OK to ask tire shop for "highway alignment"?

[stranger706]

I'm getting my Mazda an alignment tomorrow. The current tires have 54,000 miles and are lasting longer than I expected. The car has needed an alignment for a while now, I was just waiting until I got new tires. Since the current tires have a lot of life left I've decided to go ahead and get the alignment in order to maximize tread life.

Is there anyway for the tire shop to set up my car for a highway alignment? Is there such a thing?

Mazda's stock alignment is setup more for cornering and "zoom zoom"; this is not ideal for a car that is drivin mostly on the highway and interstate such as mine.

Just wondering if anybody has had any luck getting a tire shop to work with you.

 

[cbear]

A good speed shop should be able to align the car for the 'feel' you want. The only problem may be is if the Mazda has non-adjustable geometry.

 

[eljefino]

It's possible you already have what you want.

If the steering is darty or wandery your toe could be less than new, ie almost neutral, great for tire life and gas mileage but bad for handling.

Tell the guy what you want. At a minimum, he'll do a better job knowing you're picky.

 

[bdcardinal]

It all depends on what adjustments Mazda allows.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
I'm getting my Mazda an alignment tomorrow. The current tires have 54,000 miles and are lasting longer than I expected. The car has needed an alignment for a while now, I was just waiting until I got new tires. Since the current tires have a lot of life left I've decided to go ahead and get the alignment in order to maximize tread life.


What is the reason for needing an alignment? I ask because I find it unusual that you want to mess with the setup that got you over 54k miles on a set of tires that still have plenty of tread left!

 

[IndyIan]

They could probably put the rear camber to the lowest setting but it might make the car a bit more loose at the limit?

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: stranger706
I'm getting my Mazda an alignment tomorrow. The current tires have 54,000 miles and are lasting longer than I expected. The car has needed an alignment for a while now, I was just waiting until I got new tires. Since the current tires have a lot of life left I've decided to go ahead and get the alignment in order to maximize tread life.


What is the reason for needing an alignment? I ask because I find it unusual that you want to mess with the setup that got you over 54k miles on a set of tires that still have plenty of tread left!


It pulls to the right. Enough that I keep a few more psi in the right side tires so I don't get fatigued driving to work. And all 4 tires have additional wear on the inside half of the tread.

Also, the car is overly sensitive to wind, road crown, and driving next to other vehicles. Even though its a small car, its not light at 3000 pounds. It should feel a little more stable on the highway. Thats something else I want to get corrected.

I'm comparing that to my wifes Explorer, which drives straight and true next to a semi in a rainstorm on a bridge, with no hands.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
It pulls to the right. Enough that I keep a few more psi in the right side tires so I don't get fatigued driving to work. And all 4 tires have additional wear on the inside half of the tread.


I see. I've always liked the way my Mazda3's steering feels for both highway and city driving. I'm sure it will feel much better once it's back within Mazda's specs. Good luck with the alignment!

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
........Is there anyway for the tire shop to set up my car for a highway alignment? Is there such a thing?........


My first reaction to that phrase was one of bewilderment. I wondered what that was and I wondered how an alignment shop would react to someone who said they wanted one - and the answer I came up with is: They would use the "specs" as punblished.

I would suggest you tell the alignment shop you want to set the camber as near to zero degrees as they can. That will probably require some kit or eccentric bolts, or something else, but it can be done. Explain the problem you are having. Get a copy of the alignment values and point to the camber and what you think is casuing the tire wear.

If they balk at doing what you ask, find another shop.

But for heaven's sake, do not refer to a "highway alignment". They'll take you for a Noob!

 

[stranger706]

Hehe thanks CR, yeah I decided to just tell them the symptoms and not ask for highway alignment.

I did not get a printout but I did get to talk to the tech afterwards. He said the whole car was off. Both front wheels were out of toe and out of camber. Both front wheels were also out of balance. The rear wheels were both out of toe.

The drive home felt much better. Drove straight on all roads, the steering is much tighter now and has very strong self centering. No more vibration either. It was long overdue for alignment.

