Apparatus and methods are provided for measuring vehicle wheel alignment characteristics. According to one embodiment, during a first measurement cycle, spatial coordinates of multiple points on the wheel are obtained by positioning a vision sensor at various angular offsets relative to the wheel, the multiple points representative of samples from each of the various angular offsets. After the first measurement cycle and before the second measurement cycle, the wheel is rotated at least a partial revolution. During the second measurement cycle, spatial coordinates of multiple points on the wheel are obtained by positioning the vision sensor at various angular offsets relative to the wheel, the multiple points representative of samples from each of the various angular offsets. Finally, one or more characteristics of the wheel are determined based upon the spatial coordinates collected during the first measurement cycle and the spatial coordinates collected during the second measurement cycle.