Uneven wear is a wet weather problem
Alignment is usually sold on tire cost. On roads that are wet for a good part of the year, there is a second argument and it is the more important one.
A tire sheds water through its tread. A tire worn unevenly, with one edge well down while the rest looks healthy, has lost part of that capacity in the area carrying the load. The tread depth figure somebody quotes is an average across a tire that is no longer uniform.
Which means a misaligned vehicle is not only buying tires early. It is driving on tires that perform worse in the rain than their measured depth suggests.
What alignment does and does not fix
Alignment sets the angles the wheels sit at. It corrects a vehicle that pulls, wanders or wears unevenly, and it is the right answer for all three.
What it cannot do is fix worn components. A vehicle that will not hold an alignment has something underneath it allowing movement under load, and that gets replaced first. Suspension repair is handled at this store, which means the sequence can run properly in one visit rather than as two appointments at two businesses.
When to have it checked
The national alignment page lists the occasions. The one worth adding in this climate is seasonal rather than mechanical: before a wet season rather than during it.
A tire worn unevenly sheds less water than its measured depth suggests, so the time to correct the cause is while the roads are still forgiving.
A vibration rather than a pull is usually balance, also offered here.
Have the old tires read
The set coming off is evidence, and it is free to look at. Worn evenly, it tells you the geometry is doing its job. Worn on one side, feathered across the face, or cupped, it has already identified what is wrong before anything goes on a rack.
Monroe carries all nine Purcell tire categories, so the reading and the replacement happen in the same visit.
About this store
The Monroe store runs seventeen services, more than any other Purcell location in Washington, and is managed by JR Webster. It also aligns heavy trucks and trailers.
See the national car and light truck alignment page for all 40 locations.