Tire alignment Dealer or Tire shop?

[MAshley]

I have about 95K miles on my 06, I recently replaced the front Ujoints and now my driver’s side tire is wearing badly on the outer edge.



I think when I was removing the unit bearing I messed up the alignment. I assume you don’t have to get an alignment every time you take the unit bearing off but maybe you do… And or my King pins are bad and its just happened at the simular time.





So Im looking for opinions on if I should have the dealer do it or a tire shop?

 

[jelag]

When you remove the unit bearing and replace it, there is nothing you can do to change the alignment..... The Hub is aligned to the assembly in such a way that it will self align and bolt up correctly... . IF YOU left any burrs or other damage so that the hub can't bolt correctly to the assembly than of course you'd have a problem... all it would take is one corner out . 020" and the extension of that out to the edge of the tire would start un-even wear.

Your survey didn't include what I'd do, and that's take the truck to an alignment only shop where that's all they do... and look for the guy with the most gray hair... .

Hope this helps...

 

[TLane]

2x on the alignment only shop. Find a locally recommended repair shop that does alignments but does NOT sell tires. My experience with alignments at tire shops has not been good, although I'm sure there are some that can do it.

 

[MAshley]

When you remove the unit bearing and replace it, there is nothing you can do to change the alignment..... The Hub is aligned to the assembly in such a way that it will self align and bolt up correctly... . IF YOU left any burrs or other damage so that the hub can't bolt correctly to the assembly than of course you'd have a problem... all it would take is one corner out . 020" and the extension of that out to the edge of the tire would start un-even wear.



Your survey didn't include what I'd do, and that's take the truck to an alignment only shop where that's all they do... and look for the guy with the most gray hair... .



Hope this helps...

Jim you bring up some good points, When I did the drivers side I did get a little zellious with the power stearing method and did end up bending 1 of the 4 bolts holding the unit bearing in, $5 latter I got a new one. I did clean up the area with a steel wire brush and light scotch bright cleaning, but deffenatly not to a shinny metal point only to a its clean point with no majior pieces of rust or dirt Then applied a little bit of antizeese and tourgueing of the 4 bolts, I honeslty wouldn't have tighten then as much as the TQ value called for If I hadent look the value up. so Im fairly confident I installed everything correct and more then likley better then most mechanics would have. I just think maybe the method of removal modified my alignment, and or my tires are just shot enough to the point where I start really seeing things... . Once I get a few pay checks in new shoes will go on

 

[jelag]

We had to remove one with a powered hammer... . and the end of chisel did damage the old hub and the housing it bolts too. . we had to take a 4" grinder to the surfaces and later a flapper wheel (abrasive wheel) to finish it off... .

Think about this for a second. . if you strike a piece of metal with a hammer, you leave a dent... but around the dent is a raised surface that is higher than the surrounding metal... thus a low spot and a high spot...

 

[Grizzly]

I too vote for an Alignment Shop only that have been in business in the same location for at least 20 years. I've had bad experience with dealers and tire shops.



george

 

[fkovalski]

I would recommend an aftermarket tire or alignment shop.

I had my truck at the dealer for a "pull to the right" complaint. They said it was the bearing assembly. I paid the deductible to have it replaced and they said that there still may be a pull because the ball joints were worn but not enough to be out of specs to warrant replacement.

When I purchased snow tires a few months later, Big O offers a free alignment with the purchase... guess what! no more pull to the right! A freakin' simple alignment took care of the problem!

I called the dealer on this and e-mailed the alignments specs. They ate crow and refunded my deductible payment.

Big O gets my business.

 

[ghass]

The poll doesn't include a specialty alignment shop, so I didn't cast my vote in the poll. Because My truck is a dually, the tire shops around here are not equiped to handle that, so by default the truck goes to a specialty alignment shop.

