Wheel Alignment Wheel Alignment

Wheel alignment is done for proper centering, less tyre wear, reduced load on

suspension and better handling. The three main parameters of alignment are

camber, caster and toe. Return ability is the ability of the steering wheels to return to

the straight-ahead position once they are steered.

Camber is the inclination of the tyres when viewed from front. If the top of the wheel

is leaning inwards then the camber is negative and if it is leaning outwards then the

camber is positive. Camber is provided to the vehicle to develop return ability. All

Passenger application vehicles have positive camber, whereas vehicles used in

sports application / racing have negative camber.

Caster is the forward or rearward tilt of the steering axis when viewed from the side.

This inclination of the steering pivot in the front or behind direction adjusts steer

ability. If the angle is in front then the caster is positive and if it is behind then its

negative caster. Rear wheel drive cars have positive caster and front wheel drive

cars have negative caster. All passenger vehicles has positive caster, which is

provided for straight line stability or directional stability of the vehicle. Best example

of positive caster is in a bicycle, where you can ride even if you take both hands off

the handle. Caster is there only for front wheels as only the front wheels steer.

Toe-in, Toe-out: Toe measurement is the difference of the lateral distance between

the front end and the rear end of the tyres of same axle. Toe-in means front end of

the tyre is closer and in toe-out it is the opposite. It is provided to compensate the

coning effect of the tyres due to camber angle. Hence if the camber is positive, the

vehicle will have toe-in and if the camber is negative, the vehicle will have toe-out.

Sports / racing application vehicles have toe-out due to their negative camber.

Most vehicles in India have toe only as an adjustable parameter for alignment

(Caster and Camber are fixed).

Source: http://www.carwale.com/

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