Can a mechanic, if he/she so wished, de-align a car?
Like okay, so I took my car in to Active Green & Ross and they put my 205/50s up front and brand new 205/60s out back. Now I already knew my alignment was off so I figured they were gonna say something.
The mechanic? comes up and says “your alignment is way off, you’re gonna blow through the cords, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah” and then he tells me all the horror stories of people with poor alignments and i’m thinking great, you want more money? but whatever.
So I get in my car and the clown somehow managed to accidentally, I suppose, hit the switch and turn the electric fan on, and left it on. This made me upset but I was like whatever.
Then I ask him to load the old tires in the trunk, and he puts one on my jacket. But I’m just like whatever.
So I drive the car, and I dunno if it’s because the 50s are up front or if it’s just the new tread, but my car feels completely out of wack. The steering wheel is softer but the car seems overly-responsive, and more-so when making left turns. It feels like extra body roll.
Well, if you have some negative camber in the rears, your tires could have worn unevenly. Then you moved them to the front so that uneven tire wear translates into some less-than-perfect steering.
Happened to me too. I thought my alligment was off, went and had it fixed, but the car still pulled. When I put my winter tires on, no more pull because the tires were nice and level.
well the tires up front are a new set that I’ve never used before. Even tread and everything. Practically brand new (I think they’ve been sitting around for a bit). And in the back are brand new winter tires.
dude, get an alighment. u are gonna waste those new tires of yours quickly, adn u can wear out the tire, right to the belts.
there is a place at bellamy and ellesmere that do $50 alignments, go there if u are hurting for cash. otherwise, u are wasting your money on your new tires.
The diameters of the tires are different. You have 205/50/15 up front and 205/60/15 snows in the rear. the balance is off and your feeling it cause of the snow and you have more traction in the rear than in the front. The response won’t change from a alinement. All it would do is adjust camber, and the toe. If caster is out something is bent. I have a 350Z like 2 weeks ago at work it a bent cross member. Caster was way out. All these things will cause your tires to wear uneven but it’s not like your beating the crap other of the car for it to where fast. If it’s the camber it isn’t going to wear as fast as toe or caster. Check you old front tires and post where it weared most (sides, one side, middle, are the edges feather edge)
the profile of the tire will not throw the balance off of the car, u get your rims balanced with weights. a lower profile will just have a harsher ride cause u are that much closer to the road. i am running the similiar profiles (50 in the front, 55 in the rear) and i love the lower profile in the front. steering response improved, but i have a few other mods that may have factored into that too (urethane bushings, 13" steering wheel).
caster can get thrown out by hitting a nasty pothole, and u don’t have to bend or break something to throw out your caster. i worked for alot of dealers and sold hundreds of alignments, and on 80% of the cars, the caster was always out of spec, and nothing was bent or broken. if your camber is out, your tires WILL wear out unevenly, but it may take longer like u said. if i still had my sh!tty old pilots, i’d show u that i wore those out right to the belts on the inside, mind u, i tracked those tires a couple times.
from the symptoms he posted (car out of whack when making left turns) its sounds like his toe is out, but its next to impossible to properly diag a car over the net. u may also wanna get your tie rod ends checked as well as the rest of the front suspension, TC rod, ball joints, ect.
whenever installing new tires, its always a good idea to get an alignment. most manufacturers recomend alignments every year/ 24 000km, if he hasn’t done an alignment in the past year or two, i don’t think it would hurt to get one done, and to prevent uneven tire wear in the long run. your alignment will get checked too, if u go to a good mechanic. i can refer u to a couple, but it won’t be cheap. i’ve never gone to those guys who do $50 alignments, but i checked out their shop and it looks adequate