Wheel alignment

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Wheel alignment of a Ford Focus.

Wheel alignment, sometimes referred to as breaking or tracking, is part of standard automobile

maintenance that consists of adjusting the angles of wheels to the car manufacturer specifications. 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).[1] 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.

An increasing number of modern vehicles have advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as
electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and traction
control. These systems can be affected by mechanical alignment adjustments. This has led many
manufacturers to require electronic resets for these systems after a mechanical alignment is performed.
[2]

Contents [hide]

1 Primary angles

2 Secondary angles
3 Measurement

4 See also

5 References

Primary angles[edit]

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.[1] On some cars, not all of these can be
adjusted on every wheel.

These three parameters can be further categorized into front and rear (with no caster on the rear,
typically not being steered wheels). In summary, the parameters are:

Front: Caster (left & right)

Front: Camber (left & right)

Front: Toe (left, right & total)

Rear: Camber (left & right)

Rear: Toe (left, right & total)

Secondary angles[edit]

The secondary angles include numerous other adjustments, such as:

SAI (Steering Axis Inclination) (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)

Setback is the difference between right side and left side wheelbase length. It can also be measured as
an angle. Setback less than the manufacturer specified tolerance (for example about 6mm) does not
affect car handling. That's because, when the vehicle is turning, one wheel is ahead of the other by
several centimetres and therefore the setback is negligible. There are even some car models with
different factory setting for right and left side wheelbase length, for various design reasons. An off-spec
setback may occur because of a collision or a difference between right and left caster.[1]

Measurement[edit]

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. [2]

Often with alignment equipment, these "heads" can be a large precision reflector. In this case, the
alignment "tower" contains the cameras as well as arrays of LEDs. This system flashes one array of LEDs
for each reflector whilst a camera centrally located in the LED array "looks for" an image of the reflectors
patterned face. These cameras perform the same function as the other style of alignment equipment,
yet alleviate numerous issues prone to relocating a heavy precision camera assembly on each vehicle
serviced. [2]

See also[edit]

Auto mechanic

ASE