Parking car with front wheels turned.... bad?

[Train]

used to not care where my front tires were when I put my car in park, but someone told me the other day its bad for the suspension and/or power steering. Is this true?

I have a brand new 07 Charger, 600 miles so far.

 

[dud]

I would tend to doubt it ... in fact, it is actually recommended to do this when parked on an incline.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've never heard such a thing, and we were instructed as to which direction to turn our wheels when parking on a hill in driver's ed.

 

[Zenmervolt]

False. Whoever told you that is very confused.

Turning the steering wheel to full lock and physically holding it there with the engine running is indeed bad for the power steering system, but if the car's off or if your hands are not holding the steering wheel against it's stop, you're not doing any damage whatsoever. When you turn the steering to full lock with the engine running, you can hear the pump groan a little, for a couple seconds that's fine, but you don't want to hold it there for a couple minutes.

ZV

 

[AsianriceX]

I habitually straighten my wheels when parking so I don't accidentally side swipe the car next to me when I try to leave (if I forget to straighten out). I never reverse fast enough for me not to catch myself doing something stupid... it's more just force of habit. Someone probably told me to do that when I was learning to drive and it stuck with me.

I've never heard of it being bad for the suspension or power steering.

 

[sniperruff]

i've been told to straighten my car out when i park. i guess since i see 90% of other cars are parked like this, i should do it too...

 

[Summitdrinker]

if your on hill turn the wheel, if it's flat why bother

if anything you might wear the tires a micro amount faster

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

After living in San Franciso for years, I habitually curb my wheels when I'm parked on any kind of incline (including, as luck would have it, in front of my house). No problem, ever.

 

[Jahee]

The cars look neater straight anyway!

 

[sswiss3000]

So I think this discussion did not hit the point exactly. While I agree with almost all statements that were made, such as Turn the wheels when parked on a hill,..

I would like to add that for long term parking, such as winterizing a car or anytime you leave your car parked for several month, I would suggest turning the wheel into the straight ahead position. The reasoning behind that logic can easily be learned when reading up on alignments for Drifting cars. The reason why drift cars have such an extreme negative camber is so that when they are turning their wheels full lock, they will return to a 0 degree camber and have the maximum amount of contact/grip on the road.

In short, When the front wheels are turned all the way to one side, the camber increases due to the positive caster that most cars have. Thus if you park with your wheels fully turned to one side, the weight of the car will mostly sit on the outer side of the tire rather than evenly distributed on the entire contact patch of the front wheels. That being said, parking with your wheels turned, will put a bit more strain on your suspension, wheel and tires, but this is nothing that you should worry about too much.

In Conclusion, straightening your wheels while parked is preferable, but not vital for the health of your car.

FYI, if you want a more detailed explanation of the logic i use, you can watch this video

While we appreciate the information provided, I feel inclined to lock this thread due to the musty smell from it being un-used for 10 years.

Feel free to start a new discussion.

~DaTT