Well, after three alignments at three different places and after reparing a leaky valve stem my car still pulls to the right. Tirerack said they will send me one more replacement tire (right side) but that is it (they have sent me one right tire previously). I am getting somewhat fed up with them. If this doesn't fix the problem I will probably just ask for a full refund. I am sure they will refuse to do it, but I think this is stupid.

Anyone else ever have problems with Tirerack? Any suggestions?

 

What if it's the left tire?

 

uhmm. take out some air from the drivers side tires

 

Why is this TireRack's fault?

 

tirerack sells tires, they dont fix cars...why are you pissed at tirerack? maybe your car is fUx0rd

 

Is it possible that it is not the tire that's making your car pull? Maybe need an alignment? Something bent or loose? Good luck!

Miguel

 

Chris, it's important to find a good place to do alignment. I have couple incidence that after doing an alignment, the car pulled worse than before!

 

Weren't you the same guy who was all pissed off about the shim on the back of the Hawk brake pads?

Anyway, check your tire pressures first, make sure they were correct when the car was aligned (since you mentioned a leaky valve stem), else your alignment is probably suspect.

Also why did you get three different alignments?!? Almost every shop I know of will re-do your alignment if you it's off, which your's clearly appears to be. If you've paid for an alignment and the car isn't aligned, then you need to get another one performed (for free) or get your money back.

And for the record, I don't think it's the tire.

 

Tirerack They always make their customer happy! Hehehe one happy customer here

 

Wai, Alignment is definately perfect. The two last places that did the alignment were two of Phoenix's best body shops. I also have the specs from the last two places and they are dead on.

I don't blame Tirerack for the problem; but if they refuse to provide tires that function properly I will be pretty pissed. I don't think it is fair to me to have to deal with a pull when it is obvious that it is the tires causing it.

 

Tire pressure shouldnt have any effect due to the fact that modern alignment
machines take readings with the car in the air

 

Try moving to the tire to a different location. Either the left side or the rear if the tire is directional. If it still pulls its most likely not the tire. If it does not pull anymore, leave it like that. But if it pulls the other direction, then it would seem like you have a bad tire.

 

Out of curiousity, what kind of tires are these? I have heard of some problems with Kumhos being out of round, but have not experienced it myself (had them on for about 3000 miles). I would think that it is safe to assume that if they send you another tire and the car still pulls, it is NOT tire related.

 

Did you try swapping the left to the right, or rear to the front? That's the first thing I'd do.

 

They are RE 730's. Good tires, I have used before, which is part of the reason I am annoyed here.

I could do some rotating, but then if I track the car, and I kill the fronts, I could never rotate the backs up to the front; so I basically get less out of the tires.

Like I said, I don't blame TireRack, they are just givng me poo poo when it isn't my fault and I feel like they are making me out to be the bad guy for no reason.

 

Tire pressure shouldnt have any effect due to the fact that modern alignment
machines take readings with the car in the air[/QUOTE]

I disagree. All alignments are done with the wheels on the ground. It is necessary for the full weight of the vehicle to be on the wheels to make the correct camber, caster, and toe measurements.

Onyx00:

Taking your car to 2 different shops to be aligned doesn't mean your getting a good alignment, even if they are the best in town. Alignment racks need to frequently calibrated. A lot of the time, the mechanics are careless and lazy. They tend to drop and bang the alignment heads. These heads are very easily knocked out of calibration. One other point. Last year I brought my ITR in for an alignment at my local Acura dealership. The car felt a lot looser after I picked it up. Reason being is that their alignment rack didn't have the specs for the ITR, so they aligned it to the standard ITR spec. I brought the car to my friends Honda dealership, they put it their rack and set it to the ITR spec. Much better. One last thing, a good mechanic doing alignments ALWAYS sets the tire pressure first.

 

I agree with #756. All alignment machines I have even seen/used are done with the wheels on the ground. (when car is raised, wheels sag with the suspension making it impossible to do) An out of round tire will not make it pull to the side. It WILL give you a vibration in the steering wheel. You get a tire pull from either wrong inflation pressure, uneven wear, or a BAD ALIGNMENT. Tire rack is tops in what they do. Find someone with tire/rims that you can swap on your type r (not the deceased one) and see what happens.

And why are you racing with your street tires? If you cannot get race tires too, downgrade and get a gsr instead.

 

Whats wrong w/ racing on street tires? You will learn MUCH more by racing on street tires for the 1st year or 2. Then upgrade to race tires.

 

Not to get too far off topic, but I have to disagree with this one. I track my R on RE730s and have enjoyed every minute of it. If it were a competetive race I would probably get a set of R rated tires and gain a few seconds, but for now I will just have to develop my driving skill futher, and not rely on better grip at the wheels.

 

your reasoning for not rotating the tires doesn't make sense. since you have new tires, just rotate them and see if the problem goes away. if i were you, i'd be more worried that my suspension was bent than getting a bad tire. it will take less time/effort/money to rotate than to spend all the time on the phone and at the garage for tire mounting.

 

A good body shop for alignment? H'mm this sounds like an interesting idea. Wonder if they charge more than the average Pop and Grandpa shop?

Oh what was the point of my post? I forgot, Oh I have bought several sets of tires and rims from tirerack and I've had little trouble. I'm surprised, I'm sure the will prevail. at least I hope they would.

A.

 

THE ALIGNMENT IS DEAD ON WITH WHAT THE HELMS MANUAL SAYS. SO THE ALIGNMENT IS FINE.

I rotated back to frnt and it drives fine now. I knew this would happen, I just don't want a "retard" tire on my car, even if it is in the back

 

Tire pressure probably doesn't matter for the alignment, but when you are on the road it really matters. . My front tires had a 4 psi difference. The left tire was 4 psi higher than the right and the car pulled to the right until I fixed the pressures.

 

Are you sure the car is not just tracking with the road.

You're alignment might be fine, but did you have them check the caster? This can cause your vehicle to pull to one side or the other with the alignment being perfect.

 

Congrats, NOW GO FIX THE PRESSURES.