I got my springs installed about 5-6 months ago and i was told i didn't need an alignment. I beg to differ.......

 

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I wanted to clear up the fact that this was just the drivers side front tire, the other tires were fine.

 

who said that an alignment wasn't needed? I think everyone on this forum says you need one.

the things you might NOT NEED are shocks and camber kit... but an alignment after changing suspension? a BIG YES.

 

We have talked about this before and some people said no alignment was needed, most said it was. i listened to the guy who put my springs on and he said it wasn't needed.

 

I would go to the guy who installed your Springs and said alignement is NOT needed and let him pay for your new tires

 

Except for being worn outlike that, it doesn't look that bad!

 

That doesn't look like an alignment problem. It looks like rubbing to me. Cast and Camber adjustment aren't going to fix that. A problem with alignment would wear the tire unevenly or cup the outside of the tire. Your tires are worn out anyhow.

 

thats odd...I've had the same tires on my car over a year now since my springs were installed ....no problem with any of my tires...but the key in my opinion is tire rotation

 

1. The guy who put your springs on doesn't have a clue (Sorry, I would never let someone put in springs without an alignment)

2. I can tell that the wear is on the inside of the tire. A very common problem on the 92-93 Maximas and 94-95 Altimas was too much toe-in and the tires would in a "similar" fashion to yours (and it wasn’t the feathering that they show in the tire diagnostic pages); the main difference was that the wear was NOT on the shoulder of the tire -- the wear was on the inside 1- to 2-inches of the inside of the front tires (it happened to my Yokos, to my neighbors; and I noticed the wear pattern on about 5 other cars I walked by). When I had my alignment (with new tires), the toe-in was way to high (so was my wife’s, but we saved her tires due to an early preventative alignment.)


IMPORTANT:

It would be useful to specify the exact wheel specs (diameter x width x offset) *and* the exact tire size. The reason I mention this IS: it could be possible that you are rubbing (however, it would depend on the offset, width, and other factors). If you were cornering hard, you would expect to wear the outside of the tire, not the inside!

Can you provide this info (and if that is the front tire?)


Finally, ALWAYS have an alignment with a new set of springs -- period!!!!

 

Ok, I missed this comment -- check for rub marks on the inside of the fender well and when you get an alignment can you get the pre- and post- alignment toe-in values?

 

I like the foot in the second picture

 

I have the same problem even after getting an alignment done (WTF). Check out this thread I posted a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...mptech+springs

 

Those pictures are typical for a lowered car that was not aligned.Depending on how the factory set up the tie rods for the steering can have an impact on how the toe is after the car is lowered.The wear tells me that one side of the car had more toe after lowering than the other ,this is not unusual and is the reason why you need an alignment after lowering the car.Acuras typically tend to toe out as the car is lowered but the amount varies greatly from side to side. jens

 

Jens. The Doc makes a digital diagnoses

oh btw, I'm headed up to PAA on friday for my 15k service. I'm excited Hopefully see you there Jens.

 

An important question though is what is the current thinking on when to do the alignment? Immediately at spring install of wait until things "settle" like a week or so?

 

I always do an alignment with the spring job (or gas pressure shock job), then in 6-months (or more) do another alignment if the springs settle or there is even the least hint of tire wear, but that's my opinion (I like to save the expensive tires, enjoy a safe ride, and spend the extra few bucks)

You ask an interesting question, since the very condition that Jens confirms is what happened on the early Maximas, Altima -- the stock springs settle after 6-months and cause the toe to balloon up and ruin the "stock" tires and those were pretty hardy (same type of look as that seen on those pictures, but the springs seems to settle about the same in the front and so the wear was just like that).

I don't know what the guys in your area charge, but Discount Tire wanted around $30 for the alignment (in addition to around $80-$100 for a full spring replace job). Firestone has that lifetime alignment guarantee offer going... Why not just have the springs aligned (with the spring job) and have another alignment done (as needed)?

