Mechanic said I need new tires and thats whats causing my alignment to be off. He says that the alignment on my car is already set to factory specs. But it still veers to the left and is killing my front tires. They're wearing out on the outer part of the tread. Is he right or is he not aligning my car correctly?

 

unless they have a manufacturing defect your tires shouldn't really be your issue, or at least they shouldn't cause your car to be out of alignment. are they all the same size and model? how is the tread depth in relation to the other tires? if you have 3 bald tires and one new tire it's going to screw you up. have you been keeping them properly inflated? how often do you get the car aligned? do they say it's in spec *every* time?

if you really don't trust him then try going to someone else for an alignment next time and see what happens. tires wearing on the outside can mean a few things though. it could be improper inflation, improper camber adjustment, or simply a sub-standard tire. maybe some of the more experienced guys with chime in about this though.

SSTS

 

If the tires are already worn due to a bad alignment they will/could cause a pulling. I would find a different shop and have a 2nd opinion

 

You can sometime get relief from pulling to one side by swapping the front and rear tire pairs. My Prelude was recently pulling strongly to the left and it appeared to be unbalanced wear. Rather than replace one or more tires, I swapped the front and rear pairs and the tendency to pull was virtually eliminated. I'll need a new set of tires at some point but the tire swap has allowed me to delay that.

Also be sure to double-check your tire pressures. You can definitely get a pulling tendency if your tires are not all at the same pressure on each axle. I once had a very slow leak in a tire and I could tell it was getting low as the car would start to pull to one side.

And, as mentioned above, a second opinion might not be a bad idea.

How many miles do you have on the tires and what is their overall condition? You might be getting ready for a new set anyway.

Let us know how it all works out.

Bob

 

 

You guys are great! But lets see...I took it to get the alignment done and also to get the wheels rotated. So when I dropped it off it was already pulling to the left. When I got them rotated and aligned and got the car back. The car started pulling to the right. Now...the rear tires are stock Michelins which look great by the way. And the front are some BF Goodrich Traction T/A's. I think the tires are probably 1 year and a half to 2 years old. I was trying to prevent the wear because I saw it happening at an early stage. So anyway..I took it back to get aligned again and told them what happened and they said (after they aligned it) that it was already set to factory specs and that the problem was the tires. I think he said it was the rear tires. The Michelins. I mean they've been on the car since I got it in Dec. 04. But they still have the little strings sticking out the side and the tread is great. Of course being in the back it isn't gonna lose alot of tread. So it's looking like I have to get a whole new set of tires.
But I will try to get it re-aligned somewhere. That has crossed my mind. Would a camber kit help at all? I don't know...Anyway I thank all that replied to this. You were very helpful.
Thank you.

 

As an potentially inexpensive fix, be sure to check the pressure on all four tires. Some shops are careless about this and your problem could just be an inflation imbalance.

I had tires on my Prelude rotated recently and the tire shop over-inflated all four tires to about 42 PSI. That's way too high since they are supposed to run between 26 and 28 PSI. So I now check my tires right after they are serviced.

Bob

 

well if it did it with the tires rotated around its not the tires, its the alignment. No a camber kit wouldnt work. Go somewhere else and have another alignment done and see.

 

Dum Dum Duh Dumb! It was the tire pressure in the rear tire I think. I checked it and it was down to 25 psi. After that I drove it and it didn't pull. But I don't know...I'm just gonna keep an eye on it.
Oh and it's true...the shops say and even give you a print out saying they checked your tire pressure. BUT they don't!
Thanks again everyone.

 

That's great news! I love simple fixes. Do keep an eye on it but I'll bet you're done.

The lousy thing is that the alignment was apparently not needed. The folks doing the alignment should have also checked the pressures.

Bob