I've got an 07 GL450 that I just purchased. It has 22 inch wheels on it and with Falken tires. The car has around 14,000 miles. The inside edge of the tires cupping and it seems like there is a lot more wear on the inside than on the rest of the car. Does it make sense to get it aligned now or should I wait until I have to get new tires? I do have separate tires i'll put on for winter.

 

Sounds like the camber is off. If the tyres have decent tread left an alignment will help to decrease the mis-alignment, and you should be able to keep the existing set of tyres much longer. Otherwise the inside will completely wear out way before the mid/outer section of the tyre.

Bish

 

I would swing by a Discount tire or other tire shop and have them take a look...then if you so choose, you could swing by your local dealer and get their advice as well...it really just depends on the amount of tread and wear already in place...sometimes the cupping can be countered by rotating and balancing the wheels/tires.

 

22-in wheels are not factory original.

Installation of these is likely to cause problems, as you've discovered.

Good luck ... you'll need it.

 

You're correct, these are not factory original. Would this really be causing the problem? I have the factory original 18 inch rims for the winter. Are you guessing that my alignment is not really off it's just that putting the bigger rims and tires throws that factory alignment off resulting in bad tread wear?

 

If the overall diameter of the tire is the same, it shouldn't matter that the rims are bigger. How does the GL handle? Do you notice any problems? How often do you rotate the tires? You may simply have to rotate more frequently.

 

When we took delivery (about a week ago) the dealer indicated that they recommend an alignment with the first checkup. That seemed odd, but I didn't ask any questions. Maybe they have some issues with alignment deviations as the car "settles" on its suspension and bushings.

 

Suggested primarily I bet because MB does not cover the alignment check, and you will be charged for it personally. Honestly, how many new vehicles come from the factory badly mis-aligned?

Bish

 

I haven't noticed anything odd with the handling. They are 285's so they are a little wider than the stock 265's. Should it be aligned with the factory setting or to something else because of the different tires?

 

MB does cover one alignment for all wheels. After that, you pay.

 

I think a lot of modern cars have the camber adjusted that way to give it more understeer characteristics for stability. If those wider tires have never been rotated, you're going to notice more tire wear vs stock. I say that if you aren't noticing any bad handling, just rotate the tires more often--like every 3000 miles.

 

Thanks for the info; it's good to know as I'll now have them do that for me at 6-7K miles. I was told that MB would only do a tyre rotation at that time for free, not an alignment.

Bish