Feathered Tires and Alignment

[steppinthrax]

My tires are feathered as a result of mis-alignment the car pulls to the right when I drive. I went to Mr. Tire to get a wheel alignment. They showed me a before/after page. In the before the two left tires had a negative toe (sorry don't have the exact numbers). In the after report all the wheels are aligned with the same toe measurements. I drove the car and noticed it was still pulling to the right. When I contacted them about it, they had indicated that feathered tires will cause pulling. Here are some things I've done before getting the alignment.

1. New front ball Joints
2. New front wheel bearings
3. New sway links (all 4 wheels)
4. Inspected brake pads (still good no uneven wear, rotor good as well).

Can feathered tires cause pulling. The entire steering wheel turns slightly to the right if I let it go. Almost like there is a drag.

 

[Zivic]

I guess they could... also the road could be crowned. get the alignment specs on your make/model and compare to their readout.

also, if the tires are feathered enough to cause the car to pull, maybe time to get some new tires

 

[steppinthrax]

I guess they could... also the road could be crowned. get the alignment specs on your make/model and compare to their readout.

also, if the tires are feathered enough to cause the car to pull, maybe time to get some new tires

It's happening on all roads, surfaces left/right lane. I drive the same surfaces with my van with no pulling.

 

[cbrsurfr]

Can you post a photo showing the condition of the tires?

 

[NutBucket]

Another factor is the competence of the technicians using the alignment rack. My dad ran into that issue at his local Firestone.

Did they check/adjust the rear wheel alignment? Try swapping tires left to right and see if it pulls to the left. If it still pulls to the right then the alignment is off. If it pulls left it would suggest the tires are to blame. You could also rotate front to rear and see what happens.

 

[herm0016]

try a tire rotation. then see it the symptoms are the same.

 

[Meghan54]

try a tire rotation. then see it the symptoms are the same.

Exactly. Just like trying to diagnose a bad coil with a multi-coil car.....swap positions and if the problem follows, you've found the problem. If it doesn't, the problem is elsewhere.

 

[steppinthrax]

Another factor is the competence of the technicians using the alignment rack. My dad ran into that issue at his local Firestone.

Did they check/adjust the rear wheel alignment? Try swapping tires left to right and see if it pulls to the left. If it still pulls to the right then the alignment is off. If it pulls left it would suggest the tires are to blame. You could also rotate front to rear and see what happens.

This is what I"m thinking. I'm going to send it back to another Mr. Tire.

 

[leper84]

Sounds like radial pull. Swap your tires front to back one side at a time to figure out which tire is causing the pull.

What brand tires if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Wingznut]

Toe won't cause a car to pull, although that's what caused your tires to feather... But Caster certainly will. A car will pull to the side with the more negative Caster.

What are your results for the Caster on each side?

If it's not the Caster, it's most likely your tires.

 

[steppinthrax]

OK, I got the final results in front of me.

Caster FR = 2.7
Camber FR = -.04

Caster FL = 2.3
Camber FL = -.08

Camber RL = -.08
Camber RR = -.04

The Toe on all wheels are nearly 0, 0.05, 0.05, 0.20, 0.20 (LF, RF, RL, RR). Trust Angle is 0.0.

 

[leper84]

So you have .4 degrees of cross caster pushing you to the left and .4 degrees of cross camber pushing you to the right, your numbers show your alignment should pretty much even out and drive straight. Look into your tires.

 

[Wingznut]

So you have .4 degrees of cross caster pushing you to the left and .4 degrees of cross camber pushing you to the right, your numbers show your alignment should pretty much even out and drive straight. Look into your tires.

Agreed... The alignment is definitely not the issue.

 

[soccerballtux]

My tires are feathered as a result of mis-alignment the car pulls to the right when I drive. I went to Mr. Tire to get a wheel alignment. They showed me a before/after page. In the before the two left tires had a negative toe (sorry don't have the exact numbers). In the after report all the wheels are aligned with the same toe measurements. I drove the car and noticed it was still pulling to the right. When I contacted them about it, they had indicated that feathered tires will cause pulling. Here are some things I've done before getting the alignment.

1. New front ball Joints
2. New front wheel bearings
3. New sway links (all 4 wheels)
4. Inspected brake pads (still good no uneven wear, rotor good as well).

Can feathered tires cause pulling. The entire steering wheel turns slightly to the right if I let it go. Almost like there is a drag.

had feathering on rear left, was toe I'd borked manually adjusting angled in. Pushed rear to right, have to turn steering wheel to right to compensate.

 

[steppinthrax]

OK thanks. I"m going to rotate some tires and do some things here and there to see what's up. Likely I'm also thinking a bad rear wheel bearing that is dragging, or a axle shaft bearing which is on the side that it's pulling. Need to do some more diagnostics.

 

[Wingznut]

OK thanks. I"m going to rotate some tires and do some things here and there to see what's up. Likely I'm also thinking a bad rear wheel bearing that is dragging, or a axle shaft bearing which is on the side that it's pulling. Need to do some more diagnostics.

The wheel bearing or axle shaft would have to be pretty bad for it to cause pulling... They would be making some serious noise long before that.

It's gotta be the tires.

 

[JCH13]

Toe won't cause a car to pull, although that's what caused your tires to feather... But Caster certainly will. A car will pull to the side with the more negative Caster.

What are your results for the Caster on each side?

If it's not the Caster, it's most likely your tires.

Front toe, probably not, though it will make a car follow the road crown in a way that it feels like a pull. Rear toe can definitely push/pull a car around.

OK thanks. I"m going to rotate some tires and do some things here and there to see what's up. Likely I'm also thinking a bad rear wheel bearing that is dragging, or a axle shaft bearing which is on the side that it's pulling. Need to do some more diagnostics.

If a bearing was bad enough to cause that sort of issue you'd probably hear it howling away as you were driving.

Were your toe measurements in degrees or inches? Or mm?

 

[steppinthrax]

Front toe, probably not, though it will make a car follow the road crown in a way that it feels like a pull. Rear toe can definitely push/pull a car around.



If a bearing was bad enough to cause that sort of issue you'd probably hear it howling away as you were driving.

Were your toe measurements in degrees or inches? Or mm?

Degrees

 

[JCH13]

Degrees

Hrm, that's about 1mm toe in (depending on wheel size) which shouldn't be a big deal.