I currently have 54,000 miles on these General Altimax HPs with plenty of tread left. I would say they are 65% worn. Now with the alignment done, I'm curious how far they will go. I may get 80,000 out of them.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
.......I currently have 54,000 miles on these General Altimax HPs with plenty of tread left. I would say they are 65% worn. Now with the alignment done, I'm curious how far they will go. I may get 80,000 out of them.


It is curious that you got 54K out of a set of tires with all the things that were wrong with the alignment.

The second part is that fixing the alignment did not fix any wear irregularities in the tires. If there are any - no matter how slight - they will continue to get worse - and get worse faster as the tire wears. All the alignment did was change the rate at which they wear.

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
It is curious that you got 54K out of a set of tires with all the things that were wrong with the alignment.

The second part is that fixing the alignment did not fix any wear irregularities in the tires. If there are any - no matter how slight - they will continue to get worse - and get worse faster as the tire wears. All the alignment did was change the rate at which they wear.


Here are some pics of the rear tires. The front tires are wearing identical. The only irregular wear was the inside tread of all 4 tires was wearing faster than the rest of the tire. If I let that go on, it would have caused me to get new tires in short order. Since I did get the alignment, I am hoping that the tires will start wearing evenly again.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The negative camber causes inside tread wearing faster than outside tread. To prolong the tire life, you may consider to flip the tires inside out when the inside tread wear down to about 6/32.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
... Since I did get the alignment, I am hoping that the tires will start wearing evenly again...


Not going to happen. You would need to over-compensate to even things out.

By bringing the vehicle back to proper alignment, all you've done is remove the driving force for the uneven and irregular wear. That means the thing that caused the uneven and irregular wear is gone, but the wear remains - and once it starts, it will only get worse.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
I'm getting my Mazda an alignment tomorrow. The current tires have 54,000 miles and are lasting longer than I expected. The car has needed an alignment for a while now, I was just waiting until I got new tires. Since the current tires have a lot of life left I've decided to go ahead and get the alignment in order to maximize tread life.

Is there anyway for the tire shop to set up my car for a highway alignment? Is there such a thing?

Mazda's stock alignment is setup more for cornering and "zoom zoom"; this is not ideal for a car that is drivin mostly on the highway and interstate such as mine.

Just wondering if anybody has had any luck getting a tire shop to work with you.


the main thing you probably can request is a less agressive camber. Many cars these days have a agressive rear camber (more than 1° negative camber).

Keeping the rest of the specs (toe-in & caster) should be fine.

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: stranger706
... Since I did get the alignment, I am hoping that the tires will start wearing evenly again...


Not going to happen. You would need to over-compensate to even things out.

By bringing the vehicle back to proper alignment, all you've done is remove the driving force for the uneven and irregular wear. That means the thing that caused the uneven and irregular wear is gone, but the wear remains - and once it starts, it will only get worse.


OK, so do you think getting the alignment helped at all to prolong the tread life? As opposed to not getting an alignment, and the letting the irregular wear continue.

 

[stranger706]

Also, do think adding air to the tires above OEM specs would help even out treadwear any?

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
OK, so do you think getting the alignment helped at all to prolong the tread life? As opposed to not getting an alignment, and the letting the irregular wear continue.


Yes, it helped slow it down.


Originally Posted By: stranger706
Also, do think adding air to the tires above OEM specs would help even out treadwear any?


No, that would also slow the wear down, but it may cause other problems.

 

[Papa Bear]

What about reversing the tires on the rims, would the other side of the tire begin to wear then..... would there be any advantage?

 

[lasmacgod]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
What about reversing the tires on the rims, would the other side of the tire begin to wear then..... would there be any advantage?


If the camber had not been corrected, then possibly. However, reversing the tires on the rims will create another problem; increasing the chances of hydroplaning.

Most directional tires are superior for hydroplaning resistance. The center of the "V" pattern hits the ground first, forcing the water to follow the "V" grooves toward the outside of the tread. Reversing this will cause the tires to actually pump water to the center of the tread, thus causing the tires to hydroplane at a much lower speed than normal.