Wheel alignment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A wheel alignment is part of automobile maintenance.

In its most basic form, an alignment consists of adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are set to the car maker's specification. The purpose of these adjustments is maximum tire life and a vehicle that tracks straight and true when driving along a straight and level road, as well as correct tracking when driving on turns.

There are three adjustment parameters involved on each axle in order to properly align a vehicle. These adjustments are Camber, Caster and Toe. It is important to note that on some cars, there may only be adjustability for one or two of the parameters.

A camera unit (sometimes called a "head") is attached to a specially designed clamp which holds on to a wheel. There are usually four camera units in a wheel alignment system (A camera unit for each wheel). The camera units communicate their physical positioning with respect to other camera units to a central computer which calculates and displays how much the camber, toe and caster is out by.