Wheel Alignment & Geometry

Bring your car or van into Eastbourne Tyre Company for wheel alignment and/or wheel geometry in Eastbourne.

Your wheel alignment (sometimes known as wheel tracking) should be checked every 6 months or so, more often if you regularly drive long distances or drive over bumpy roads. Wheels that are not correctly aligned will have a detrimental effect on your vehicle’s steering, braking, tyre wear, fuel consumption, and overall safety.

Eastbourne Tyre Company is proud to be one of the few garages in the East Sussex area to offer a complete 4-wheel alignment and geometry assessment and adjustment service, using the state-of-the-art Hunter Hawkeye Elite 3D alignment/geometry machine.

We can carry out this service on rally and race cars as well as high-performance vehicles on our 5-tonne ramp which is flush to the floor to accommodate vehicles with low or lowered suspension.

Wheel Alignment

It may surprise you to know that the wheels on your vehicle aren’t straight, nor should they be. Wheel alignment can be affected by hitting a kerb or a pothole at speed, or by wear and tear on the steering or suspension components; there are three angles which are applied to your car wheels and each has a particular and different function to improve your contact with the road surface and vehicle performance.

The toe angle of your front wheels is crucial, and, when imagined from above, can be thought of as your wheels pointing outwards (toe-out), or inwards (toe-in). Most vehicle manufacturers recommend a small degree of toe-in for maximum stability at speed. Toe-out is not recommended for normal cars or vans because it makes the steering over-sensitive and dangerous.

Wheel Geometry

While wheel alignment primarily involves adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other, ensuring optimal handling and wear conditions, wheel geometry encompasses a broader spectrum of factors related to the overall configuration and positioning of the wheels within your vehicle.

Each individual vehicle has its own unique geometry settings for the best possible performance. During a complete 4-wheel alignment/geometry check and adjustment service, the following geometry aspects will be measured and then adjusted where required.

• Caster is the difference in the angle of the steering axis compared with the true vertical when viewed from the side. Positive caster (with the wheels forward of the true vertical) is the most common as it helps give a more stable steering line.
• Camber is how much your wheels lean in towards, or out away from, the vehicle when viewed from the front (or back). Most vehicles have neutral or slightly negative camber as this gives more stability than positive camber would, especially when cornering. The closer to neutral camber your wheels are, the more surface contact the tyres will have with the road, which means you have better grip and more even tyre wear.
• Set-back: when one front wheel is set further back than its counterpart. It’s important that your wheel axles are perpendicular to the chassis, as any deviation will affect your steering and cause the car to pull to one side whilst driving.
• Thrust angle is the centre line relative to the rear axle (or theoretical rear axle). It must be 90 degrees to avoid causing the steering to pull left or right. An incorrect thrust angle also causes uneven tyre wear and can increase the probability of a blow-out.

At Eastbourne Tyre Company we undertake both wheel geometry and wheel alignment services for cars and vans (up to 3.5t) using our Hunter Hawkeye Elite 3D camera which provides us with quick and accurate data to ensure perfect positioning for your wheels.

A well-reputed, family-run garage serving Eastbourne and East Sussex, Eastbourne Tyre Company deliver professional work and unbeatable customer service.

To find out more about Wheel Alignment & Geometry in Eastbourne, contact us online or call us directly on 01323 720222

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