Electrical · Airbag · A/C — specialist diagnostic work Licensed Alberta inspection facility Dash cams, backup cams & infotainment installed (780) 471-6109 · 8620 126 Ave NW, Edmonton
A technician checking a wheel with the vehicle raised

On-site alignment machine

Wheel
alignments

Pulling to one side, a steering wheel that sits crooked on a straight road, or tires wearing out on one edge. We align on our own machine here, and you get a printout of the numbers before and after — not just an assurance that we did it.

Why it’s worth doing

Edmonton roads
are hard on
alignment.

Freeze, thaw, repeat. A winter here does things to pavement that a set of control arms was not designed to absorb, and one solid pothole is enough to knock a wheel out of specification. You don’t always feel it happen — the first sign is often a tire wearing out on one shoulder months later.

A wheel on the alignment rack with the machine behind it

Signs you need one

Any one of these is worth a check. Two or more and it’s costing you tires.

  • It pulls to one side when you let go on a level road
  • The steering wheel sits crooked while you’re driving straight
  • Uneven tire wear — one shoulder gone, the rest fine
  • The steering feels vague or wanders at highway speed
  • You just hit something — a pothole, a curb, a snow-buried obstacle
  • You just bought new tires and want them to last
  • Suspension or steering work was recently done
  • After a collision repair, before you call the job finished

Alignment questions

How often should I get an alignment?

There’s no fixed interval — it depends on what your vehicle has been through. A reasonable habit is once a year, or whenever you put new tires on, plus any time you hit something hard enough to make you wince. If the vehicle drives straight and the tires are wearing evenly, it doesn’t need one.

How long does it take?

Usually about an hour for a straightforward four-wheel alignment. It takes longer if adjustment hardware is seized — common on older vehicles that have spent their lives on salted roads — or if we find worn components that need replacing before an alignment will hold.

Will an alignment fix my vibration?

Probably not. A vibration at speed is usually a balance problem, a bent wheel, or a tire with a belt shifting inside it. Alignment fixes pulling, crooked steering wheels and uneven wear. They’re different problems, and we’ll tell you which one you have rather than selling you the wrong service.

Do I need a four-wheel alignment or just the front?

Most modern vehicles benefit from a four-wheel alignment, because the rear angles affect how the vehicle tracks and where the steering wheel ends up sitting. On some older solid-axle vehicles, a front alignment is all there is to adjust. We’ll tell you which applies to yours.

My vehicle still pulls after an alignment somewhere else.

Bring it in with the printout if you have one. A pull that survives an alignment is often a tire issue — a radial pull from the tire construction itself — or a dragging brake, or a worn component that lets the angle change under load. Those are all findable, and the printout tells us what was set and whether it held.

Do I need an alignment after new tires?

You don’t strictly need one, but it’s the cheapest insurance available on a purchase that size. If the alignment was already out, the new tires start wearing wrong from the first drive. Doing both at once means the set lasts as long as it should.

Pulling, crooked, or eating tires?

Book it in. You’ll leave with a printout showing what was out and what it is now.