How often do you really need a wheel alignment?
Not every month, and not only when the car pulls. The honest answer depends on your roads, your tyres and three simple warning signs.
Alignment is one of those services people either do far too often or never at all. Neither is ideal. The goal is simple: keep all four wheels pointing where the car manufacturer intended, so the tyres roll instead of scrubbing.
The baseline
For most cars in the UAE, a check every 10,000 km or once a year is sensible. Our roads are smooth on the highway but full of speed bumps, construction diversions and kerbs in parking areas, and each of those can nudge the geometry slightly.
Always align after these
- Fitting a new set of tyres
- Replacing suspension or steering parts
- A hard hit on a pothole, kerb or speed bump
- Lowering or lifting the car
Three signs you should not ignore
First, the steering wheel is not straight when you drive straight. Second, the car drifts to one side on a flat road with your hands relaxed. Third, one edge of a tyre is visibly more worn than the other. The third one is the expensive one, because by the time you see it, you have already lost tread.
An alignment usually takes around 40 minutes. Ask for the before and after printout: if the numbers were already in the green, a good workshop will tell you that nothing needed changing.
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