Got 2 new tyres - is wheel alignment normally included?

mel.b

I got two new tyres today and had the older ones rotated. Upon leaving the garage i noticed that the wheel alignment was out.mi would have thought this was normally done when putting on new tyres but maybe not?

MuppetCheck

Not usually included no.

Bongalongherb

It was done once for me a few months ago, but later I wanted two tyres changed and they didn't do the alignment, so always ask before they fit the tyres and they should do it for you. Ye don't ask, ye don't get.

bucketybuck

Are you sure you mean wheel alignment? Or do you mean tyre balancing?

Because swapping the wheels around should have no effect on your wheel alignment. When you say you noticed the wheel alignment was out what do you actually mean by that? Because generally its hard for the driver to know that the alignment is out, the first they know of it is when the tyres start wear unevenly.

SCOOP 64

surely you have to pay extra, was you steering wheel offset after leaving garage?

bazz26

Surely if the alignment was out it would have been out irrespective of getting new tyres or not?

mel.b

I noticed as soon as i drove away from the garage that i had to hold the wheel at an angle to keep the car straight and if i held the steering wheel straight the car drifted to the right.

Obviously i need it fixed, Just wondering if this is normally included or an extra you have to pay for?

mel.b

bazz26 wrote: »

Surely if the alignment was out it would have been out irrespective of getting new tyres or not?

No bazz, because i had an alignment done less than 8 weeks ago 😞 not happy that i'll probably have to pay again

bucketybuck

mel.b wrote: »

I noticed as soon as i drove away from the garage that i had to hold the wheel at an angle to keep the car straight and if i held the steering wheel straight the car drifted to the right.

Obviously i need it fixed, Just wondering if this is normally included or an extra you have to pay for?

You should have turned around and went straight back into them. Changing tyres should have no effect on wheel alignment, something else has happened to cause what you describe.

mel.b

bucketybuck wrote: »

You should have turned around and went straight back into them. Changing tyres should have no effect on wheel alignment, something else has happened to cause what you describe.

I had to be somewhere, i will take it back tomorrow

bucketybuck

mel.b wrote: »

I had to be somewhere, i will take it back tomorrow

Tomorrow they could quite rightly claim that they did nothing wrong, and that whatever is wrong happened long after you left their premises.

I would have sympathy for their claim too, because common sense dictates that if the steering was as bad as you say then 99 out of 100 people would immediately have turned around and said so.

Frankly, I'm amazed that you thought it ok to just drive on despite there clearly being a problem with the steering. I will never understand how people can be so blase about the car they drive, the wheel alignment could be out because of a problem with a track rod or some other part, if that already defective part was to fail at high speed you could easily cause a crash and be killed. I hope that somewhere you had to be was important.

jca

bucketybuck wrote: »

Tomorrow they could quite rightly claim that they did nothing wrong, and that whatever is wrong happened long after you left their premises.

I would have sympathy for their claim too, because common sense dictates that if the steering was as bad as you say then 99 out of 100 people would immediately have turned around and said so.

Frankly, I'm amazed that you thought it ok to just drive on despite there clearly being a problem with the steering. I will never understand how people can be so blase about the car they drive, the wheel alignment could be out because of a problem with a track rod or some other part, if that already defective part was to fail at high speed you could easily cause a crash and be killed. I hope that somewhere you had to be was important.

Cool down there, I think he means that when travelling in a straight line the steering wheel is turned slightly. They must have adjusted the tracking by adjusting on one side only, most annoying. Op, were the old tyres worn unevenly?

Bruthal

If wheel alignment was already slightly off, new tires gripping better or more evenly than older ones might show the mis-alignment up slightly differently.

bucketybuck

jca wrote: »

Cool down there, I think he means that when travelling in a straight line the steering wheel is turned slightly. They must have adjusted the tracking by adjusting on one side only, most annoying. Op, were the old tyres worn unevenly?

I don't mean to lecture, I'm just constantly bemused by the lax attitude towards an important piece of equipment. Its not how big an angle the steering was out, its the fact that it shouldn't have been out at all. Something had clearly changed and it should have been investigated.

Besides, they changed tyres, why would they even touch the tracking? Wheel off wheel on, thats all they have to do assuming the wheels are correctly balanced.

bucketybuck

Bruthal wrote: »

If wheel alignment was already slightly off, new tires gripping better or more evenly than older ones might show the mis-alignment up slightly differently.

That wouldn't knock the steering wheel off-centre though.

Bruthal

bucketybuck wrote: »

That wouldn't knock the steering wheel off-centre though.

If tracking is out, old tyres uneaven wear, 2 new ones could slightly change the line the car takes, requiring a slight steering imput. Or if one tyre pressure is different from other.

bucketybuck

Bruthal wrote: »

If tracking is out, old tyres uneaven wear, 2 new ones could slightly change the line the car takes, requiring a slight steering imput. Or if one tyre pressure is different from other.

That raises another issue. The OP said the wheel alignment was checked 8 weeks ago, but clearly 8 weeks ago the tyres were either needing replaced or very close to it, else why change them today?

But you shouldn't check the wheel alignment on worn tyres, you get tyres first and then check the alignment, precisely because the new tyres will run differently. Whoever charged for wheel alignment 8 weeks ago should have said that. :mad:

mel.b

bucketybuck wrote: »

That raises another issue. The OP said the wheel alignment was checked 8 weeks ago, but clearly 8 weeks ago the tyres were either needing replaced or very close to it, else why change them today?

But you shouldn't check the wheel alignment on worn tyres, you get tyres first and then check the alignment, precisely because the new tyres will run differently. Whoever charged for wheel alignment 8 weeks ago should have said that. :mad:

Thanks, that is annoying i wasn't told that. Yes, the front wheels were out toeing (i think that is the term!) equally so i had wear on both front tyres on the edges. Got them swapped to the back as a short term measure and the wheels aligned. Replaced those tyres today, with the new ones put on the front and the other ones going back onto the back.

Bruthal

bucketybuck wrote: »

That raises another issue. The OP said the wheel alignment was checked 8 weeks ago, but clearly 8 weeks ago the tyres were either needing replaced or very close to it, else why change them today?

But you shouldn't check the wheel alignment on worn tyres, you get tyres first and then check the alignment, precisely because the new tyres will run differently. Whoever charged for wheel alignment 8 weeks ago should have said that. :mad:

Well the car is not driven on a road to do tracking, the toe angle is just set to what it should be with a computerized alignment measuring machine showing the required adjustments. It is not different for different tyres really.

But yes, if it was done 8 weeks ago, it should be OK now on new tyres. But a lot can happen in 8 weeks, potholes etc. But check tyre pressures anyway.