Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Today I got two new tires (same brand/style as the other two), and the shop put them on the back. They also swapped the back (now front) tires from left to right, balanced, etc.
I drove home, and when I was going 60mph or higher, the car pulls just slightly to the right.
I got home, called the alignment shop where I had the alignment done last year, and told him about it. He said its a tire pull and I need to go back to the tire shop and tell them to move the new ones to the front!! (it made me think about this thread) My old tires are fine and barely worn, so he didn't think I should buy two more tires.
OMG
I am so confused now.....
How can the guy tell it's a tire pull when he hasn't even looked at your car in a year? And is it possible the "slight" pull to the right was a result of road crown?
If the difference in tread depth between the new vs old tires is 2/32" or less and moving the new tires to the front solves the "alignment" issue, go ahead. Otherwise... well, you've read the explanations and seen the video demonstrations of why it's best to keep the less-worn tires on the rear.
How can the guy tell it's a tire pull when he hasn't even looked at your car in a year? And is it possible the "slight" pull to the right was a result of road crown?
If the difference in tread depth between the new vs old tires is 2/32" or less and moving the new tires to the front solves the "alignment" issue, go ahead. Otherwise... well, you've read the explanations and seen the video demonstrations of why it's best to keep the less-worn tires on the rear.
Thanks...
well, the thing is the car has never pulled to the right except for today when I drove home from the tire shop. The fact that I could only feel it at high speeds seemed to also convince the alignment guy that it was tire pull.
I dug through my records and it appears that my rear tires are 5 years old and have 32K on them. Clearly, they have not been rotated since then, and I know that is not good. Three different people (one mechanic who I trust, one guy at Jiffy Lube, and a friend who is into cars) have looked at them and told me I did not need to replace them.
I don't know what the tread depth is though - on the chart at the tire store today they have the "green zone" which is safe, then "yellow" and "red" - mine scored in the middle of the green section for tread depth. They have a 60K warranty on them.
If I could understand why this is happening, and be convinced that buying two more new ones would solve it, I would probably do that. I just don't understand why its happening. Its been a long time since I bought all four tires at once.... and I've never had this happen before.
This is the chart they had in the store - I believe my rear (now front) tires were either 8/32" or 7/32":
On dry pavement, tread depth makes very little difference. Make sure you read the small fine print at the bottom of that chart. I just cut out the important part. I wouldnt move the new tires to the front, but I would make sure the tires you have on the front now are balanced. I would wager the tire tech took them right off the rear and put them on the front, not checking to see if they were okay.
........60 mph in 1/16" of standing water with driver performing a panic stop.....
I got home, called the alignment shop where I had the alignment done last year, and told him about it. He said its a tire pull and I need to go back to the tire shop and tell them to move the new ones to the front!! (it made me think about this thread) My old tires are fine and barely worn, so he didn't think I should buy two more tires.
Tire pull is often caused from lack of rotation, causing the tire to wear unevenly. But it can be caused by mixing tire brands and tread patterns, or just cheap tires. No way to diagnose over the phone. Heck, your car might be slightly misaligned and the old tires had counteracting tire pull.
Which shows how the tire industry will cherrypick a scenario to sell more tires.
No. You need to prepare for the WORST possible situation. Even if 99.9% of the time you have optimal conditions. That .01% is what you need to plan for. Because when that time comes, you can't magically change your tires to fit the conditions.
I am going to go back to the shop on Monday and have them reverse the front tires, and see what that does.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
