Alignment after new tires?
09-22-2018, 02:28 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Alignment after new tires?
Hi All,
Just replaced all four tires from the stock runflats to Michelin Pilot AS 3+ at 30k miles. The dealer noticed the alignment was off about 5k miles ago and the front passenger tire was the only one that was badly worn. The dealer ended up throwing in an alignment while they were addressing the wrist pin issue.
Should I be getting another alignment with the new tires? I definitely want to maintain the life of these new tires.
Just replaced all four tires from the stock runflats to Michelin Pilot AS 3+ at 30k miles. The dealer noticed the alignment was off about 5k miles ago and the front passenger tire was the only one that was badly worn. The dealer ended up throwing in an alignment while they were addressing the wrist pin issue.
Should I be getting another alignment with the new tires? I definitely want to maintain the life of these new tires.
09-22-2018, 02:54 PM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
Hi All,
Just replaced all four tires from the stock runflats to Michelin Pilot AS 3+ at 30k miles. The dealer noticed the alignment was off about 5k miles ago and the front passenger tire was the only one that was badly worn. The dealer ended up throwing in an alignment while they were addressing the wrist pin issue.
Should I be getting another alignment with the new tires? I definitely want to maintain the life of these new tires.
Just replaced all four tires from the stock runflats to Michelin Pilot AS 3+ at 30k miles. The dealer noticed the alignment was off about 5k miles ago and the front passenger tire was the only one that was badly worn. The dealer ended up throwing in an alignment while they were addressing the wrist pin issue.
Should I be getting another alignment with the new tires? I definitely want to maintain the life of these new tires.
09-22-2018, 03:21 PM
#3
MBWorld Fanatic!
Sure - a alignment ALWAYS makes sense to me - so that I maximize the usable life of a significant tire investment such as Mich AS Sport+ - and for me I have dealer alignment only - if something turns out "badly" down the road 1K-2K miles on a dealer alignment I can always b*tch with dealer - for me it's waste of my time and my money to have done at a independent since if anything turns out "badly" 1K/2K down the road a independent could care less...
09-22-2018, 07:22 PM
#4
Junior Member
Thread Starter
09-22-2018, 08:57 PM
#5
MBWorld Fanatic!
This common knowledge is just wrong nowadays. Most "pulling" is either a tire pull or other non-alignment issues. If the steering wheel is off-center, which is more common, then the toe settings can be off. But most alignment settings are to prevent tire wear issues. We can only adjust toe on most platforms now. Pulling from alignment is a Caster adjustment which isn't possible from stock and not needed unless the car has been wrecked or something.
The quality of the alignment matters more on who is actually doing it. Out of the 20 guys at the shop who can do alignments, only a few actually take the time to it right and really care. Most people, it's just make it green and let it go. I took my time and did great alignments even when I worked at Firestone, but that's not the case with most people sadly.
As above, tire wear is the normal issue and sign that alignment is out, pulling doesn't have to be present for excessive tire wear to happen. That's normally why I recommend an alignment, when I see tires wearing unevenly.
Sure - a alignment ALWAYS makes sense to me - so that I maximize the usable life of a significant tire investment such as Mich AS Sport+ - and for me I have dealer alignment only - if something turns out "badly" down the road 1K-2K miles on a dealer alignment I can always b*tch with dealer - for me it's waste of my time and my money to have done at a independent since if anything turns out "badly" 1K/2K down the road a independent could care less...
As above, tire wear is the normal issue and sign that alignment is out, pulling doesn't have to be present for excessive tire wear to happen. That's normally why I recommend an alignment, when I see tires wearing unevenly.
09-22-2018, 10:32 PM
#6
Junior Member
Thread Starter
This common knowledge is just wrong nowadays. Most "pulling" is either a tire pull or other non-alignment issues. If the steering wheel is off-center, which is more common, then the toe settings can be off. But most alignment settings are to prevent tire wear issues. We can only adjust toe on most platforms now. Pulling from alignment is a Caster adjustment which isn't possible from stock and not needed unless the car has been wrecked or something.
The quality of the alignment matters more on who is actually doing it. Out of the 20 guys at the shop who can do alignments, only a few actually take the time to it right and really care. Most people, it's just make it green and let it go. I took my time and did great alignments even when I worked at Firestone, but that's not the case with most people sadly.
As above, tire wear is the normal issue and sign that alignment is out, pulling doesn't have to be present for excessive tire wear to happen. That's normally why I recommend an alignment, when I see tires wearing unevenly.
The quality of the alignment matters more on who is actually doing it. Out of the 20 guys at the shop who can do alignments, only a few actually take the time to it right and really care. Most people, it's just make it green and let it go. I took my time and did great alignments even when I worked at Firestone, but that's not the case with most people sadly.
As above, tire wear is the normal issue and sign that alignment is out, pulling doesn't have to be present for excessive tire wear to happen. That's normally why I recommend an alignment, when I see tires wearing unevenly.
Do you think it is worth getting an alignment now that I’ve switched out the tires? Does it not make any difference that the dealer completed an alignment about 5k miles ago once they noticed the abnormal wear?
09-23-2018, 12:22 PM
#7
MBWorld Fanatic!
Assuming your alignment was good before changing tires, then it will still be good now. If you had it done recently and the wear was ok, I'd suggest keeping an eye on the new tires for 3-5k miles, if you see any feathering or wear on the corners of the tread blocks starting, then have it checked again. The tire change won't actually change anything about the alignment settings, but some tires are more or less sensitive to the early wear from poor alignment angles.
