Wheel Alignment in Ellenbrook

Prime Euro Services does wheel alignment at 3/37 The Broadway, Ellenbrook. All makes and models, not only European cars. Licensed WA motor vehicle repair business, MRB 8069.

Alignment is the cheapest repair on this website and the one people put off longest. Left alone it quietly eats a set of tyres.

What alignment actually means

Your wheels are not bolted on straight. They sit at deliberate angles, and those angles are what make a car track straight, turn in properly and wear its tyres evenly.

There are three that matter:

• Toe. Whether the wheels point slightly in or slightly out when you look down at them. Toe is the angle that destroys tyres fastest when it is wrong.
• Camber. Whether the top of the wheel leans in or out. Too much and you wear one shoulder of the tyre down to the belt while the rest still looks new.
• Caster. The angle of the steering axis. It is what makes the steering wheel self-centre after a corner.

Every car has a factory specification for all three. Alignment is the job of putting them back.

Signs your alignment is out

• The car pulls to one side on a flat road
• The steering wheel sits crooked when you are driving straight
• One edge of a tyre is worn and the rest is not
• The steering feels vague, or will not centre itself after a turn
• You hit a kerb or a bad pothole and something feels different

The tyre wear one is worth taking seriously. A tyre is an expensive thing to throw away at half its life because of an angle that was out by a degree.

When you should get one done

After new tyres, so the new rubber does not start wearing wrong on day one. After any suspension or steering work, because changing those parts changes the angles. After lowering a car, which always changes them. And after a solid hit on a kerb or a pothole.

Otherwise, having it checked when the car is in for a log book service is enough for most people.

Lowered and modified cars

This is where alignment stops being routine.

Lowering a car changes camber and toe by design. Fit springs and do nothing else and the car will often wear the inside edge of both front tyres down to nothing in a few thousand kilometres, while the outside still looks fine. People blame the springs. It is the alignment.

We did exactly this kind of work on a Subaru WRX suspension upgrade and a VW Golf R on lowering springs. If you are planning suspension work, budget for the alignment in the same visit rather than finding out later.

European cars and tighter tolerances

Plenty of European cars run adjustable rear camber and toe as well as front, and their factory tolerances are tighter than a lot of people expect. A workshop that only ever sets front toe is not doing a full alignment on an Audi or a BMW.

If you drive one, our European car service page covers how we work on them, and we have a separate page on BMW, Mercedes and Audi servicing.

How we do it

We check the suspension and steering before we touch the alignment. A worn ball joint, bush or tie rod end moves under load, so aligning a car with a worn component is setting angles that will not hold. If we find something worn we tell you before we start, and you decide.

We quote before we begin. Our own parts and labour carry a 12 month warranty.

Book a wheel alignment in Ellenbrook

Prime Euro Services
3/37 The Broadway, Ellenbrook WA 6069
Phone (08) 6296 3894
Licence MRB 8069

Open Monday to Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm, and Saturday 7:00am to 12:00pm. Closed Sundays. Call, send an enquiry or walk in.

Questions we get asked

My car does not pull. Do I still need an alignment?

Possibly. A car can be out of alignment and still track straight if both sides are out by a similar amount. The tyres are the better tell. Look at the inside and outside edges of your front tyres and compare them.

Do I need one with new tyres?

It is the best time to do it. Fitting new tyres to a car that is out of alignment starts the wear clock on day one.

Do you align cars that are not European?

Yes. Daily drivers, utes, vans and 4WDs are all normal here. See our Ellenbrook mechanic page.