Was the wear on your front tires really uneven?
That old Bear system doens't cut it any more
Same here. Since moving to the southwest from the upper midwest where potholes are common. I have only gotten one front end alignment and that's when tie rod ends and shocks were replaced on my old Ranger around 1997.
Alignment is money well spent. Years ago I had a very expensive brand new set of tires with 60,000 mile warranty go nearly bald on the inside edge within a few months because of a bent tierod. The factory Pirellis on the front of my Mav were worn almost bald on one edge because of incorrect toe-in. So after mounting $800 worth of tires I figured it was worth another $90 to have the alignment done. I want the tires to last the 70,000 mile warranty.
Yes it was uneven. The factory Pirellis were very worn on the front and nearly bald on the inside edge. So I wasn't about to ruin $800 worth of tires with 70,000 mile warranty.
I've never thought about the necessity of getting a front end alignment after getting new tires.
Funny...I've never thought of getting new tires and NOT getting an alignment.
I've never thought about the necessity of getting a front end alignment after getting new tires.
That's pretty amazing you've made it 50 years and never had uneven wear on your tires or had tires not last the warranty. I guess it's theoretically possible if you never leave the pavement and never hit anything in the road.
I live in the country so I do ride on dirt roads but just have been lucky I guess. When I was younger I never had a vehicle long enough to rotate tires or pay for an alignment LOL. When I got older and started buying new vehicles the suspensions were always good so that could be why also.
You're probably right. I'm sure I had vehicles that weren't aligned perfectly but not bad enough to matter until 1992 when I went off a road into a ditch in my 86 GMC pickup and didn't know it, but I bent a tie rod. I kept going and never thought twice about it. But within 2 months my brand new tires went bald on the outer edges. So I took it back to the tire shop. They checked alignment and said my toe in was off by something like 1/2 inch. Those tires cost me $600 ($1000+ in today's money) so it was a painful lesson. Maybe I've been over-cautious ever since. At 35k miles the Pirellis that came with my truck were going bald on the inside edges of the front tires and I just installed $800 of new tires so wanted to protect my investment. The toe-in was slightly off. Maybe not enough to make my tires go bald within 2-3 months, but I definitely would like to get close to the 70,000 mile warranty on my new tires.
