vtec_1994

I had Falken 512s' installed this past Saturday. The ride feels more luxurious compared to the EL 42s' An unfortunate side effect is the car pulls to the right. I drove my station wagon up and down the same road to assess this. You have to firmy grasp the steering wheel to keep it on the road. The service rep tells me that it is because of the Falkens'. I retorted that pulling to the right cannot be side effect of any good tire especially if the size of the tire matches the OEM tiires. He wants to charge me $80.00 for alignment trying to deflect the the blame onto me. I have pampered this car for the last 9 months only to put 2600 miles on the odometer. I did nothing to "misalign" it. What can I say back to the dealer who took me money to install ithe tires but won't do anything to rectify a problem. Has anyone found any negative driving dynamics after the installation of the 512s'?

rifleman-cl

When you install new tires, besides balancing & mounting, you need an alignment too.

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.

jchcmax

I have Falken 451, 245/40/18. I noticed it sometimes pulls to the right. I exchanged back to the stock wheels and tires and it's fine, no pulling to either side...weird!! Maybe it does have something to do with the Falkens?!

cullal

I have had the Falken ZE 512's for about 21000 miles now and I have not had any issues at all.

ed99

You should bring it back to where you had the Falken's installed and balance to make sure they are balanced properly. Plus check your tire pressure to make sure they are the same for both front tires. I had mine for over 2months and I they are great tires. No complaint!!!

deandorsey

i had falken 512's put on the day i got my car...it had a pull also...

i had a hunterforce balance and an alignment (after aspec install), the problem was not fixed..

it was a bad tire (or 2) -i have heard this several times with falkens (out of round etc)...so it definitely does happen...

it didnt bother me to much, so i just rode them out until it was time to replace them (about 23k).

vp911

Wait... I am having the same problem with my falkens. The dealer did an alignment and still the same problem. I have had them balanced as well.

Should I go pay for an alignment... or...?

deandorsey

why would you pay for an alignmet if you already had one? the dealer should be able to pick out the bad tire.

vp911

well - I didn't pay for the first alignment - the dealer took care of it. i had that about a month ago - and now its pulling to the right again. what i dont understand is, why do my rear two wheels look like they are bent inwards? the dealer said it was normal considering i have the a-spec and the 18" wheels - but i have not heard of that before.

jchcmax

The TL has a natural negative camber as you described. It may or may not have something to do with it. Usually the negative camber will help in the turns. I'm thinking of getting a camber kit for the rear. Again, my stock tires and wheels do not have this "turn to the right"problem. So I think it must be the Falken tires. If it's not the tires , then there's something wrong with our alignment. We can always get our alignment checked...

vp911

How do we find out if it IS the tires or the alignment? I bought my tires from discount tire and they do not do alignments so I have to go to the dealer for alignments and tire issues must go to Discount Tire. Which one do I go to first?

deandorsey

i dont understand you confusion. you already had an alignment and you tires are balanced.

you could try a hunterforce balance-i did and it helped quite a bit- but this will set you back $50-$100 depending on where you go.

the dealer that did the alignment should have diagnosed the bad tire, if in fact that is what this is.

i dont know what discount tires policy on returning defective tires is, but i would definitely contact them.

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

Do you guys actually have different tires on the same axle? If yes, this is the problem. If not, read on.

The pull can be caused by many things, but out of balance is not likely. The most common cause is incorrect air pressure, then alignment problem.

I know some of you will say that the car didn't pull before. But what I know is this, some tires are very sensitive to alignment, some are not. I guess the OEM tires are not sensitive to alignment problems, while the Falkens are. What happens is, when the new tires are installed, they just unmasked the problem that's been on your car all along, you just didn't feel it.

And no, getting new tires and/or wheels doesn't require alignment because nothing is changed in the suspension geometry. Lowering or lifting will.

And for vtec_1994, you may have been babying the car, but the alignment might be off from the factory. It's possible. I haven't experienced it myself, but my sister's (then) new Lexus RX300 had to be re-aligned because the car was pulling. The service advisor told me that it's not uncommon.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

I agree with 260 HP. I just got the Pirelli Pzero Neros installed today and now the car pulls to the right despite the BEEEEAUTIFUL ride I have now. I am going to take it to the dealer to see what they have to say.

On a side not these tires are sick! It was snowing like crazy here in NE Ohio and I was doing 70 and felt like i was glued to the road! WEEEEEE bye bye EL42!!!!!!!!!!

vp911

Well - the dealer did an alignment and charged me $90 for it - I only have had a chance to drive it the couple miles to my house, but it seemed much better.

As far as the hunter balance - discount tire uses the hunter 9700

nfnsquared

70 MPH when "it's snowing like crazy". Good one, Einstein. Ever heard of the Darwin awards? Do us a favor and slow down in bad weather. Maybe you'll live to see 24.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

yeah it was dumb but i wanted to test ...

so I went to get an alignment and the dealer found out it was a tire problem causing me to pull right. They rotated the tires until they got it to ride correctly ... They said some higher quality tires are quirky in that way ... whatever that means. Anyways the car rides like its on rails now.

searstream

My car pulls to to right as well.... I just really want to know, why is it always to the right? Why cant it pull to the left? Everyone is saying to the right... Anyways... I have 25,000 Miles on my car, and the right pull started at 9,000... They said the tires were bad, so i bought new ones. (18's by the way) Didnt fix the problem... So i took it in for and alligment. Fixed it for only 3,000 miles... then another alignment, with a tire force pull calibration... Fixed it again for anther couple thousand.... Am i going to have to pay $80 bones every 3000 miles? or is there any solution... I really need help.

Lore

Don't forget that there is a condition called radial tire pull that can affect tires of any make, any size, any type. I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE750s (235/40/18) on my 18" A-Spec rims and my car pulls right. I had it aligned several times and the Firestone dealer even replaced 2 of the tires with new ones but the problem still exists.

North Ca-TL

My car actually pulls to the left. I'm amazed that many people who have falkens have the same problem with what sounds like radial pulls. I've done the alignment and rotating tires and now I'm at the point of getting new tires to replace the rears.

The saga started when I ordered my wheels/tire package from Discount Tire Direct, and had nothing but problems with my order. First they sent me the wrong tire and wheels, then when I received the right tires and wheels the wheels had a few chip's on the rims. I was pissed to say the least, but figured I was tired of dealing with them so I kept the them and will try to fix the chip's elsewhere. Now I have this tire issue, which is coincedence, that I hope will get resolved.

ed99

I had mine pulled to the right as well when I had the EL's. THe dealer said they would not charge any for the first alignment for the first 10,000kms.