| MSTEWART |
I just purchased 4 new Kumho tires for my Pilot last Friday. I really like the tires so far. I purchased them from a local discount tire shop and took them to NTB to have them mounted and balanced. While I had them doing that work I also had them do a 4 wheel alignment. My wife told me this morning that the car was pulling very hard to the left. I followed her into a parking lot and swapped cars. I let go of the wheel driving down the highway and it was pulling to the left very hard.
I took the car to NTB today and they said that the car is in perfect alignment. They then swapped the front left tire to the right side. This helped reduced the pull but it is still pulling to the left. They told me to take the Pilot to a Honda dealer and have them check it out. They suspect that the Rack & Pinion is bad. I never had a problem with the steering before the alignment & tire swap. I noticed a little wear on the old tires so I thought it was time for an alignment...My Pilot has 97k on it and no issues to date. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do? Do you think it is a shotty alignment? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help!!! |
|
|
| N_Jay |
| Always suspect the last thing done first. |
|
|
| youbetcha |
I would pursue the tires a little further. I assume the checked that all four tires are the same size, etc.
Have them try a couple more things before you look at steering hardware. You said they swapped the front tires (right/left), and the problem stayed on the left side. So, now have them swap the rear tires (right/left). If the problem moves to the right side, the problem is with a rear tire. If the problem doesn't change sides, it is probably not tire related, go to different shop and have them double-check the alignment. |
|
|
| jdeanski |
| I had a similar problem years ago on an Accord. The tire dealer gave me every excuse in the book except a problem with his tires. You've got a bad tire. Have them move the front tires to the back and I'll bet the problem will go away. Insist on a new set set of tires. |
|
|
| MSTEWART |
| I was reading online that the CR-Vs & Pilots have a pulling to left problem. Have any of you noticed this? I was driving the Pilot on the Highway this morning and it is a very gradual pull to the left now. It probably takes 10 seconds before you start to cross into the other lane of traffic. Does this seem normal? NTB also recommended that I just drive the car for a couple hundred miles and see if it goes away. :confused: |
|
|
| hondacuraworld |
| Can you post the before and after alignment specs? I assume they gave you a sheet reflecting the changes made. |
|
|
| MSTEWART |
| They "forgot" to print the before specs on the rear wheels, but they did give me the front wheet specs. I will post those tonight when my wife gets home with the Pilot. I know that the inner tread was wearing and was almost a quarter degree off. The steering wheel was always straight though. It never pulled to one side... |
|
|
| xGS |
quote:
Originally posted by MSTEWART
I just purchased 4 new Kumho tires for my Pilot last Friday. I purchased them from a local discount tire shop and took them to NTB to have them mounted and balanced. My wife told me this morning that the car was pulling very hard to the left. I let go of the wheel driving down the highway and it was pulling to the left very hard.
They then swapped the front left tire to the right side. This helped reduced the pull but it is still pulling to the left.
Check the rear tires.
Diagnosing Tire Pull: [http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...e.jsp?techid=12] |
|
|
| youbetcha |
quote:
Originally posted by MSTEWART
They "forgot" to print the before specs on the rear wheels,
Sounds like a real pro worked on your car ... |
|
|
| dj5 |
| I had NTB mount and balance 4 tires that I bought online. They scratched up the wheels and mounted 2 of the 4 tires backward. If they can't mount tires correctly, I wouldn't trust them to align my vehicle. |
|
|
| krygny |
I don't know anything about NTB (none around here) but it sounds like they charge you for "something" then, if you're one of those "difficult customers", they tell you there's something else wrong with the car. "Get lost!" "Take it to Honda." "You got a bent framinator and a clogged flutervalve."
