New wheels - alignment when?

[The 10th Doctor]

Hi All,

I've fitted new wheels onto my car recently and had to tug on the front wheels a bit to get them off. In doing this, I think I've pulled the alignment out (the wheels are not straight when the steering wheel is) - in addition to that, over 80km/h I'm getting a fair bit of wobble. Long story short, it feels like I need an alignment.

The only thing is, I should be having new springs in soon (hopefully this week) - and from what I've heard, I'll need an alignment after they are in. Is that right? Should I be OK holding off on a balance/alignment until the springs are done?

Cheers.

[Woollie]

I've been through this before and you'll definitely need an alignment after springs so maybe wait for them to go on first

[Brett_jjj]

You should get an alignment done whenever the tyres (or wheels) are replaced, or at least get one done every 12 months. I get mine done every 6 months. Its amazing how quickly the front ends on these cars gets out of alignment.I guess the crappy roads we have to drive on around here causes it to go out quicker..I also get my alignment set so that both sides are set exactly the same. Some aligners will (allegedly) try to compensate for the road camber by setting one side differently to the other. (I think its just an excuse they use when the measurments on the printout dont match exactly side to side,especially the castor angle measurments, as it takes a fair bit of mucking around for the aligner to get them set exactly the same side to side). The workshop manuals dont mention about them needing to be set differently either,the specs say they should just be set the same for both sides. I hate how my cars drive when the alignment has been set differently either side, Ive also found that this makes a fair difference to how much fuel the car uses too, it uses a lot more fuel when they are set differently.You can also notice that it doesnt roll along the road as freely either.

[Woollie]

You should get an alignment done whenever the tyres (or wheels) are replaced, or at least get one done every 12 months. I get mine done every 6 months. Its amazing how quickly the front ends on these cars gets out of alignment.I guess the crappy roads we have to drive on around here causes it to go out quicker..I also get my alignment set so that both sides are set exactly the same. Some aligners will (allegedly) try to compensate for the road camber by setting one side differently to the other. (I think its just an excuse they use when the measurments on the printout dont match exactly side to side,especially the castor angle measurments, as it takes a fair bit of mucking around for the aligner to get them set exactly the same side to side). The workshop manuals dont mention about them needing to be set differently either,the specs say they should just be set the same for both sides. I hate how my cars drive when the alignment has been set differently either side, Ive also found that this makes a fair difference to how much fuel the car uses too, it uses a lot more fuel when they are set differently.You can also notice that it doesnt roll along the road as freely either.

That's interesting because when I got my new wheels and tyres fitted they set it up so that they were different and the right tyre at the top seemed to stick out a lot further than the left. They said that this was to compensate for the camber in the road but I didn't like how it looked so they made them the same. It still runs straight so I don't see why they have to do it in the first place.

[Brett_jjj]

Exactly. Thats why I reckon its just an excuse they use when the caster measurements are different side to side.. Shims have to be fitted to the radius rods (z-bars) to adjust the caster angle. The K frame can also be loosened and moved about 1 cm either way for further castor adjustment. I dont have any trouble with my car pulling on higher camber roads either. Having it set differently side to side effects the cars steering(in a bad way) more then any high road camber does..

[glennho]

get it done when the new springs go in. if it is happening in a week or so it should be fine:-)

[Troyziee]

heres my question, very similar situation.

My car went in for a service on thursday last week, and its noted that they did a wheel alignment, then the next day my wheels arrived so i proceeded to put them on. should i go and get a new alignment to suit the larger wheels? I'm abit worried as i do not want to wear out my brand new high performance tires.... but having the alignment done the day before i dont want to waste my money if just changing em over would not have thrown it out

[Wongy295]

heres my question, very similar situation.

My car went in for a service on thursday last week, and its noted that they did a wheel alignment, then the next day my wheels arrived so i proceeded to put them on. should i go and get a new alignment to suit the larger wheels? I'm abit worried as i do not want to wear out my brand new high performance tires.... but having the alignment done the day before i dont want to waste my money if just changing em over would not have thrown it out

Personally, I would get another alignment AND balance done, as you've changed wheels.

[Troyziee]

wheels came balanced with the new tyres, so it was just a straight jack front end up swap over, jack rear end up swap over....

but ye, abit paranoid about scrubbing out brand new tyres

[m1lky]

Let your suspension settle with the new wheels first. But id be getting one done

[RiCeY]

I align my own car and have a camber bias set to counteract the camber of the road simply because its a lot easier than pulling castor rod bushes off to fit shims. Im not a fan of having a car that constantly wanders to the left.

Dont notice any decrease in handling and cant see how you would when its less than a degree difference from left to right.

[RIP 05]

wheels came balanced with the new tyres, so it was just a straight jack front end up swap over, jack rear end up swap over....

but ye, abit paranoid about scrubbing out brand new tyres

i would get them aligned again

[The 10th Doctor]

Thanks for all the help guys - getting the springs fitted on Friday and have managed to get an alignment booked for Sat morning

Small question - is an alignment different to a balance? I would assume so - but not sure if most tyre places just call them the same thing and do both, or would I specifically have to request a balance in addition to an alignment? (going to a Bridgestone Tyre Centre, btw)

[UFO]

Small question - is an alignment different to a balance?

Wheel Balance = making sure the weight is evenly distributed around each wheel when the tyre goes on it, by using little weights mounted on the rim itself, so the wheels dont shake/shudder when driving at faster speeds (you'll feel it through steering wheel).

Wheel Alignment = making sure the wheels straight on the car (very simplistic, because they aren't 'straight' at all, but serves my purposes here), so the car doesnt pull left or right.

[UFO]

Oh... and any time new wheels go on- get wheel alignment done.

And when suspension is played around with- get wheel alignment done.

And when suspension settles in after a few months- get wheel alignment done.

[The 10th Doctor]

Wheel Balance = making sure the weight is evenly distributed around each wheel when the tyre goes on it, by using little weights mounted on the rim itself, so the wheels dont shake/shudder when driving at faster speeds (you'll feel it through steering wheel).
Wheel Alignment = making sure the wheels straight on the car (very simplistic, because they aren't 'straight' at all, but serves my purposes here), so the car doesnt pull left or right.

Thanks for that, I figured as much but I thought I would make sure.

Oh... and any time new wheels go on- get wheel alignment done.

And when suspension is played around with- get wheel alignment done.

And when suspension settles in after a few months- get wheel alignment done.

I'm not 100% on when I should get an alignment, can you repeat the part where you said the stuff about the thing?