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One of the most important maintenance activity’s you can perform on your car is a tire alignment. A basic definition of a tire alignment service is the adjustment one makes to adjust the wheels to be sure the vehicle is driving safely and efficiently. When a proper tire alignment is completed the benefits include the avoidance of unnecessary wear on your tires and steering mechanism as well as improved gas mileage. The money you spend on aligning is usually less than the cost of one tire and can save you a large amount of money in the long run.

So why does your car become misaligned? Rough road conditions with a combination of mechanical wear and tear are the main reasons of why a car becomes misaligned. If a vehicle remains without proper alignment it can cause serious dangers to drivers and passengers. Drivers may experience difficulty in the handling of their vehicle which can be unsafe. In addition, by examining your tires you can determine if they are wearing incorrectly. If your tire is as little as an eighth of an inch unaligned it can have devastating wear effects on your tires. This is why it is so important to have a proper alignment.

You also might be asking yourself, “how often I should get my wheels aligned?” After reviewing your owner’s manual for specifics on tire alignment, 10,000 miles is usually the general amount of mileage you want to be around when completing an alignment. When driving, if you notice that your vehicle is pulling to one side or that the vehicle is awkwardly shimmying, it is in your best interest to have your vehicle checked out as soon as possible. Alignment in NH and other northeast states can sometimes be done more frequently due to the large amount of potholes found on the roads after the winter months. Potholes and other road hazards present a problem to many drivers due to their ability to force a vehicle out of alignment from forceful and sudden impact.

You might be asking yourself now, how tire alignment actually works. Overall the process generally takes under an hour. A technician will drive your can onto a platform that will allow your wheels to spin. When the wheels are spinning a computer will check the rotation and orientation of each wheel. The computer is programmed with information specifically for your car for the year, make and model. If the wheels are found to be misaligned they will be adjusted to the correct position. In most cases your vehicle will be taken for a test drive before and after the alignment process by the technician to ensure the proper adjustments have been made.

As a leading provider of tire alignments in NH and ME, Stratham Tire has dedicated specialists at every location to ensure the tire alignment you get is done properly the first time. Especially through the winter months, where potholes will knock you out of alignment or the summer months were you tend to drive more — it’s important to stay on top of regularly scheduled maintenance like tire alignments. For more on ME and NH tire alignments and any other services,contact your nearest Stratham Tire location today.