Re: Why do I need a wheel alignment after each tire rotation?

On 2 Oct 2005 12:01:43 -0700, [email]condor_222@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>I have a 97 V6 Camry with 135K miles on it.
>I just had four new tires put on in February and a wheel
>alignment then too. At 125K approx.
>
>About a month ago, I went in for the free tire rotation.
>And then the steering wheel was pulling to one side again.
>I've had a lot of problems with the alignment on the Camry.
>
>It's not like my old Ford. The Ford I had aligned, and it
>stayed aligned for years. I changed tires. No alignment
>required.
>
>But the Camry, it always seems to be going out of alignment.
>I had the tires rotated last fall, and again, it then
>required an alignment. That's why I bought new tires.[/color]

Try putting the tires back in the same positions where they were,
and see if it goes away, or rotate them side to side and see if the
vibration moves. If it does, it's more likely a problem in the tires
or wheels. If the shocks are bad and the tires wear into a
'feathered' pattern, reversing the tire rotation can cause noise and
handling issues.

When you rub your hands along the top of a tire with a bad case of
feathering wear it feels like fish scales - go one way and it feels
smooth, the other and it's very rough. The tread blocks wear like saw
teeth or fish scales.

Another problem can be tires that were made out of round, or made
way out of balance from the rubber plant, especially in larger truck
and SUV sizes - there are special tire machines that do Road Force
Balancing that can shave those tires back to round again (or shave
down the heavy side to get the physical balance closer) and get them
to ride smoothly, but only a few tire shops do this.
[color=blue]
>What do you think? When they do the free tire rotation,
>do the mechanics take a mallet and bash the alignment out,
>so that you then have to get a pricy aligment?[/color]

Hey, it's possible. There have been many auto shops busted for
selling customers on unneeded work, and the big chain shops (Sears
Auto Centers springs to mind) have been busted repeatedly for pushing
unneeded work and faking "evidence" that you need it. See, the big
places can easily track every employee's 'add-on' sales, and if you
don't push those extras you get fired.

With any alignment rack (even the new computerized optical ones) It
would be trivial to 'put their thumb on the scale' to "show" that the
alignment was way off, and you need it done again. A lot of auto
repairs have to be done simply on faith that your mechanic isn't lying
to you.
[color=blue]
>Could this be an indication of some other mechanical problem?[/color]

Shocks or struts worn, or other worn items like the rubber bushings
and ball joints in the suspension. All the suspension mounting
attachments ride in rubber or urethane plastic bushings to allow for
movement and avoid transmitting vibrations to the car body, and these
wear out with time and mileage.

When there are badly worn suspension parts the shop can adjust the
alignment perfectly - then you can simply bounce the car up and down a
few times, and the 'perfect' alignment readings go right out the
window as the pins shift in the bushings.

--<< Bruce >>--

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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