Tire pressure

[MikeNH]

Ok, maybe we got lost in semantics with all of this. The rear thrust axis alignment check is what I was talking about as being a 4 wheel alignment. I realize that most folks have not even considered that as a possibility or even needed, but a quick search thru the web pages will provide some insights into this. Try 4 wheeler magazine for one as a start point. If the rear axle is not aligned properly to the thrust axis of the vehicle, then it can affect the steer axle alignment also. That is why the rear is checked first, and adjusted if needed, then the front is aligned. That may not be called a 4 wheel alignment in some circles, but it is in others. And this is why I always have a "4 wheel alignment" done on any new vehicle. Now, to be fair, there are many shops that are not set up to do this rear axle check. That is why I go to a very good shop that caters to commercial vehicles and fleets. I take my semi's there. I take my pickups there.

 

 

Do whatever you like but I probably had hundreds of solid rear axle trucks and SUVs on the alignment rack in school or at the dealer and while there is no adjustment, you still hang the sensors for the machine to work properly and I never saw a truck, new or pushing 200,000 miles that had the rear axle out of alignment. Justify it however you want but between the other few million new light truck buyers and the fact that OE rubber is garbage anyhow you're tossing money out the window. I'd love to see a scan of the before/after printout they should be giving you after the alignment.

[txab]

[Cowpie]

The only reason I am even elaborating on this, is that a misalignment can occur occasionally, even from the factory, and that checking for the rear axle alignment in relation to the thrust axis is not a bad idea. True, it is a rare occurrence that there be a problem, but I have seen folks trying to chase down an alignment problem that turned out to be just this. You feel it is unnecessary, and that's cool. I do, and that's cool also. I have learned in over 4 million trucking miles, including a 10 year driving career in Alaska, and Lord knows how many miles of personal vehicle use since starting to drive in 1968, that I have seen stranger things happen. And with this, I am just taking into account one more variable that can potentially be a problem. Thank you for worrying about my finances and money I might be throwing away as you put it, but in the final analysis, it is my money. I am sure there is something in your life you spend money on that I could say the exact same thing about, and shake my head and think, what a waste.

 

One thing I have learned from growing up on a farm, as a young troop in SE Asia, as a college student after that, and after over 3 decades in commercial trucking...... there is no such thing as a check of something that is unnecessarily a waste of time or money.