Alignment Of Car Wheels

Wheel alignment is basically adjustment of the angles of the wheel in order to poise them perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other. Maintaining the proper alignment of the wheels not only enhances the life of the tyres but also makes the drive of the car smooth. With aligned tyres, car runs straight on roads and the life of tyres increase in a longer run. In addition to this, driving a car with unaligned tyres needs some additional efforts from the driver’s side that can seriously tire out the driver on a long drive.
The proper alignment of car tyres depend on three factors Camber, Caster and Toe. Here is a brief information of these components along with the problems the can create if not aligned.
1) Caster: – A caster is basically the top most tilting of the steering axis that can be seen from the side of a car either backward or in front of a car. Though a caster doesn’t cause / influence the wear of the tires, but it is responsible for the directional control of the steering wheel. The factors that affect position of caster include overloading and a weak sagging rear. Whenever the back side of a car remains lower than its trim height, the suspension of the front started tilting backward. Exactly reverse of it happens when the back side of a car remains a bit higher compared to its trim height. In either case, the steering of the car feels an odd stagnating force during high speed.
2) Camber: – The tilting of tyres that you can see from the front is Camber. Same as Caster, the Camber can be in any of the tilting outwards and tilting inwards position. The proper setting of camber falls essential in not only maintaining the directional control of the tyres, but also saves the tyres from wearing-out. The outwards tilting camber causes quick wear and tear of car’s suspension system and outside portion of the tyres. On the contrary, if the camber is tilting inwards excessively, it causes wear on the inward portion of the tyres and excessive wear on the tyres.
3) Toe: – Sometimes one can find the front or rear or both of the wheels tilted inwards or out wards. The measurement of this tilting from their straight ahead position is called the Toe. When the Toe is not adjusted correctly it causes wear and tear to the suspension system and tyres. It can also become a cause of steering imbalances.
                                  source:http://www.carzy.co.in/blog/car-maintenance-tips/