If the car can't be aligned properly (for some strange reason), they should have told you that and not charged you for it. |
|
|
| MSTEWART |
| They also told me that my muffler bearings are bad :D The car seems to be doing better now. I think that I am going to switch the back tires around and see what happens this weekend. When I took it in the second time I saw them underneath the car wrenching around. I think that they were adjusting the alignment that they had screwed up before. I am probably going to take it for a second opinion somewhere else (Honda Dealer) and if they say that the alignment is off then I will dispute the charges with my credit card company. |
|
|
| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by MSTEWART
They also told me that my muffler bearings are bad :D The car seems to be doing better now. I think that I am going to switch the back tires around and see what happens this weekend. When I took it in the second time I saw them underneath the car wrenching around. I think that they were adjusting the alignment that they had screwed up before. I am probably going to take it for a second opinion somewhere else (Honda Dealer) and if they say that the alignment is off then I will dispute the charges with my credit card company.
:19: :21:
I'm sorry, but I've never heard of anything so ridiculous. They do an alignment, it's AFU, and they reverse the wheels from side to side and that fixes it? What is that, a bizarro alignment? How do they align a car with directional tires? |
|
|
| ED27 |
quote:
Originally posted by MSTEWART
......I am probably going to take it for a second opinion somewhere else (Honda Dealer) and if they say that the alignment is off then I will dispute the charges with my credit card company.
Since NTB is a chain, can you take it to another location so you at least don't have to pay for another alignment? I would qualify the location first (i.e. type of machine; how old is it; last time it was calibrated/serviced; experience of the technician, etc.). |
|
|
| MSTEWART |
| There is another location that I have thought about taking it to. I am probably going to get NTB's free alignment check without them knowing that I have taken it to another NTB and see if they say it is off. If it is then we are going to have a big problem! I am going to try that this weekend and see if that works... This kind of stuff drives me nuts :3: |
|
|
| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by MSTEWART
There is another location that I have thought about taking it to. I am probably going to get NTB's free alignment check without them knowing that I have taken it to another NTB and see if they say it is off. If it is then we are going to have a big problem! I am going to try that this weekend and see if that works... This kind of stuff drives me nuts :3:
I wouldn't do that. They'll charge you for that whether it's on or off. Nobody will "check" your alignment for free and let you go if it's in tolerance. |
|
|
| youbetcha |
quote:
Originally posted by krygny
:19: :21:
I'm sorry, but I've never heard of anything so ridiculous. They do an alignment, it's AFU, and they reverse the wheels from side to side and that fixes it? What is that, a bizarro alignment? How do they align a car with directional tires?
I think you switch the tires in an attempt to rule out a manufacturing problem with the tires, not to try to fix the problem. If he has directional tires, it is fine to run backwards temporarily (it isn't ideal), but with a new pair it rules out the easiest problem.
What is more ridiculous is that they would try to fix an alignment issue by eyeballing a fix under the car! |
|
|
| crvrefuge |
Did you pay for the tires & services with a VISA or Mastercard or Amex?
Tell the store manager you will protest the charges with your CC.
You want your old tires that rolled straight back and your money back.
Assure him he will never get paid by your CC until they perform
their professional duties as implied.
Tell the MGR you are not happy... please don't yank my chain...
Please have someone work on my car who is a qualified professional.
the CRV Refuge |
|
|
| MSTEWART |
quote:
Originally posted by crvrefuge
Did you pay for the tires & services with a VISA or Mastercard or Amex?
Tell the store manager you will protest the charges with your CC.
You want your old tires that rolled straight back and your money back.
Assure him he will never get paid by your CC until they perform
their professional duties as implied.
Tell the MGR you are not happy... please don't yank my chain...
Please have someone work on my car who is a qualified professional.
the CRV Refuge
I did pay for the tires & services with a Visa card. I am going to call the tire shop that I bought the tires at next week (since they are closed today) and see what my options are. I told the manager that I wasn't happy with the service but he told me that since the car is in alignment that he did his job "aligning the car..." |
|
|
| cecco |
I'm going to bump this post because i find myself in the same predicament. I just bought a set of 4 Michelin LTX M/S for my 2004 Pilot to replace the Integrities, and that's when the problems started. The car keeps slightly pulling to the left and the steering wheel doesn't return to center.
