Wheel Alignment and tire wear

[Donstar]

I decided to have a $14 wheel alignment check at my dealer as I recently bought new tires and wanted to ensure their longevity. My truck failed because of a combined front total toe of 0.40. I'm not sure if this is terrible or borderline. My concern is that I will have a good week of driving on these new tires before I am able to get an alignment. Is there any potential for irregular wear problems from putting a couple of hundred miles on these tires? I have owned this truck since new and it has never seen rough roads. It has less than 20K and I am also wondering if my $14 check could be wrong!

[Mikeb52r]

Was this just a check, or did they go ahead and align the truck? Generally most places will give you a free alignment check when you buy a set of tires on the premise that when you find out your alignment is out, you will purchase it to keep from ruining your new tires. Now if they did say it was out, I would go ahead and get it done. A few hundred miles shouldn't affect it, just don't forget about.

 

Toe will affect your tire wear depending on how bad it's out, but not as bad as caster and camber. Alignments are so precise nowadays that a good bump or hit could through it out, and it could happen at any time. It could happen on a test drive someone took the truck on before you bought it. But with our suspension setup, its easy and fast to get back into alignment.

 

I just installed a 1 1/2 inch level kit on my 16 All Terrain and had the alignment done. The only thing they adjusted was the toe, caster and camber was still within specs. Now I did go ahead and buy a lifetime alignment do to planning on keeping the truck for a while and I will have it checked twice a year to keep my tires as long as possible.

[Donstar]

Was this just a check, or did they go ahead and align the truck? Generally most places will give you a free alignment check when you buy a set of tires on the premise that when you find out your alignment is out, you will purchase it to keep from ruining your new tires. Now if they did say it was out, I would go ahead and get it done. A few hundred miles shouldn't affect it, just don't forget about.

 

Toe will affect your tire wear depending on how bad it's out, but not as bad as caster and camber. Alignments are so precise nowadays that a good bump or hit could through it out, and it could happen at any time. It could happen on a test drive someone took the truck on before you bought it. But with our suspension setup, its easy and fast to get back into alignment.

 

I just installed a 1 1/2 inch level kit on my 16 All Terrain and had the alignment done. The only thing they adjusted was the toe, caster and camber was still within specs. Now I did go ahead and buy a lifetime alignment do to planning on keeping the truck for a while and I will have it checked twice a year to keep my tires as long as possible.

Thanks for your response. My tire shop is Costco so I took it to my dealership for an alignment check. This is a free service when combined with other work and the cost will be deducted from my alignment. I was surprised with the results as my last truck always passed these tests with well over 100,000 K. I suspect you are correct and a bump in delivery or during its 6 months on the lot might be to blame. It may be helpful to others to know not to dismiss an alignment check just because your vehicle is relatively new.

[last truck]

if you leveled the truck it throws off the toe

[Donstar]

Yes, if I had altered the suspension an alignment is required. I do have a 1.5" leveling kit but have delayed any plans for adding height to my truck.