Community Forums

Electric Bob · 02-28-2021, 06:33 AM

How often should wheel alignments be done? My tire wear seems even, and no noticeable vibration.

We have about 28,000 miles on it, and the paperwork we received from the previous owners, via the dealer, didn't show this being done previously.

yeloduster · 02-28-2021, 06:44 AM

Good Morning,

I was a maintenance manager for a large manufacturing company for many years. One of the things I learned was this: "Don't fix it if it ain't broke!"

I believe in being very diligent with lubrication, changing belts, monitoring and changing tires, etc. However on alignment I would not change it if you are happy with the way it drives and the tires are wearing well.

What you might consider doing is have the alignment measured and get a printed report to keep as a base line. In the future you can use this to compare to new measurements to see if anything has changed.

Winterbagoal · 02-28-2021, 07:03 AM

Good advice from yeloduster. I've got 33,000 miles on my Navion, no alignment, handles well and no unusal tire wear.

jacwjames · 02-28-2021, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeloduster

Good Morning,

I was a maintenance manager for a large manufacturing company for many years. One of the things I learned was this: "Don't fix it if it ain't broke!"

I believe in being very diligent with lubrication, changing belts, monitoring and changing tires, etc. However on alignment I would not change it if you are happy with the way it drives and the tires are wearing well.

What you might consider doing is have the alignment measured and get a printed report to keep as a base line. In the future you can use this to compare to new measurements to see if anything has changed.

X2 on this advice.

I owned a 1997 Class C that we bought new. All was good for the first ~15K miles and then all of a sudden the front tires start to wear terribly. I knew something was wrong and took to a shop in Florida, he told me that this was common on a Ford chassis. After getting it fixed no problem, sold it after ~70K miles.
We bought a 2002 DP and when I inspected I there was a problem due to tire wear pattern and a shimmy in the front when I drove it 800 miles home. I knew I'd need new front tires so I had 2 new tires installed and immediately took it to an alignment shop recommended by Buddy Greggs. Have since put +50K miles on without a problem, no tire wear at all and drives straight and true.

If tires are wearing good, no wondering or vibration in the front I wouldn't touch it.

Electric Bob · 02-28-2021, 07:31 AM

Makes good sense to me, thanks for the replies!

Electric Bob · 04-30-2021, 07:51 PM

A little update.
We went on a 3,000 mile trip in March, and after getting home I noticed the right front passenger tire had some pretty significant wear on the outer edge. I have them set at 70PSI. Is this typically just an alignment issue, or a deeper problem in the suspension? The tires have about 32,000 miles, and looked good with no uneven wear prior to this last trip. The roads were pretty rough and had significant wind (20to 50MPH) Wondering if the wind could be a factor, but couldn't find much when researching?