number of our centres – over 400 to date. Hunter equipment is renowned for its accuracy and uses a series of high-definition imaging sensors which measure the position and orientation of the wheels with pin point precision. This ensures your wheels are accurately aligned exactly as your manufacturer intended.

It’s worth keeping an eye out for unusual wear on your tyres, such as premature wear on the inside or outside shoulder, which could be a sign of incorrect alignment. Kwik Fit offers a free wheel alignment check at all of our UK centres so stop in if you need any help.

Correctly aligned tyres can add up to 12,000 miles to the life of your tyres and fuel efficiency will increase due to the reduced rolling resistance with the road – saving you pounds at the pump.

Book your wheel alignment now – find my nearest Kwik Fit Centre