Originally Posted by
kingdavid54
I promise you out of 3 alignment shops at least one of them checked for worn parts in the front end and they would have advised you to replace the worn parts before doing the alignment, when the alignment is done the car sits on a level platform so it is not unusual for a Car steering wheel to be slightly off center when going down the road because of the crown in the highway which is put there on purpose for rain runoff, it would be nice if you would include more information about your unusual tire wear, like what is the pattern of the wear and how much air do you run in your tires? Have you checked the front wheel bearings for excessive play, have you changed your steering stabilizer? What kind of driving do you do? Is it spirited aggressive driving or normal run-of-the-mill going to the grocery store driving, there are a lot of factors that determine how tires wear, more information would be most helpful.
Thank you for the response.
They definitely checked the suspension components, as I specifically requested that they do so. I had a suspicion before that I might have something going on there, so I had them check it out and they said it was all good - wheel bearings, tie rods, etc.
My driving habits are pretty normal, but I drive in heavy traffic on pretty low quality roads all year round, so I hit my fair share of big potholes and ridges.
I haven't changed my steering stabilizer.
The wear starts at the outside of the tire in the fronts - the treads closest to the sidewall start to become arched, that's the best way I describe it. Each section of tread is higher at one side than it is at the other on the treads closest to the sidewall. This tapers off as you go closer to the center of the tire, so it seems the outside of the tires are the worst affected. I'll try to get some pics up if you think that would be helpful.
This is the same pattern I saw on my two previous sets of tires, both different brands than my current tire.
I currently have Sumitomo HTR Z III's all around. I was going off the door jam specs, so my tires sit somewhere at or just above 33 - 35 psi all around. The tire pressure indicator comes on at 32, if I'm not mistaken, so mine are definitely above that at all times.
Even after the alignments, my wheel has never been dead straight. It's always a bit to the right, maybe a couple of degrees maximum, but enough for me to have noticed and taken it back to them. They said the alignment was dead on, though, so I took them at their word.