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question about alignment and new tires

T

toant103

Lifer
Costco just installed 4 new tires, Bridgestone Potenza on my 86 accord 185/70/13.

When i drove it on the highway, my car keep on turning to one side, the left side. I called costco and told them about it and they said i need an alignment.

So do i have to spent another $60 somewhere else to get an alignment or can i get away with it by taking it back and let them rotate the tires to see if it will help out?

Thanks
 
Yep sounds like you need an alignment, take it to a competent local shop (not a Midas or other chain shop) and have them do a full alignment should be about $75-100.
Make sure they dont just do a computer alignment and that they check for bent and worn suspention components.
 
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Yep sounds like you need an alignment, take it to a competent local shop (not a Midas or other chain shop) and have them do a full alignment should be about $75-100.
Make sure they dont just do a computer alignment and that they check for bent and worn suspention components.
Click to expand...


So if i don't do an alignment, my tires won't last that long and won't get good gas milege?
 
You definitely need an alignment. You will ruin 2 possibly 4 perfectly good tires if you don't get the alignment.

Edit-Think of it this way. One or two of your wheels are not contacting the road at the proper angle so every rotation of the wheel is putting excess wear on one specific point of your nice new tires. That spot will wear down very quickly as thousands of lbs of force are repeatedly focused upon it. Say you expect to get 40k miles out of these tires before replacing them. You might get 10k...if you're lucky and your car's alignment isn't too bad. If you are noticing the car pulling to one side though that is an indication that it is quite a bit out of alignment...or you have something wrong with a suspension component.
 
Originally posted by: Actaeon
185/70/13? Holy Sidewall batman. I bet your tires look like a rubber donut.
Click to expand...

what is that mean? I know it's only 13 inches. I'm not dubing or bling bling with my car.

Factory size tires
 
Originally posted by: toant103
Originally posted by: Actaeon
185/70/13? Holy Sidewall batman. I bet your tires look like a rubber donut.
Click to expand...

what is that mean? I know it's only 13 inches. I'm not dubing or bling bling with my car.

Factory size tires
Click to expand...

A 185/70 is a pretty tall tire..nothing wrong with it, though. You can get some really good deals on tires in 13"..lol

I run 185/60/14s..close to stock size (stock is 175/65/14 or 185/65/14, IIRC).
 
Originally posted by: CadetLee
Originally posted by: toant103
Originally posted by: Actaeon
185/70/13? Holy Sidewall batman. I bet your tires look like a rubber donut.
Click to expand...

what is that mean? I know it's only 13 inches. I'm not dubing or bling bling with my car.

Factory size tires
Click to expand...

A 185/70 is a pretty tall tire..nothing wrong with it, though. You can get some really good deals on tires in 13"..lol

I run 185/60/14s..close to stock size (stock is 175/65/14 or 185/65/14, IIRC).
Click to expand...

The tires i got at costco cost me $61 each, with installation. I can get it cheaper online but it's going to come out to be the same price with installation at a local shop
 
take it to Firestone, they ahve this deal where you get unlimited alignments on the car for like 80-100 bucks.

atleast that's the deal they have at my Firestone Store.
 
It could also be one of the tires; I found this out just the other day. Car's been pulling left, so I took it in for an alignment. After they pulled it out of the bay, I went for a spin - and it was *still* pulling left. Went back, and they told me the alignment was in spec. So out of curiosity (and they told me they were going to do this) - they switched the two front tires around, and told me to test it out. Now the thing pulls right 😕 No belts are broken, the tire's not wearing oddly; just for some reason it wants to go sideways. It's not bad though, so I'm not too worried about it yet.

Nate
 
Did the car do this prior to having the new tires put on?

If the answer is no, then the problem is the tires. It may just be that one of the tires is greatly over inflated or under inflated.

First off check all the tire pressures and set them to the proper inflation.

If this does not correct the problem then head back to Costco.

They need to swap the tires around until they determine what tire or tires are creating the problem. They should then replace whatever tires are bad. Tires that have a belt shift during the manufacturing process will do what you are describing. I'm sure there are other things that can go wrong during manufacture that can cause this problem.

Costco should know all this. This used to be a very common problem. It is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be as the tire manufacturers have better manufacturing processes these days.

Now, having said all that, your car is nearly 20 years old. A wheel alignment would probably do it a world of good. Unless it's low mileage, prepare to have some parts replaced.
 
Originally posted by: boomerang
Did the car do this prior to having the new tires put on?

If the answer is no, then the problem is the tires. It may just be that one of the tires is greatly over inflated or under inflated.

First off check all the tire pressures and set them to the proper inflation.

If this does not correct the problem then head back to Costco.

They need to swap the tires around until they determine what tire or tires are creating the problem. They should then replace whatever tires are bad. Tires that have a belt shift during the manufacturing process will do what you are describing. I'm sure there are other things that can go wrong during manufacture that can cause this problem.

Costco should know all this. This used to be a very common problem. It is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be as the tire manufacturers have better manufacturing processes these days.

Now, having said all that, your car is nearly 20 years old. A wheel alignment would probably do it a world of good. Unless it's low mileage, prepare to have some parts replaced.
Click to expand...


before this, the car didn't steer left. They did the alignment today and it's doing the same thing. They told me to come back tomorrow and take a look at it since i got there today at 3PM and they closed at 6. I will ask them to swap tires and check for the tires pressure.


Thanks for the input
 
got the alignment done, car still doing the same thing. Came back, they rotate the tires and switch it around. Now the car steer right. They told me just ride it out for 5000 miles and try rotating it later.
 
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