Car & Light Truck Alignment in Wasilla, AK

A great deal of what moves around this valley moves behind a pickup: equipment trailers, boats, utility trailers, machinery on a flat deck.

Towing changes what alignment is worth. A loaded hitch shifts weight rearward and alters how the front end sits, and a truck that tracks straight empty does not necessarily track straight loaded. Add the surfaces these trucks work on, gravel, sites and frost-damaged pavement, and the geometry has plenty of opportunity to move.

If you tow regularly, say so when you book. It is relevant to what the store checks.

• Toe, whether the wheels point slightly in or out, which scrubs tread off faster than anything else when it is wrong.
• Camber, the lean of the wheel at the top, which wears one edge.
• Caster, which affects steering feel and stability rather than wear.

A trailer's own tires fail more often than the tow vehicle's, and for reasons that have nothing to do with mileage: they sit for months, they run under-inflated because nobody checks them, and nobody feels the symptoms from the driver's seat.

This store carries trailer tires along with passenger and light truck tires, and tire and wheel balancing is offered here. Ask for the sidewalls and date codes to be looked at on anything that has been standing.

Brakes, oil changes, air conditioning and engine work are not offered here, and no Purcell location in Alaska offers them. This store handles tires, alignment and balancing.

If an alignment will not hold, the cause is usually worn suspension letting the geometry move under load. The store will tell you rather than aligning the vehicle twice.

The Wasilla commercial store is managed by Colton Savage, carries eight tire categories, and shares its site with the Purcell distribution location holding the state's tire stock.

• Car & Light Truck Alignment in Anchorage, AK, (907) 276-7515.
• Car & Light Truck Alignment in Fairbanks, AK, (907) 479-3399.

See the national car and light truck alignment page for all 40 locations.