It is easy enough to measure the height of the car with a tape measure or cheapo yard stick to check for spring settling or sag -- each of the different brands of springs will settle at different rates *and* there are ways to keep an eye on tire wear (before it gets too far out of hand)...


Here is an account from the one of the Nissan groups -- and this just concerns the stock springs taking a set over 6-months (guess we should be grateful for springs that don't sag as fast ):

"I noticed that my front tires were worn down on the inside to the point of drag slicks and starting to show thread. The service manager checked the alignment and rotated the tires under warranty. The front had the maximum amount of toe-in the car will allow. He called Nissan and they paid for two new front tires..." (Sound similar????)

 

I had my comptech spring installed in July(with no alingment, lazy I guess) and have put about 10,000 miles on the car since. No sign of uneven tire ware yet. I'm still running the stock tires/rims, could this be why I'm not seeing a problem???

 

I have the Eibach Prokit and my car needed a rear camber kit to eliminate excessive negative camber. I chewed through a set of Pirelli P7000's in 7 months.

I was getting abnormally high wear on the insides of the back tires. It was obvious when you stood behind the car that the camber was way out in the rear.

Camber kit + alignment has fixed all problems.

May my S02's live long and propser!

 

it took 2 months for my 19's to get almost that bad.

 

Zapata just ask the writer to call me up front.As far as when to do the alignment here is my thought on this.When you lower a car such as our Acuras a lot of toe is introduced so to prevent tire wear I suggest an immediate alignment and then after that an annual alignment .Although there is some spring sag it is minor and affects the alignment of the car only in a minor way so after the initial alignment you should be good to go.I also recommend you step up to more frequent tire rotations after lowering your car.Here is the reason,even after an alignment something you have to consider is how camber works in your car.Camber is not something that increases in a linear fashion for instance for every half inch drop you gain a quarter degree of camber.Actually the way our cars and almost all cars for that matter work is that as you lower the car or compress the suspension in a turn for instance camber increases in a rising rate fashion.This is why our cars handle as well as they do.As you all know tires are flexible so let's assume for a moment you enter a sharp corner at a good speed.Besides the suspension compressing on one side and decompressing on the other side the tire begins to roll under ,what this means is that the tire literally can deform to the point where it almost begins to deflect to a point where the sidewall is tou ching the pavement.Well this is obviously no good so now enters camber.Camber has the job of keeping the tire upright with the weight of the car evenly distributed across the tire patch .However tires are surprisingly flexible so a lot of camber has to be dialed in quickly to counter the natural tendency of the tire to want to roll under the rim it is mounted on so engineers design suspension systems that take this into account .Camber now instead of being a steadily increasing number actually climbs much faster than you think .so let's say a half inch of suspension compression you get a quarter degree of camber but compress the suspension another half inch and you may get three quarters of degree in camber dialed in on top of the quarter of a degree you already have.Now when you lower a car you are entering into the area where the suspension want to start aggressively dialing in camber because it thinks the lowering job is actually a sharp corner.So even though the car is aligned you can see that the suspension is reacting as though you were just about to enter a curve at a good speed so bumps turns in the road etc force the suspension to dial in camber.For the most part with reasonable springs and agood alignment and ofcourse more frequent rotation of the tires you will be alright but now you see why lowered cars are harder on tires.Sorry about the long post but I figured it might help.Jens

 

yah.that happened to my last 2.5" lower accord..the tires were on for only like 2 months and they were all wear out.i need to buy a set of new tires and did the alignment wasted my about $500

 

As previously posted, took second alignment to correct. Have noticed Prokits settling considerably over several month period. I could feel the steering becoming more difficult and now feels like new! Rotations will increase along with frequently checking tire wear. Just from looks alone I would lower again in a heart beat not to mention much better handling! Still waiting to give it up to new tires though! Handling is much improved over stock suspension even with our terrible Michelin's!