Have your Wheel Alignment checked every other tire rotation and always when installing new tires. Wheel alignment sometimes referred to as tracking, is part of standard automobile maintenance that 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 to reduce tire wear, and to ensure that vehicle travel, is straight and true (without "pulling" to one side). Alignment angles can also be altered beyond the maker's specifications to obtain a specific handling characteristic. Motorsport and off-road applications may call for angles to be adjusted well beyond "normal" for a variety of reasons.
Primary Angles
The primary angles are the basic angle alignment of the wheels relative to each other and to the car body. These adjustments are the camber, caster and toe. On some cars, not all of these can be adjusted on every wheel.
These three parameters can be further categorized into front and rear, so summarily the parameters are:
- Front: Caster (right& left)
- Front: Camber (right & left)
- Front: Toe (left, right & total)
- Rear: Camber (left & right)
- Rear: Toe (left, right & total)
- Rear: Thrust angle
Secondary Angles
The secondary angles include numerous other adjustments, such as:
- SAI (left & right)
- Included angle (left & right)
- Toe out on turns (left & right)
- Maximum Turns (left & right)
- Toe curve change (left & right)
- Track width difference
- Wheelbase difference
- Front ride height (left & right)
- Rear ride height (left & right)
- Frame angle
Setback (front & rear) is often referred as a wheel alignment angle. However setback simply exists because of the measuring system and does not have any specification from car manufacturers.