Turn the wheel and look at the inside edge
The most expensive alignment fault is also the one nobody sees. Many vehicles that are out of alignment wear the inside shoulder of the front tires, the edge that faces the engine. From the curb, the tire looks fine. The tread you can see is full depth. The inner edge, out of sight, can be worn nearly smooth.
Drivers find out when the tire fails a check, or when a shop points it out, and by then the tire is often past saving.
There is a two minute check you can do in a parking lot. With the vehicle parked, turn the steering wheel all the way to one side. The front of the tire on the opposite side swings out, and the inner shoulder comes into view. Look at it, and run your hand across the tread from the inside edge toward the center. Then turn the wheel the other way and check the other tire.
What you are looking for: an inner edge that is noticeably more worn than the outer edge, or tread that feels smooth stroked one way and rough the other. Either is a reason to book an alignment.
Do it before the commute finds it for you
If the car is how you get to work, a worn inside edge is a tire that can fail on the way there. Checking every month or so, ideally when you check pressures, catches it while the tire still has life in it. Alignment then stops the wear rather than chasing it.
What else to mention
A recent pothole or curb strike, new tires, or recent suspension repair. A vibration rather than a pull is more often balance, and tire and wheel balancing is done at this address. The national alignment page covers how the check works.
This is the Commercial & Consumer listing. Purcell's other Paducah store on Hinkleville Rd also aligns cars and light trucks.
Other stores nearby
Paducah Consumer and Princeton also offer car and light truck alignment.
About this store
The Paducah Commercial & Consumer store carries all nine Purcell tire categories and is managed by Austin Hays.
See the national car and light truck alignment page for all 40 locations.