new tires+alignment=drift to the right??

[MrSo0h0o]

hey all,

after getting my new tires mounted and balanced, i had my car aligned. This was all at firestone where i have a lifetime alignment. Prior to everything being installed, the car drove perfectly straight. Now, the car drifts to the right if i do not hold the wheel. It isnt so severe that i have to constantly correct it, but it doesnt seem normal. I took it back after i felt it drifting to the right so the tech took my car for a test drive with me in the pass. He said he didnt feel anything out of the ordinary and i told him that if you take your hands off the wheel, you will see how it drifts right. He asked if i normally drive with no hands . I took his word for it and have been driving with it for a week or so to see if i can live with it but I just cant. I want to suspect it is the alignment that is the problem and not the tires, so can you all take a look at my alignment specs and see if they seem right?

L FRONT R
camber -0.9 -1.1
caster 2.4 2.4
toe 0.01 0.03

L REAR R
camber -1.4 -1.5
toe 0.20 0.14

thrust angle: 0.03

[Redline_Me]

tire pressure?

[MrSo0h0o]

Originally Posted by Redline_Me

tire pressure?

tire pressure is equal on all 4 tires

[workerant]

R they radial tires? If so, check the direction.. who knows, he might goof when install the tires.

[MrSo0h0o]

Originally Posted by workerant

R they radial tires? If so, check the direction.. who knows, he might goof when install the tires.

these are the tires: http://www.conti-online.com/generato...en;tabNr=.html

they are all mounted properly

[catric69]

If the vehicle veers slightly to the right, that would seem normal. The car is going to follow the crown of the road.

[workerant]

Oh yes.. DWS... it's radial tires. Read on the side of the tire, it says.... hmm.. I forgot...... something like "Outside" ..... U can't see it now but the other side of that will say "inside".

Just double check see if he installed it properly.

I had to double check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tire and here it called "steel-belted radial".

When you rotate the tires, your only pattern choice is front to back. No crossing.... radial thing.

[MrSo0h0o]

Originally Posted by catric69

If the vehicle veers slightly to the right, that would seem normal. The car is going to follow the crown of the road.

i tested the car on a flat parking lot and it still drifts to the right a bit.

Originally Posted by workerant

Oh yes.. DWS... it's radial tires. Read on the side of the tire, it says.... hmm.. I forgot...... something like "Outside" ..... U can't see it now but the other side of that will say "inside".

Just double check see if he installed it properly.

I had to double check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tire and here it called "steel-belted radial".

When you rotate the tires, your only pattern choice is front to back. No crossing.... radial thing.

yea i will double check the inside/outside on the tires but based on the tread pattern, im pretty sure they are correct.

[Mike Gerber]

Switch the 2 front tires with each other as a test. if the car now pulls left, you have what is known as a radial pull in the tire now on the left front. The only remedy is to replace that tire. If so, I hope you bought the tires at Firestone, so it will be their headache.

Mike

[thoots]

Originally Posted by Mike Gerber

Switch the 2 front tires with each other as a test. if the car now pulls left, you have what is known as a radial pull in the tire now on the left front. The only remedy is to replace that tire. If so, I hope you bought the tires at Firestone, so it will be their headache.

Mike

You bet. And if it doesn't pull left.....

Really, most of "pulling to the right" is due to being on the right side of the crown on the road. Really, pure and simple. Some tires may be more or less affected by the crown effect, and/or perhaps it can be dialed out with the kind of painstakingly precise alignment work that most shops simply won't do.

So.... One thing you can do is just put 1 psi more into the right-side tires than the lefts. Or perhaps less than that -- try .5 psi, and if that doesn't quite get the job done, try 1 psi. This can really help even out the pull on your steering wheel in most situations -- give it a shot, if you're game.

[Dave-o]

I had such a headache when I ordered my winter tires.

I found out my pulling problem was caused by my new tires which needed to be rebalanced again.
The steering wheel vibrated violently when I drove above 45mph... if your steering wheel doesn't show vibration or some crazy jerking, it won't be your tires... I can say that much...

After rebalancing my winter tires, there was no more vibration and hard pulling BUT there was a slight pull to the right side.
Only problem my uncle suggested to me ( we checked my alignment too, its perfect), is torque pull. He says naturally the car could pull to a side when you add gas or coast 10mph+

Are the new Continental tires 215/60/16?

[JohnGD]

Rotate the tires left-to-right. If you still drift to the right, and no change had been made to the mechanical before/after the new tires/alignment, then it's the recent alignment.

Many shops have problems center the steering wheel. Maybe another Firestone nearby?

[workerant]

I also bought the same tires, I'll let you know if it does the same on mine.

[MrSo0h0o]

ok so i switched the two front tires to see if it was radial pull. when i took it out on the road, i had the same pull to the right.

i brought it back to the firestone to have it realigned and here are my alignment numbers:

L FRONT R
camber -0.8 -1.1
caster 3.0 2.7
toe -0.22 0.23

L REAR R
camber -1.3 -1.6
toe 0.15 -0.04

thrust angle: 0.10

From what i can tell from before and after numbers, they changed the front toe a lot and the rear right toe.. It doesnt drift to the right nearly as much anymore and the steering wheel stays fairly straight.

Should the toe values be so opposite? i told them it was pulling to the right and i kinda feel like they just compensated for that by putting toe in on the front left and toe out on the front right?

[Redline_Me]

Too much toe will eat right through your tires.

My back tires are bald after 3 months, and i think its because my toe is way off.