As the only contact between the road and your car, your wheels can take a heel of a battering during the cars lifetime. Careless driving cad result in bumping into kerbs and hard cornering puts stress on the cars suspension. With the poor condition of much of our road network, even careful drivers can fall foul of potholes and the like. All these bumps and jolts can put heavy stress on your wheels and consequently the cars suspension. This can lead to the suspension shifting out of alignment or even becoming damaged.

Poor alignment of the wheels can cause a number of issues. If a wheel is misaligned this has the effect of dragging the surface of the tyre across the road surface slightly, which results in increased and uneven wear, leading to a premature change of tyre. Extreme misalignment can lead to a dangerous adverse effect to the cars handling, causing unpredictable movement of the car during cornering.

Most good tyre centers will offer an analysis of the wheel alignment, often for free when you have new tyres fitted, and can advise you on the work needed. Though this can often seem like an annoying extra expense it is definitely worth doing.