Today was my second day going back to Tire Discounters with the problem and they even installed a bolt kit to modify the camber angle even more. Tomorrow i'm going to go back and have them take it off and refund me the money :mad:
It seems i have no other option to take it to the dealership and have it done there. |
|
|
| bigdadi |
quote:
Originally posted by cecco
I'm going to bump this post because i find myself in the same predicament. I just bought a set of 4 Michelin LTX M/S for my 2004 Pilot to replace the Integrities, and that's when the problems started. The car keeps slightly pulling to the left and the steering wheel doesn't return to center.
Today was my second day going back to Tire Discounters with the problem and they even installed a bolt kit to modify the camber angle even more. Tomorrow i'm going to go back and have them take it off and refund me the money :mad:
It seems i have no other option to take it to the dealership and have it done there.
It is because 1 of the tire defective during manufacturing, out of round or leaning to one side inside components, that creates the tire pull, typical right after new tire installed or after the first tire rotation. Why after first tire rotation? You fell it because the rear tires (1 of 2 is defective) were moved to the front. That is the time you feel it most in pulling or vibration when the defective 1 is in the front. You need the Hunter GSP9700 to perform road force to identify which one is defective. Then tire company will exchange it and install the good one to eliminate the tire pull.
http://www.hunter.com/pub/company/n...e/prGSP9700.htm
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech...jsp?techid=109&
http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm |
|
|
| cecco |
| They moved all tires around to test just that. They wanted to make sure one of the tires didn't have a defect of some sort, but they could not get rid of the problem. I spent over 4 hrs there yesterday waiting for them to get it right and nothing. The issue is simple. The car drove perfectly straight before the tire change and now it does not. I'll give them one more shot tomorrow. If they can't align the wheels, i'm going have them take out the bolt kit and refund me $105 because that is what it will cost to have the alignment done at the dealer. Sorry if it sounds like a rant post, but i needed somewhere to vent. ;) I'll post updates to this saga. All i wanted was new tires, lol. |
|
|
| bigdadi |
quote:
Originally posted by cecco
They moved all tires around to test just that. They wanted to make sure one of the tires didn't have a defect of some sort, but they could not get rid of the problem. I spent over 4 hrs there yesterday waiting for them to get it right and nothing. The issue is simple. The car drove perfectly straight before the tire change and now it does not. I'll give them one more shot tomorrow. If they can't align the wheels, i'm going have them take out the bolt kit and refund me $105 because that is what it will cost to have the alignment done at the dealer. Sorry if it sounds like a rant post, but i needed somewhere to vent. ;) I'll post updates to this saga. All i wanted was new tires, lol.
No need to move around the tires to find the problem. No road test. The Hunter machine can pinpoint which one is defective by rolling each tire in the machine. It is effective and save a lot of time and trial & error.
I had exactly the same problem and problem is solved. |
|
|
| cecco |
bigdadi, thanks for the replies.
I only wish it had been that simple, but it is not. They do have the Hunter machines you are talking about, they tested the tires on them. The machine did not detect any problems that in any of the tires, that i know of. We'll see what happens today. |
|
|
| belundy |
We feel your pain...
I had the same issue last Dec where they did an alignment after I replaced struts and they swore it was spot on, and to that end, it was. The problem was that even though each wheel camber and toe was within spec, the CROSS camber front AND back was such where it caused a severe pull left.
I am also surprised that these tire places don't do the wheel swaps the first time someone claims a pull after getting tires replaced. It only takes two swaps; front side to side and back side to side to verify or eliminate a bad tire.
Or, how why the typical shop can't keep the tierods equal length at alignment which causes a funky bump steer. Or, you get it back with steering wheel not centered...
It's not rocket science, just attention to detail. |
|
|
| cecco |
Just wanted to post an update.
I went back to Tire Discounters and they agreed to refund me the money for the bolt kit and discount my tire purchase by the amount required for the dealer to do the alignment. Now i'm going to cross my fingers and hope the dealer gets it right. :)
I can't wait to get this over with and finally just enjoy the new tires. |
|
|
|
