New tires and adjustment issues

[Drewsky510]

I recently installed new Nitto Ridge Grappler and went up a small amount in size (275/60r20) and the shop I had them installed at (Firestone Complete Auto) is having a tough time getting the steering wheel to be perfectly straight after doing an alignment. It’s only about 4-5 degrees off but it drives me crazy when I’m driving it.

Has anyone run into this? Any suggestions on how to fix it or do I need to just take it into the dealership?

Oh, and there were zero issues prior to the new tires going on, steering wheel and alignment were perfect.

 

[Lateralus]

Why did you have an alignment done in the first place? New tires do not require an alignment. The shop screwed something up, and I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[SMS Limited]

I added 33x12.5 22 ridge grapplers and did not have an alignment done and everything is great.

 

[Drewsky510]

When they ran the numbers it was in the red so they did an alignment to get it back within the specified range...I’m wondering now if they screwed me over.

 

[SMS Limited]

When they ran the numbers it was in the red so they did an alignment to get it back within the specified range...I’m wondering now if they screwed me over.

Probably, you shoild also see when the last time they had their machine calibrated, from what i understand, centering of the steering wheel was different from tje alignment, i had an issue with that on my old truck where the tire shop did an alignment but i jad tk take it back a few time and demand that the steering wheel be recentered.

 

[Lateralus]

When they ran the numbers it was in the red so they did an alignment to get it back within the specified range...I’m wondering now if they screwed me over.

Sounds like it. Someone didn't know what they were doing. There is no reason to run alignment when just putting new tires on a new truck. If it were an older vehicle I could see checking the alignment when installing new tires to ensure everything is correct to maximize tire life.

The bad thing in your case is the shop is probably not qualified/able to get your truck back to stock

 

[SMS Limited]

Sounds like it. Someone didn't know what they were doing. There is no reason to run alignment when just putting new tires on a new truck. If it were an older vehicle I could see checking the alignment when installing new tires to ensure everything is correct to maximize tire life.

The bad thing in your case is the shop is probably not qualified/able to get your truck back to stock

To be fair, i had the dealer realign the truck 10 mins after taking delivery of it. It was pulling to the right ans steering wheel was off so not all new trucks are aligned perfectly

 

[Drewsky510]

Sounds like it. Someone didn't know what they were doing. There is no reason to run alignment when just putting new tires on a new truck. If it were an older vehicle I could see checking the alignment when installing new tires to ensure everything is correct to maximize tire life.

The bad thing in your case is the shop is probably not qualified/able to get your truck back to stock

Definitely a learning experience for me, I’m just going to take it in to the dealer and have them get corrected and center the steering wheel. Hopefully they won’t charge me too much!

 

[Drewsky510]

Pic of driving perfectly straight and the angle the wheel is at...

Someone just tell me I’m being OCD and to drop it! Haha

 

[troutspinner]

It’s never a bad idea to get an alignment on a vehicle when getting new tires....your situation however is different, it’s new so it wasn’t required.

Take it back to the shop and tell them to have another go at it but also tell them, if you’re not happy, you’d like a refund for the alignment so that you can take that money to pay the dealer to align it.

 

[SMS Limited]

Pic of driving perfectly straight and the angle the wheel is at...

Someone just tell me I’m being OCD and to drop it! Haha

That is totally off, if its driving straight then you just need to have the steering wheel recentered

 

[Drewsky510]

It’s never a bad idea to get an alignment on a vehicle when getting new tires....your situation however is different, it’s new so it wasn’t required.

Take it back to the shop and tell them to have another go at it but also tell them, if you’re not happy, you’d like a refund for the alignment so that you can take that money to pay the dealer to align it.

Literally spent 2 1/2 hours at the shop today and they did their “best”. First two times on the machine and the steering wheel was even more off-center. After the third and final attempt it’s the same as when I brought it in this morning...

I have an appt to take it to the dealer on Monday for them to recenter the steering wheel and will take my bill to the shop to have them reimburse me (or refund me the cost of my other alignment).

Thanks guys!

 

[Drewsky510]

One more question, will they need to do any computer reprogramming or is it all mechanical? I have the hyper tech speedo calibration and would need to clear that off prior to taking it in it it requires computer work.

 

[19RamLimited]

I had to recenter the steering wheel myself at home after the dealer replaced my rack. They tried 4 times and had their best do mine and it was always off.

How I centered mine was I made marks on the tie rod where it is now. Then counted one quarter turn on each side to see where that put me in relation to the wheel. I had to actually go back some on each side and it was balls on straight. One thing I cant handle is a crooked steering wheel. Its terrible. I have had to do this before on a Cadillac and it works every time. This is going by the fact the alignment is good now just not a centered steering wheel. so if you move both sides the same amount then you are keeping the same alignment just centering the wheel

To set the toe on these trucks is easy as it gets.. takes a few seconds and you dont need to even jack it up. You just need a 25mm for the lock nut and a 17 for the tie rod adjustment. You just have to understand which way you need to go. Also remember it doesn't take much anything more than a turn is too much your talking about each little bit is several degrees.

So if the wheel is angled to the drivers side then the front wheels need to go to the passenger side.

The dealers and others do not understand that sometimes you have to compensate or they may have not mounted the heads 100% flat to the wheel. especially the ones that clamp the tires are usually bad because they dont play attention to the levels no the heads. I did alignments for a long time at Toyota. The tire clamp machines are cool and all because no damage to wheels or wheels with no lip. But they dont realize or want to go to the trouble of using the proper clamps needed for the tire size. There are multiple clamp sizes.

 

[Lateralus]

One more question, will they need to do any computer reprogramming or is it all mechanical? I have the hyper tech speedo calibration and would need to clear that off prior to taking it in it it requires computer work.

It is mechanical. They don't need to access the computer, but that doesn't mean they won't hook up to it.

 

[Drewsky510]

Wanted to provide a quick update, I spoke with the shop manager on Thursday afternoon and told him that the steering was still off and that I was going to need a refund so I could take it to the dealer. He asked if I would give them one more chance to get it right and I agreed. I brought it in early on Friday morning and had their lead tech work on it. Within an hour, it was completely fixed! Service manager profusely apologized for the other tech's inability to get it right (it sounds like the guy doing it before was pretty new).

Thank you all for the tips, really appreciate it!

 

[Lateralus]

Glad to hear it. Mine will be going to the dealer for an alignment next week (I put the Mopar lift on it); hopefully they don't give me the same runaround.