Does anyone else have the problem of uneven wear on the tires causeing the car to pull to the right? I have a completely stock setup and the alignmemt is perfect. I tried rotating front to back and it does the same thing. then I swapped the front two tires with each other temporarily and then it pulled to the left.

 

Hint 1: Alignment is not perfect.
Hint 2: Who told you it was perfect?

You're out of alignment. Factory is far from a good job. It's a range.

Look for a race orientated shop in your area (CBRD). Get a good alignment.

 

^^toe is prob out of whack if your getting uneven wear. camber could be tweaked if your pulling. whats your wheel and tire set up?

your not just mistaking tramlining for bad alignment right?

like smike said, if those are your two symptoms, your alignment is not perfect. im guess you went to a jiffy lube/firestone type place. Contact chad at cbrd, you have one of the best shops in your own backyard. gl

 

I had mitsubishi do the alignment and recheckit afterwards, they said it is the tires causing the pull to the right. So we switched the two front tires and then it pulls to the left.

 

tramlining , not sure what that is. I will post up the specs of my alignmet later toaday after I scan the print out from mitsubishi.

 

Is it possible a belt shifted on one of the tires? You said you swapped tires around and it pulls to the other side now, correct?

 

it could be tires that are not the same diameter-

one way to check would be to measure the rolling diameter on them-

and if one is less- increase the pressure in it (not excessively) to bring the rolling diameter up- and see if that fixes it-

cb

 

Belts are cured within the tire. Conicity is the tendency of a tire to pull. However, once a tire is poorly worn, the tire will have a forced wear pattern. Not going to work it out or go away.

If an overlay tire, this is a very slight change to center diameter.

Biggest issue here is what are the current alignment specs? Just because someone says it was OK; does not mean it was OK.

What tires? How long have they been on the car? When did this issue start happening?

My BIGGEST issue with shops always blaming tires is that a car is fine for say 15,000 miles. Then a pull starts. Oh, must be the tires. Why didn't the car pull at mile 1 then? Something is incorrect (alignment) or changed (tire wear due to alignment).

 

Evo also tracked road crowns frequently. And with the winter weather change, road surfaces have changed as well (ruts, crowns, breakers).

Again, root here is uneven wear. That's alignment. Issue you have from that is driving dynamics from the wear your alignment gave you.

 

hit the nail on the head. 95% of the time they say "tires are causing the pull" its a scapegoat for incompetence. my dad just brought his vehicle in for an alignment and it came back with a hard pull to the left. of course they said its the tires. i asked my dad for the sheet with the #'s. they didnt give him one. then how do we know the alignment is good? i explained to him how most shops get it in the green and call it good. thats not acceptable to me. my guy nails every spec i can toss at him.

 

Alignment racks are just tools. They require calibration, competence in use, and an understanding of use. Seeing a green box without an understanding what the effect of toe is a recipe for low quality work (to say it nicely).

 

we had an issue with a local alignment shop that had a compensation in their rack for road crown, and they didnt even know it-

if swapping the tires changes the side to side motion- then obviously that could be a good indicator though-

youd be surprised what a small change in tire diameter could do-

cb

 

Yeah, I see that a lot as well.

Tire pressures should be checked often (and before an alignment).

 

too say it bluntly (not nicely), just getting it in the green and calling it good is for mechanics are suck at their jobs. blaming the tires is easy, logical (for people who dont know cars), and gets them off the hook with 95% or people.

its a dealer, the tires affect direction, alignment has all pretty green like "go" colors, im good.

alignment racks are tools, and the person utilizing this tool needs to be well versed and trained in its practical application. its like riding a bike, flying a plane, or doing anything else. Need to learn. This is a high performance car, not a hand grenade...no, close does not count sir, stop sucking at your job.

while most everyone in this thread is more knowledable than me, I am sticking with alignment as the root of the probelm, unless like grillpt implied, and something has drastically changed in recent miles.

 

mainly would be a toe issue-

Obviously the steps are-

check tires (no cost involved if done by ones self)
re-align at a reputable shop-

cb