A wheel alignment isn't about the wheels — it's about the angles of the suspension that the wheels mount to: camber, caster, and toe, on each corner of the vehicle. When those angles drift out of factory spec, your tires scrub against the road instead of rolling on it, your fuel economy drops, and the steering wheel sits off-center. A proper computerized four-wheel alignment at Frank's Automotive in New Braunfels takes about an hour and pays for itself in tire life.
What's involved
A full alignment service at our shop:
- Pre-inspection — we check tie-rods, ball joints, control-arm bushings, sway-bar links, and tire condition before touching anything. There's no point aligning a car with a worn suspension component; the alignment won't hold
- Computerized rack-and-pinion alignment — sensors clamp to each wheel and feed live data to a computer that knows the factory specs for your year/make/model
- Adjustments — we adjust toe (on every vehicle), camber and caster (where adjustable)
- Centered steering wheel — set straight ahead before the toe is finalized
- Test drive — confirm pull is gone and the wheel is centered
We give you a before/after printout so you can see what was out and what we corrected.
When to bring it in
The classic signs your alignment is off:
- Vehicle pulls to one side on a flat, straight road (no road crown)
- Steering wheel is off-center when driving straight
- Uneven tire wear — feathering on one edge, more wear on the inside than the outside, or vice versa
- Vibration at highway speed (could be alignment, balance, or both)
- Recent curb impact, pothole hit, or any contact that "didn't feel right"
You should also get an alignment after any suspension work, after new tires are installed, and any time you've lowered or lifted the vehicle. TX-46 and the Hill Country roads around Canyon Lake and Gruene aren't friendly to alignment — gravel shoulders, sudden pothole season after a hard rain, and the curb on every parking lot. We see plenty of vehicles that need it.
Why Frank's for wheel alignment
We run a modern computerized four-wheel alignment rack that pulls factory specs for every vehicle we work on, and our service techs are ASE Certified. The work is covered by our 24-month / 24,000-mile warranty, and if you bought tires from a tire shop that won't realign them properly, we will.
Schedule a visit and we'll diagnose any underlying suspension issue first, then do the alignment to factory spec. Request an appointment or call (830) 627-3939.