Long Road Trip

[jro909]

so i drove a good 2500 miles over the weekend through tennesee,kentucky,indiana and illinois(p.s chicago is hell) is there anything i need to check for as far as maintance items? the roads sucked bad i was thinking of maybe getting the alignment checked, i plan to also check all the fluids and the general condition of the undercarriage/drivetrain tommrow...am i missing anything?

[peteking]

so i drove a good 2500 miles over the weekend through tennesee,kentucky,indiana and illinois(p.s chicago is hell) is there anything i need to check for as far as maintance items? the roads sucked bad i was thinking of maybe getting the alignment checked, i plan to also check all the fluids and the general condition of the undercarriage/drivetrain tommrow...am i missing anything?

 

After our annual 1600-mi trips to Canada (fishing), I do everything that you mention above to my truck. 2500 miles is only 1/2 of an oil change interval, so nothing mechanically detrimental should have happened during that time frame. Maybe also glance at your tire treads for any gouges or road debris?

[jwh463]

 

with fuel prices you might need an ATM

[Nytemare]

so i drove a good 2500 miles over the weekend through tennesee,kentucky,indiana and illinois(p.s chicago is hell) is there anything i need to check for as far as maintance items? the roads sucked bad i was thinking of maybe getting the alignment checked, i plan to also check all the fluids and the general condition of the undercarriage/drivetrain tommrow...am i missing anything?

Get on a straight portion of highway where your doing 60+ and let go your steering wheel. If you pull to the left or right you need an alignment. It will be immediately evident...it would almost shoot off to one side as soon as you let go. You want to check it a few times, If it goes one way, then the other the next time, it could just be the lay of the road. You need a nice level straight-a-way.

 

No need to pay to have the alignment checked.

 

Yeah, if your unsure of your condition, do a general visual inspection...and fluid levels. Next oil change, bring it to the dealership and ask for a Matenance II package...they will check brakes tires fluids (levels and condition). Its quite a decant inspection.

[ChevyTech77]

Your wheel alignment can still be quite a bit off even if it doesn't pull/drift. $60 for a wheel alignment, is good piece of mind and worth it once a year, imo.

[RyanbabZ71]

p.s chicago is hell

 

I love going up to Chicago just hate driving there

[Nytemare]

Your wheel alignment can still be quite a bit off even if it doesn't pull/drift. $60 for a wheel alignment, is good piece of mind and worth it once a year, imo.

Not enough to matter....I had my last truck for 4 years, never had it checked. It never pulled, never wore tires unevenly...nothing. And I drove over some rough roads, and some places that weren't even roads.

 

If its not off enough to pull its not off enough to do anything IMO.

 

And its much more expensive than 60 bucks for a 4 wheel alignment up here....more like 3 times that. No way am I paying that every year to have the alignment checked.

 

 

I generally have it checked/adjusted when I replace tires....when I replaced the tires on my 03 the alignment tech at the dealership even said don't bother...the tires don't look unevenly worn....it would just be a wast of money.

[ChevyTech77]

Your wheel alignment can still be quite a bit off even if it doesn't pull/drift. $60 for a wheel alignment, is good piece of mind and worth it once a year, imo.

Not enough to matter....I had my last truck for 4 years, never had it checked. It never pulled, never wore tires unevenly...nothing. And I drove over some rough roads, and some places that weren't even roads.

 

If its not off enough to pull its not off enough to do anything IMO.

 

And its much more expensive than 60 bucks for a 4 wheel alignment up here....more like 3 times that. No way am I paying that every year to have the alignment checked.

 

 

I generally have it checked/adjusted when I replace tires....when I replaced the tires on my 03 the alignment tech at the dealership even said don't bother...the tires don't look unevenly worn....it would just be a wast of money.

 

Toe settings will not cause a pull and CAN wear tires, that's all I'm saying.

 

Plus, the only GM full size truck/ute that has the necessity for a four wheel alignment is a Quadrasteer equipped vehicle. If you're paying for a four wheel on any other kind of GM full size truck/ute, you are severely wasting your time and money, that is correct.

 

In the 15+ years that I've done alignments, less than 10 vehicles have not needed at LEAST a toe adjustment and the steering wheel centered. Weather their tires were wearing or not. It's your tires, feel free to do as you wish.

[jro909]

my concern with the alignment/suspension is just that i drove roughly 20 hours averaging speeds of 65mph-70mph blasting over road imperfections,potholes and such(i tryed to avoid as much of it as i could).... i fryed my last set of tires from the camber being off so i'm i'm highly anal about making sure the front end is in good working order...i'm going to eyeball the tires real well for any sign of scuffing or premature wear, i'll also see if the truck pulls on a flat road....if anything seems off i'll go straight to the dealer otherwise would it be ok to wait until the next oil change?

 

 

i checked everything when i finally got with the first 10 hours of driving and everything seemed ok, i will check everything again today......thanks for the replys guys

[Nytemare]

Toe settings will not cause a pull and CAN wear tires, that's all I'm saying.

 

Plus, the only GM full size truck/ute that has the necessity for a four wheel alignment is a Quadrasteer equipped vehicle. If you're paying for a four wheel on any other kind of GM full size truck/ute, you are severely wasting your time and money, that is correct.

 

In the 15+ years that I've done alignments, less than 10 vehicles have not needed at LEAST a toe adjustment and the steering wheel centered. Weather their tires were wearing or not. It's your tires, feel free to do as you wish.

Well 3 years and 60K KM on the same tires, still with 50+% on them were worn perfectly even....I think I would have wasted the money personally. And seeing that one of the two alignment techs at the dealership, that has 32+ years of experience (he was hired as a tire changer when the dealership opened) said don't bother....I was OK with it.

 

I am sure he could have made a tweak or two....not saying it was perfect...just not enough to worry about...or spend the money on.

 

Oh and you'd be ok to wait for the next oil change Jro.

Don't worry too much about driving over rough roads....you should drive around here. I think the roughest road I have driven in the US was like silk compared to our roads man.

But if it makes you feel better, Like ChevyTech77 said...its 60 bones...thats cheap insurance...If it was 60 bucks here I would likely do it every 2nd year at least. But at the 125-200 they charge around here, the extra life I would get from a set of tires just ain't worth it.

[jro909]

the roads here are just well over due for repair or complete overhaul, i just cringed going over craters in the road going 65mph...i don't know if this is a worthy check of the alignment but if i stop for gas or something and leave my wheels cocked to either side i check to see if the the tires are leaning too much one way or another, or make sure the tread is evenly distrubuted...is that stupid or does it hold any truth?

[Nytemare]

the roads here are just well over due for repair or complete overhaul, i just cringed going over craters in the road going 65mph...i don't know if this is a worthy check of the alignment but if i stop for gas or something and leave my wheels cocked to either side i check to see if the the tires are leaning too much one way or another, or make sure the tread is evenly distrubuted...is that stupid or does it hold any truth?

Thread...yeah, you should be able to see small differences in wear if there is an issue after a 2500mile trip...the position of the tire....you need a damn good eye for that, the shims are thousandths of an inch man, if your alignment is out by even 1* thats huge. But you'd never see it.