Alignment Service

Alignment Service at Stanley Ford Eastland

Wheel or tire alignment is an important part of keeping your Ford running the way it should. You can get fast, reliable alignment service at Stanley Ford Eastland. Whether you like to run around on the back roads of Eastland, Ranger or Cisco with potholes or gravel roads, or you have been in an accident, you may need to have your tires realigned. If you’ve been driving awhile, you know that the secret to your car, truck or SUV’s extended life is proper maintenance. Most people associate that with oil changes, fluid level checks and other critical maintenance areas to the engine, which is important, but don’t forget about your wheels and tires. You’ll want to check all these maintenance areas to keep things running smooth, but remember you have a lot riding on your tires. To keep your ride smooth and your handling simple and easy, get alignment service at Stanley Ford Eastland.  

Service Specials

Schedule Service

How Necessary is Alignment?

Wheels can get out of line from accidents, small fender benders, hitting a curb, big bump or pothole and when that happens your ride may not be as smooth. There are other ways that misaligned wheels can affect your vehicle’s performance. Wheel alignment is how your wheels touch the road, and adjusting the suspension brings the wheels into alignment so they contact the road at proper angles. If alignment is off, your vehicle handles differently, rides the road differently, and may cause tread on your tires to wear unevenly and you have to replace tires more often.

Why Wheel Alignment is Critical to Performance

Proper wheel or tire alignment is critical to performance because it ensures the tires are touching the road correctly. Alignment means the angle of the tires and how they work with the suspension system of the vehicle.
When the tires aren’t aligned correctly, you may have several problems with your Ford. You may feel a vibration as you drive or the car may pull to the side. When you’re going in a straight line and the vehicle starts to veer off to the side, that issue indicates misalignment. You might also notice that your tires wear out faster and on one side quicker than the other.

How do I know if My Wheel Alignment is Off?

The most common signs that your wheels are misaligned are as follows:

• Vehicle shakes or vibrates
• Steering pulls to one side
• When driving straight, your wheels want to turn to one side or another
• Tire tread wear is uneven

If you notice any of these signs, your alignment might be off. You’ll want to schedule an alignment service at Stanley Ford Eastland, so we can properly align your wheels and get you back on the road in a timely manner.

Checking Alignment

You can take your Ford to Stanley Ford Eastland to have the alignment tested. The service technician will look at the caster, toe and camber for the vehicle.
First, the caster alignment is checked. You can see if the tires are aligned from the front of the vehicle by whether they tilt inward or outward. Wear and tear can cause this problem or damage to the ball joint or wheel bearings from an accident. You may see that the outside or inside of the tire tread is more worn than in the center with camber issues.
The toe alignment is also checked, which is how the tires look from above. They may turn in or out if they are misaligned. When you feel the tire, you may notice that one side is smooth and the other is sharp. Toe misalignment is more common when tires aren’t kept inflated or if they don’t get rotated.
The caster is next to be checked, which is the angle of the steering axis viewed from the side of the vehicle. Caster alignment is important for steering, stability and cornering.
The service technician will check the balance of the tires, adding weight if they are out of balance. Tire balance can be done with an alignment or when you have the tires rotated. Proper maintenance of tires, including the right level of inflation, is critical to extending the life of the tires and to the performance of the Ford vehicle.

What Happens in an Alignment Check?

When you bring your vehicle into Stanley Ford Eastland, you’ll be met by our friendly service team who will check your alignment. They look at the wheels from different angles, using special alignment-testing equipment and tools.
They will check the camber to see if your wheels converge or diverge instead of being straight. If they discover a tilt is present, then the camber is misaligned. This happens when wheel bearings or ball joints are damaged or if they have just worn out. When this is the problem, tire wear patterns differ, meaning the outside or the inside of the tire shows greater signs of wear.
Then the team will check the toe, which is inspected to discover if the wheels are angled inward or outward from above the vehicle. The tire wear patterns may show that the tire edges are sharp on one edge and smooth on another, this could indicate a misalignment, caused by the tires not being inflated improperly, or not rotated as recommended.
The next test is the caster test, which checks the angle of the steering axis, and it is viewed from the side of the vehicle. Proper caster alignment allows you to take curves and corners more smoothly.
Finally, the team will check your tires for proper air pressure and look at tread wear to help diagnose potential problems.