Potholes and freeze-thaw do real damage
An alignment problem usually shows up as one of a few signs: the vehicle pulls to one side on a flat road, the steering wheel isn’t centered when you’re driving straight, or the front tires wear unevenly across the tread, one edge going bald faster than the rest. In Ottawa, a lot of that traces back to potholes and the freeze-thaw cycle the city goes through every spring, when repeated freezing and thawing breaks up pavement and opens up potholes across the road network. Hitting a hard pothole or curb can knock the suspension geometry out of spec even when nothing looks visibly bent. A proper alignment puts the vehicle on a rack with sensors at each wheel, measures toe, camber and caster against the manufacturer’s spec, and adjusts the suspension components to bring those numbers back into range. This isn’t something a quick eyeball check or a steering wheel re-center can fix. It needs the rack, and it needs to be done with the vehicle level and the tires at the correct pressure, which is why this service only happens in our bay.