I also have a Toyota Echo. On that I have a lifetime alignment contract at a tire shop (Evans Tire). The last set of tires ran for 78000 miles, and would have gone a little longer if a sidewall damage problem didn't show up. That speaks well for the tire shop. The car goes in for an alignment check about every 10K miiles, since it doesn't cost me each time I bring it in.

Bottom line - If you have a reputable tire shop that can handle it and you can trust, go there, else the specialty alignment shop.

I think in many cases I believe a dealer would outsorce the job, so why bother with him.

As to the bearing - If you dont get it installed corectly or you get a cheap bearing it can wear prematurly and allow wheel wobble which presumably can contribute to wheel wear. In that case you can't align properly due to out of tolerance issues. That happened to me recently on the Echo with an off brand bearing made in China.

 

[TGVET]

I agree. Specialty shop FIRST then, tire that is highly rated. Excludes Les Schwab stores

 

[HBarlow]

When I noticed the original poster's question the immediate answer that came to my mind was neither one.

As I read down through the posts I found almost everyone else said the same thing already so I'll just agree with all of the earlier posters.

I too would not use a dealer and certainly not a tire shop. I would take my truck to an old, established, experienced front end repair and alignment shop. As jelag said, I would look for an old and gray or bald guy like myself to do the work.

 

[MAshley]

Well as it turned out I found a frame and alignment shop. The guy running it is the son of the original owner and he has been working it for over 30 years. Great guy, I have to say they know what there doing, I was actually impressed by the fact they did my alignment what I would call the old school way. painted a line down the tire, marked a line and went from there, real math, levels ETC. No computer stuff there. They told me I was within specs but they still aligned the tires to a tighter tollerance. I was actually pretty impressed with them and will deffenatly be going back.



So to all those out there debating... go to a dedicated alignment - fram shop..... This place actually works on semi trucks as a norm so my Dully was alittle on the small side but they still do cars ETC if a customer brings it in.

 

[Bob Cochran]

While I voted tire shop actually or a dedicated alignment shop. The point is what is needed is a good knowledgeable alignment guy. Years of experience and you trust. Kind of hard to find but they are out there.

 

[rjones]

I have never had my truck to an alignment shop I always set the toe myself and unless you really have something messed up or hut something the caster and camber shouldn't change. I never had any steering issues or exessive wear on the tires..... so I cant vote either...

 

[RBellah]

One important question to ask any front end mechanic if you have a Dodge 4x4. How does he set the Caster? How they answer that one question will be the key if you are at the right place.

 

[JFought]

any good Dallas fort worth shops to go too?
Dealers suck and a few other shops aren't much better.

 

[LFJ]

Automotive Alignment Inc. 1111 E. Mansfield Hwy. 817-478-5472. They learned from their dad. Tell them Frank Johnson sent you. They are brothers, Bob & Carter Samuel.

 

[Cosmo]

I work for a Dodge/Jeep/Subaru dealer and we have an in-house alignment shop - the guy has been with us for 27 years iirc doing alignments. For stock stuff, I'd have him do it. Your local dealership might be lucky enough to have an old salt who knows his stuff, or they might not. I'd recommend talking to the guy who does the alignment.

 

[JFought]

thanks this will be the 4-5 time and have not been happy with any one who has done it!
i will give them a try.

 

[Alan Reagan]

My truck was feathering the tires and drifting hard to the right. I took mine to the dealer and they said everything was in spec. If I took my eyes off the road, the truck was leaving the road. It sucked to drive it like that.



I took it to my old faithful shop in Warner Robins, GA, Willis Allignment. They have the old style allignment system that doesn't use a computer. They found the camber out one degree on the right side. They told me the computers usually wouldn't catch that.



They set the camber, and the truck drives great with no feathering on the edges of the wheels.

 

[IanHunter]

front end alignment

I have a 98 2500 with 250000 km. Lots of highway and off road kms. I have never abused my truck and never had to align the front end yet. If I have to,I will probably take to the dealer. Although they are probably more expensive, the dealer should be more experienced with a specific model and therefore be able to do the job in less time.