Recently got new tires. Original OEMs were 235/45/17, then I went and got 245/45/17 RE960's.

From mile 21 - 14k tires always had a slight pull to the left w/ old tires. Now seems better with the RE960's.

Going to a bigger tire width, do i need to do an alignment?

Thanks in advanced.

lusid

 

Also, I tried the search function keyword "alignment" and I couldn't find the exact answer.

 

No, you don't need to get an alignment when you get new tires, unless you were out of alignment to begin with.

 

YES... you do need an alignment when you go to a wider tire... I get alignments for a really good price... so I ran an experiment... I got an alignment before putting wider tires on my car... then I went back the day after mounting the new tires... and my alignment was off...

It's also recommended when you get new tires... you get an alignment so you know that your alignment is on the money... so you wouldn't get abnormal tire wear with your recent $$$$ purchase...

You should always check your or get an alignment once a year... 'cause hitting potholes etc... can alter your alignment specs...

 

F'n potholes.. I guess an alignment is in order.

 

You should get an alignment with NEW tires but it has noting to do with WIDER tires. Alignment won’t change with tyre width.

 

I posted my real world experience... the TOE was not affected... but the camber angle change (not significantly though)... since I have a camber kit installed all the way around... I was able to adjust...

But if you want to talk about the pure physics/trigonometry of it we can... with a narrow tire you have one angle load vector (summed from the distributed load of the contact area of the tire) applied to the suspension components... then with a WIDER tire you get a whole different angle to the load vector which changed due to the wider contact area and ultimate changer center of gravity of the tire... just by changing the tire pressure you can alter your alignment specs... that's why an alignment tech... checks the tire pressure as a standard alignment process...

 

Always get an alignment, if there is any doubt. You should do it when you replace tires and/or rotate tires, every 6K mi. The slightest impacts and potholes can disalign tires. Of course, tire pressure will have an impact, and you also might consider rebalancing tires if you notice vibration.

 

ty for all your responses.

 

Real world is that those instruments are not absolutely accurate, so you can do 10 alignments in a row without any changes and it will show some differences each time. If you are peaky enough you can spend the rest of your life aligning your wheels.

If you put wider tires on same rims you will get wider contact surface but resulting vector won’t change. Same is with the wheel center of gravity. But even if there are some vector changes, can you explain what should change in the suspension in order to change alignment?