Wheel alignment on a German car before a Lexington winter

When an Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche or Volkswagen starts easing toward one side of the lane, or its steering wheel sits crooked on a straight road, the wheel alignment may be out. On these cars a small alignment error also wears the tires down along one edge, often while the middle of the tread looks fine. Winter on Lexington roads is hard on an alignment.

Cover image: AI-generated editorial illustration, not a photograph of Stuttgart Motors or a customer vehicle.

What you notice first

A pull means the car drifts to one side unless you hold pressure on the steering wheel. A tire low on air can cause a mild one, and so can the slope most roads are built with to shed rain. A pull on every road, with the tire pressures right, can point to the alignment or the parts that hold it.

A crooked steering wheel sits turned while the car goes straight. Where it sits depends on the toe, the direction each tire points seen from above. Knock the toe out on one front wheel and the steering wheel has to sit off center to keep the car straight, and rear wheels pushed out of line can do the same.

Wear on one edge can come from a tire pointing slightly off straight and getting dragged sideways as it rolls. Tread worn that way feels smooth when you run a hand across it one way and sharp coming back. On these cars the worn edge is often the inside one, which faces the car and stays out of sight.

A car that feels nervous at highway speed, wandering and asking for small corrections all the time, may have a toe setting that has moved or a worn steering or suspension part. Wide tires also tend to follow grooves worn into the pavement, so a tug on one stretch of road may just be the ruts.

Why German cars turn a small error into tire wear

These cars are often set up at the factory with the top of each wheel leaning in slightly, which shops call negative camber. The lean helps the tire grip in a corner. On a straight road it puts more of the car’s weight on the inside shoulder of the tire, and the wider the tire, the more the lean favors that edge.

Add a toe setting that has drifted, and that loaded shoulder does the scrubbing. Performance tires use softer rubber for grip, and softer rubber gives up tread faster when it is dragged sideways.

Some models also run wider tires on the rear than the front, and those cannot be swapped front to back, so uneven wear stays on the tire it started on.

What knocks an alignment out on Lexington roads

Potholes start with freeze thaw weather. Water runs into cracks in the pavement, freezes, expands and pries them wider, and traffic breaks the loosened pieces out, which is why pothole season comes in early spring.

A wheel that drops into one on Richmond Road takes the hit through the tire and into the suspension. The impact can bend a tie rod or a control arm, or shift a part in its mount, and the car may drive well enough afterward that nothing seems wrong until the tires show it.

Curbs do the same at lower speed. Sliding into one on an icy morning in Chevy Chase puts a sideways load straight into the steering and suspension parts.

Worn parts move the alignment slowly. A soft bushing or a joint with play lets the wheel shift under braking and over bumps, so the angles change as you drive even when they look right with the car standing still.

Why the suspension and steering get checked first

An alignment adjusts where each wheel points and how far it leans, through the parts that hold the wheel. Setting the angles on a worn part means setting them on something that will move again, and no adjustment straightens a bent arm.

That is why we check the joints for play, the bushings for cracks or softness and the arms for bends ahead of the alignment. The tires get read too, since the wear shows which way each wheel has been pointing.

If a part is worn, we can replace it here. A new tie rod end or control arm can change the wheel’s angles even when it is the right part, so the alignment gets set after the repair.

Our own alignment equipment on Eastland Drive

With the alignment equipment in our own shop, the parts check, any suspension or steering repair and the alignment all happen in one place. We do tires for performance cars as well, and a new set that goes on without an alignment wears to whatever settings the car already had, along with anything a pothole did to them.

Check the steering wheel on a straight road

The next time you drive a straight stretch of road, glance at the badge in the middle of the steering wheel. If it sits tilted road after road, or your hands keep holding pressure to stay in the lane, note which way.

Tell us what you noticed when the car comes to Stuttgart Motors Eastland, and we will start the suspension and steering check from there.