Guy at the tire shop told me parking against curbs ruins your alignment

I was getting my tires rotated and this old mechanic pointed at my front end. Said people who jam their wheels into curbs every day mess up their tie rods. He showed me a car on the lift with bent steering parts, clean from curb hits. Now I park leaving a good six inches from the curb every time. Took me 15 years to learn that simple thing. Anyone else hear shop advice that changed how you park?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixgonzalez22d ago

People who jam their wheels into curbs every day" lol that's me. I used to just pull up until I heard that little thump and call it good. That six inches thing makes a lot of sense though, I never thought about how much force goes through the steering when you hit concrete that hard. Have you actually gone back to check if your car drives any different after parking that way for a while?

skyler_kim22d ago

People who jam their wheels into curbs every day" kind of hits a nerve for me honestly. I've been doing that for years and my alignment has been fine, think the bigger issue is if you're slamming into them at speed or hitting them at a bad angle. Gently tapping a curb while parking slow probably isn't bending anything serious, but that mechanic definitely made a good point about being careful.