Do It Yourself: Car Alignment

Having your tires aligned is more important than you might think. Tires that are aligned do not bend or lean inward or outward, and will drive straight without steering help when on a straight road. This prevents unnecessary and premature wear and tear on your tires. Wear and tear on tires that goes unnoticed and untreated may cause you to hydroplane, have trouble braking and give you less control over steering your car. If your tires are not dramatically out of alignment, you may be able to fix the problem yourself.

• 1

  Choose a flat surface to work on. If you work on a sloped or uneven surface, this could easily result in an uneven alignment job.

• 2

  Check the wear patterns on every tire. If one tire is significantly more worn than the others, you will have to replace it before aligning the car. If you don't, your car will continue to pull to one side as you drive because this tire will not come into full contact with the road.

• 3

  Check for toe-in or toe-out. Toe-in occurs when your wheels point too far inward, and toe-out occurs when your wheels point too far outward. Stretch a tape measure against a straight edge between the two front wheels. Have another person hold the opposite end of the tape measure for accurate results. Make the same measurement on the back wheels. Calculate the difference; this is how much your alignment is off.

• 4

  Put a piece of cardboard or other padding underneath the car. Lie down on the cardboard and position yourself under the front tie rod end of the car on the driver's side. Tie rods connect from the wheel to the steering to the spindle. The connection is secured with a lock nut. If either of the tie rod ends are eroded, you have to replace them.

• 5

  Loosen the lock nuts with your wrench. Turn the tie rod ends on both sides of the car an equal amount of times in the same direction. Measure your wheel alignment again as you did before. If the alignment is closer, you are turning the tie rod ends in the right direction. If not, reverse the process. Measure periodically to keep track.

• 6

  Repeat with the rear tie rod ends. Attempt to match the front and rear measurement as closely as possible, or as suggested by your car's owner's manual. Some vehicles require a different measurement for the front and back alignment.