Alignments Keep Your Vehicle From Wandering, Aids In Proper Braking, Prevents Premature Tread Wear.

Adjustments For Keeping Your Vehicle Properly Aligned

Toe-in/out
Toe can be described as the deviation, from parallel, of the longitudinal planes of the two front tires. If the fronts of the tires are closer together than the trailing edges, the wheels are toed-in. If the fronts are farther apart than the trailing edges, the wheels are toed-out.

Toe can be measured and expressed in inches or centimeters difference between leading and trailing tire edges, or in degrees deviation from parallel.

Toe has the greatest effect on tire wear. If both front tires are evenly worn on their outside shoulders, it's a good bet that there's excessive toe-in. If the wear is on the inside shoulders, the wheels are likely toed-out. In either case, the tires simply aren't pointing in the same direction, and each one experiences some road scrub as it argues with the other about where the vehicle's going to go. Also, since the tires aren't in agreement about the direction of the vehicle, an out-of-spec toe setting can also contribute to vehicle wandering.

A small amount of toe-in is built into most steering/suspension systems since, with a vehicle loaded and going down the road, the front wheels have a natural tendency to "run away" from each other. A little toe-in helps keep them parallel while in motion.