Towing moves the geometry
A pickup with a loaded trailer behind it sits differently from the same pickup empty. Weight on the hitch pushes the back down and lifts the front, which changes the angles the front wheels sit at for the whole trip.
A vehicle that tows occasionally absorbs that. A vehicle that tows regularly, at or near its limit, is spending a large share of its life in a geometry nobody measured.
Two things follow. Front tire wear on a towing vehicle is worth looking at specifically, because it tells you whether the loaded condition is costing you. Weight distribution also matters more than most owners think, since a trailer loaded nose-heavy exaggerates all of this.
If you tow regularly, say so when you book. It changes what gets looked at.
Field entrances and gravel
The other local cause is the surface. Gravel roads, field entrances, irrigation crossings and verges are all opportunities for an impact that nobody registers as an impact.
Nothing breaks. The angles move a fraction, the vehicle develops a slight pull, and whoever drives it adapts within a week without reporting anything. The tires keep a record even when the driver does not.
When to book it
The national alignment page covers the occasions that apply to any vehicle. The addition for a vehicle that tows is to look at the front tires specifically, and to look at them after a hauling season rather than before one, since that is when the loaded miles have just been done.
An alignment that will not hold points at worn components, which is suspension work, done at this store, with the alignment afterwards.
A vibration rather than a pull is balance instead.
About this store
The Twin Falls store runs fourteen services covering trucks and cars under one roof, carries all nine Purcell tire categories, and is managed by Stefanie Bluemel. It also aligns heavy trucks and trailers.
See the national car and light truck alignment page for all 40 locations.