russianDude

I was wondering if any of you got wheel alignment. I have stock tires and about 23K miles. So far I only did tire rotations ( no balancing ).
I was thinking to get wheel alignment and rebalance tires ( will cost me around $120 from Acura dealer ) to go for another 24K miles on stock tires. My tires are in good shape, and I car does not pull sides when going straight.

Another alternative is to save this money for purchase of new tires
I did hit few big pot holes few times ( which could mess up alignment ), but it only happened few times.

moomaster_99

Anytime you hit something...you can throw your alignment off...but since its just toe...go to a Firestone and get a Lifetime Alignment. However, if you dont feel any pulling....dont worry about it...your probably still in spec
As for balancing....you only need it if you feel any kind of vibration at speed.

CO-CL-S

If you're not experiancing any vibrations or pulling or uneven tireware you don't don't need balance or alignment. I put 60,000 miles on the OEM rubber, and never did a balance or alignment.

russianDude

Wow, 60K on OEM tires!
Mostly highway??
See, by the time you have uneven tireware .... its usually to late and your tire(s) need to be replaced ...

I guess you are right, if things look OK and drive OK there is no need to waste money.

I will definatly get alignment for the new set of tires....

shaHn78

its best to keep rotating and rebalancing the tires every (atleast) 15k miles just so every tire gets equal treatment and the ones up front dont get worn out...

as for the alighment, just depends on how u drive and how many pot holes u run over and at what speed. One deep pothole at high speed can throw off the alignment pretty bad. If ur car stays fairly straight on a FLAT road when letting the steering wheel go then it should be fine really....

russianDude

Rebalancing, you sure about that? Most people just do simple rotation.... My dealership charges $45 for rebalance and rotate... that's kinda expensive for every 7K miles....

EricL

The CLS is pretty finicky about out-of-balance tires in the front. The front and rear tires will wear unevenly and you can even throw a weight (especially if the guys who put on the double side tape were not doing a good cleaning job or if the tape gets really wet). It is pretty easy to have a out-of-balance tire in the rear that you wont feel, get moved to the front where it will drive you nuts from 50-70MPH (or others speeds depending…)

I would never rotate the tires from front-to-rear without having a good rebalance done. The torque should be done in steps and in a star pattern and a TORQSTIK or torque wrench used to slowly torque the wheels up...

russianDude

Wow, you re-balance your tires every time you rotate them, how offten do you do your alignment?

I am thinking of a simple economy, I know our tires are expensive, but paying $46 for rotation & rebalancing every 7K miles.... by the time you get to 50K miles you already spent $300+ just for balancing and rotating.

CO-CL-S

I have to disagree with the rebalance also. If you don't feel any vibrations at any speed (0-90?) then your tires are balanced, and spending $20-50 for a rebalance is a waste of money. On the other hand if you do feel a vibration then that's about the best $20-50 you could invest in your car. Rotating tires will keep the tire wear even and you can replace all four tires at the same time (on most cars having all four tires the same is an advantage). YMMV

Nashua_Night_Hawk

On the last rotation,, I had vibration after I rotated... Problem was on of the rear rims was out of balance and I could not feel it... once rotated to front it shows... resolution Free re-balancing for the rear rims that are now on the front. No problem....

Now, is the question when should I put the snow setup.. first snow showers are expected for the weekend...

6speedS

anytime you take the wheel off the car, you should have the wheels balanced. And an alignment and balancing should be performed together. I rotate my tires every 7500 miles with the oil change. I only aligned my wheels because of the springs, the wheels were toed-in in the rear. Definitely align the wheels if you drop the suspension, but wait a couple thousand miles to break the springs in.

CO-CL-S

Depends what your running for tires now? I have new 4 seasons on now, so will probably wait until beginning of Dec. to put on winter wheels/tires.

Pappy

It can't hurt to do a 4 wheel alignment at this point. Ask for the copy of the report.

russianDude

Really, you can ask for a copy of the report of what was done during the alignment?

moomaster_99

Yeah they are supposed to give you a report and semi-explain it to you. They'll only adjust your toe...so really it only takes about 30 mins max, unless they have a moron doing your alignment.

EricL

I was thinking about simple safety issues and not getting a "free" cyclo-massage from my steering wheel at 50 MPH.

I got free balancing and rotation with the tires and Discount Tires sells a policy for lifetime rotation/balance for approx $40.00.

I even have a free policy for 3mo/3000mi rotation/balance -- that I got with my Toyos -- and I don't use it (the coupons/mailers go in the trash). I wouldn’t let Washington Tire near my car after the jerk-off owner refused to help me with a center cap problem with my SSRs (15-minute fix and a few calls to SSR were too much trouble).

EricL

Depending on circumstances, this may or may not be the cheap way to go. It depends...

Some of the local tire dealers I called will charge a higher fee to return if the balance was not included in the rotation. You can ask for a front-to-rear rotation (and refuse the balance). However, a number of tire dealers will recommend the balance (with the rotation) and if you leave and then discover the vibration, you end up paying more for TWO jobs. (They need to pull those wheels off and on again)

Another issue to consider is when and how you get your rotation. If you do it yourself, you are absolutely correct (there is no money lost and you would certainly know if and where there is a problem with vibrations in the steering wheel). So, why waste the money?

However, some problems don't show up until you reach a certain speed range. If you happen to leave a dealer or store after requesting a rotation (with NO balance specified), you may or may not find a problem (due to the traffic/situation at that time) and end up driving to a client or work with the wheel going nuts. You then need to drive back and spend more time and money to get if right...

So, I'm agreeing in one case and also pointing out that "it depends" and there is the possibility of "false economy."