Wheels out of alignment after 20,000 miles of driving

[Regs120]

Is this common for a car I bought from last year? I have two front tires that wore down almost to the tire belts on the outer edge. Would they just say its because I hit a pot hole or is this covered in anyway? I would hope they sell new cars all aligned up but my Stinger was a demo car.

The alignment report I got back show a pretty significant misalignment.

 

[Ulikefishsticks]

My fronts lasted 27k, my rears I had to change out at at 23k. I have heard others that have had them go longer and others go much shorter. Best bet is to just get the car alignment checked frequently or at least check the tire wear frequently. My shop will check alignment for free every time I take it in and will only charge me if I need any changes made. My wear was on the outsides also, I do like to take corners aggressively so I am just assuming it's from that. Nature of the beast I suppose.

 

[Regs120]

I guess we can just classify it as a maintenance issue.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

My tyres lasted 25k, same problem, Kia has the toe-in set too much from the factory, hence the premature wear.
New tyres & a wheel alignment & after 12 months now this has appeared to have rectified this issue.

 

[CKeeler]

I’ve noticed my doesn’t last on the alignment very long. That’s why I bought a lifetime alignment. Wish I could buy a lifetime wheel balance. Those things go out of balance every other month

 

[oddball]

The only alignment issue in that report is a very slight toe adjustment. That wouldn't cause unusual wear patterns. The car should have pulled slightly to the left.

The picture of the tires doesn't look bad at all. If anything, the tires might have been slightly underinflated. That's nowhere near wearing down to the belts. Yes, they're about ready to replace (could probably squeeze a few more thousand miles), but not terrible.

Alignment can slip from time to time, especially if the car gets shocked (e.g., pothole). It's normal to need an alignment when getting new tires.

Rebalancing frequently is a bad sign. The tech is either doing it wrong, or the wheels are throwing weights (because the tech is doing it wrong). Throwing weights every once in a while also just happens, but every other month?

The dealer won't ever bother with an alignment unless specifically told to by the customer. You could request a check as a pre-purchase condition, but that's about it. The "one million point inspection" BS is all stuff that can be done visually and extremely quickly.

 

[87and66]

I think my alignment was off from the factory because I had wear similar to yours at 15k miles. Looks like yours may have been also.

Now I have an issue where the front tires wear more on both outside edges. This would suggest under-inflation, but they are a the factory spec of 36psi in the front and 39 in the rear. May bump them up to 38 so my tires last. After I rotated the new tires for the first time, I could tell they are more worn on the outside. Not drastically, but enough to notice. The tires that were on the back and filled to 39 don't look like that at all. Something to think about when you get your new tires.

 

[Regs120]

Thanks for the replies. I was running 34-36 psi for awhile. I thought the tire specs where for about 40 psi so I am going to keep it at 40psi for now. Maximum PSI is 50-52 psi from Michelin so it would be well within range.

 

[Ozstung]

I think its been we documented previously that the wheels have not been aligned correctly from the factory. The toe from what ive read is always out.

 

[hughanis]

I've been having the same issue and I just noticed it. Weird that the dealer hasn't told me anything during any maintenance.

 

[Regs120]

Wow yeah - rounded off at the edges. is this because of the toe in angle?

 

[Ozstung]

I've been having the same issue and I just noticed it. Weird that the dealer hasn't told me anything during any maintenance.

How many miles/km have you got on those?

 

[NS_Stinger]

I had my car at the dealer for an oil change and they do a free inspection on a few things including the tires. They told me that my rears will need to be replaced soon and asked if I run them in the winter which got a laugh from me since that would be completely insane. My car has a total of 20,000 kms on it or 12,500 miles. I run winter wheels/tires 5 months of the year so my rears probably have about 8,500 miles and the dealer seems to think they will need to be replaced at my next service.

 

[hughanis]

How many miles/km have you got on those?

18k.

 

[Ozstung]

18k.

thats almost 29k km i got 26k km out of mine replacing the contis with Ps4's hopefully better.