My Subaru 2016 Forester was only two years old when I was performing routine maintenance, and the dealer told me that it "needs to be aligned". Four years later, without any alignment, all eight tires it uses have worn perfectly so far, and the car has been driving on the road. Are they right or are they being promoted because of something I don't need? Obviously, I was sold something I didn't need.

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Coincidentally, my Suby shares a garage with the (loved) 2007 Toyota Highlander. Now entering its 15th year of reliable service, this car can still drive in an absolute straight line, and I have never aligned it. It uses multiple sets of tires that wear evenly, with no cup holders or any other signs of misalignment. The steering wheel is still perfectly centered, just like when we first bought it.

This is a detailed introduction to the alignment provided by the tire frame.

Both of my two vehicles that never aligned have passed thousands of miles of dirt roads, logging trails, and unmaintained seasonal roads in New Hampshire. The remaining mileage includes broken Boston subway suburbs and urban roads, full of potholes in wheel bearings. Have never given birth to children.

Therefore, when the vehicle service provider tells you that you need positioning, please ask them specifically what problems the positioning will correct. They may show you a printout of the angles and specifications they may use. So? What exactly will the alignment fix?

The following are symptoms that may indicate the need for alignment:-Uneven tire wear. They have more wear on the inside or outside of the tread. -There are signs of "cupling" on the tire tread. You will know when you see it. The tread on each tread block is uneven. -Usually cars with this problem are also noisy when driving. -When driving on a straight road, the car yanked to one side. Remember that the slope of the top of the road, allowing water to run off, will cause this situation. Therefore, finding a flat, straight road is the best way to test whether the car is driving in a straight line on the highway. -The steering wheel is no longer centered. This means that when the four wheels go straight, the steering wheel tilts more than 30 degrees to one side.

There are also times when these symptoms have not yet manifested, indicating that an alliance may be a wise move. Some of these include after a strong curb impact, such as a slight collision with a hard curb. Or, if the suspension needs to be overhauled. If you are one of the people who raise or lower the car by modifying it, then you already know that it needs to be aligned.

We asked a suspension engineer if he could explain when the vehicle's suspension maintenance might need to be aligned. Mustangman is a long-term contributor to the Car Talk community. He has done all of his work on the cars in the family fleet and is familiar with many different suspension designs. Unlike most mechanics, he even performs home calibration on his vehicle. He told us some very detailed things about when the car needs to be calibrated after the suspension is working.

The following are comments from suspension engineers on alignment requirements:-Many cars today have little or no alignment adjustments other than the toe (or). If they don’t meet specifications, it usually means that something is bent and special parts are needed to correct the alignment (so the $129 alignment special! Doesn’t help much)-mid-priced cars are net-built... fasten it together, Then, except for the toes, the alignment is in compliance with the specification. -If you replace the original pillars with OEM specifications factory pillars, alignment is not required. -Shock replacement? No alignment is required at all.

So what type of suspension work needs to be aligned after? -Quick-Strut replacement parts (spring and all) should be checked for toe setting, because the ride height will be different, which will affect the toe. -Replace the spring, yes, the reason is the same as Quick Struts.

Will the vehicle deviate from factory calibration specifications as it ages? We think so. The spring sags a bit, which may mean that the vehicle is not fully aligned like the new one. Bushings and joints wear out, and they do change the angle of the wheel. Will this difference matter? Will it quickly damage new tires, tilt the car to one side, or force the steering wheel to off-center? No, based on real world experience.

Why do tire shops usually recommend that you "need" calibration? They are hedging their bets. They don't want you to unsatisfactorily return after ten or twenty thousand miles with unevenly worn tires and ask for a warranty claim. We don’t think they just want to increase their income. A long-time shade tree mechanic with a Barkydog handle and members of the Car Talk community helped explain this logic. He commented: "Even if there is no obvious tread wear problem, when I get a new tire, I usually align it immediately. The tire seems to be able to use about 70k. This becomes 6 to 7 years. My thoughts Yes, if there is a problem that has not yet surfaced, it will help the life of the new tire."

We believe that Barkydog's logic when using high-quality tires such as Michelin CrossClimate2 on new cars is reasonable. The cost of tires and brackets can be as high as $1,000 or more. Adjustments below $150 are a good insurance policy. In other words, suppose you believe that the tire shop will do the alignment correctly. To be honest, after leaving the tire shop, the wheel nuts are not tightened, the rim is damaged, the tire balance weight is installed on the old tire, the tire lock is lost, the tire pressure is not only wrong, but also wrong in different ways in different corners of the car, I don't believe in chain tires The store will not make my positioning worse. On the contrary, I believe that my long-term mechanics and dealers will do the same. The professional alignment store is of course also a good choice.

The real dilemma is when it comes to very old cars and buying cheap tires. If the beater you own is installing the last set of tires you bought at the lowest possible price, is it really a good move to add calibration costs to your bill? Unless you know that there is a problem that needs to be corrected.

Subaru Forester image courtesy of John Goreham (John Goreham). Picture of John Gorham's Toyota Highlander.

John Goreham is a long-term member and rehabilitation engineer of the New England Automotive Press Association. John's interest in electric vehicles can be traced back to 1990, when he designed a thermal control system for electric vehicle batteries as part of an academic team. After earning a degree in mechanical engineering, John completed a marketing course at Northeastern University and worked in auto parts manufacturers, the semiconductor industry, and biotechnology. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in dozens of American news media and provided reviews for many car shopping websites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars and Twitter, and check his credentials on Linkedin

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