2012 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab SLE Z71 alignment issue

mtbone77 · July 13, 2012

I purchased a 2012 GMC Sierra SLE Crew Cab Z71 December 23 2011. On April 6 2012 had first oil change and first tire rotation at 5,957 miles. About 3,000 miles into having my truck I noticed the front tires were feathering on the outsides. I took it by the dealer i purchased it from and the service advisor told me to bring it back and they would check the alignment on my first service appointment. That was done and they corrected the alignment issue for a little bit. Today at 10,257 miles I took it back in to the same dealer for the same problem with 4,000 miles on this alignment. With the fresh tires from the back now being on the front after the first alignment. Now seem to be wearing worse. They charged me $76.43 for the alignment and said they had to because it has more than 7K miles on it. they said it was out of alignment worse than the first time. My truck is only driven on the highway. The only gravel or dirt it has seen is at my kids daycare parking lot. I am going to have to wave the B.S. flag on this one. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

mtbone77 · July 13, 2012

Sorry the tires are worn on the inside and outside, not just the outside

Doug_Scott · July 13, 2012

Not sure what you mean by feathering. Feathering normally means the tread has a wear pattern like a feather, tread feels smooth if you slide your hand along it in one direction, but is rough if you run your hand the other way. Like a feather.

Tread wearing on both shoulders is usually due to under-inflation. Ask the dealer for the actual alignment numbers. Using terms like you posted are meaningless. One way the alignment could be out "worse" than before is if they did not torque the cam bolts correctly. If it is the toe setting that is out "worse" than before, then something is seriously wrong.

Note that once a tire starts wearing a certain way, it will continue wearing in that pattern. Correcting the alignment will not stop the tire from wearing that way. New or different tires on that axle will not wear the way the old tires were wearing.

mtbone77 · July 13, 2012

I am anal about my tire inflation I check it everytime i get in and while i am driving. I keep them at 35 PSI, and with the heat we have had here in Arkansas while driving they got up to 41 PSI. The tires are feathering rough one direction smoothe the other. Tires are the Goodyear Wrangler AT/S, not a big fan, weak sidewalls. . I did not get copies of the sheets from both alignments, will need to get them from dealership. A friend has a 2011 1500 All terrain it was just wearing on the inside only, different dealer though. They ended up puttting a leveling kit and with different tires it seems to have corrected his problem. Another question, where the control arms mount, on the front, there are plastic cresent shaped pieces where the bolt is with what looks like some sort of adjustment plate.. Are the plastic pieces supposed to be removed or not? Also I had the tires rotated and the first alignment done at the same time with 5,957 miles. First alignment, first tire rotation.

jaredlucky16 · July 13, 2012

The pieces of plastic in the eccentrics have to be removed in order to adjust camber/caster

mtbone77 · July 14, 2012

That is what I figured. Do they get put back in when they are finished? Cause mine are still there

BlackZ71Silverado · July 15, 2012

Yes they get put back in.

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mtbone77 · July 18, 2012

I got a call from the dealer yesterday and they are refunding my $$, The service advisor said the alignment machine may have had something input incorrectly on the first time. He said the tow was out both times according to the printouts. The service manager is going to check it again at my next oil change and look at my tires.