Team-BHP - Wheel Balance / alignment

Friends;

Got my Punto balanced and aligned today. The car was behaving OK but it was a scheduled check. In the alignment process the technician reported a error in the rear right side wheel. In simple words according to him rear-right and rear-left wheel are not in the same axis, the rear right wheel according to his report (Corghi) is a little towards the front of car. Please see the alignment report below:

Experts need help in ascertaining the issue. The car is not pulling to any side and is running as good as new, no vibrations also till speeds of 140 (roads do not permit more speed).

-Rohit

Hi
Got all tyres on my Indica V2 DLS replaced with tubed Bridgestone last weekend. At the time of replacement alignment and balanncing done. However now I find the steering vibrates a bit at 100kmph. What could it be due to? Faulty alignment or balancing?

Thanks,
Deepak

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrohit17 (Post 2375667)

Since it's the rear toe that is causing the problem, ask the technician at the service centre to set it right when you give it for service next time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiceye (Post 2375783)

It seems to be a balancing problem. Please get it checked.

Gentlemen,
I had just replaced my right hand side rear tire, when I detected that the one of my existing MRF-ZVTS tires (all four had done 20000 KM only) had a bulge, was deformed and out of shape. I purchased a new tire in the morning, fitted it in place of the defective one and hurriedly went to my office. While going to a workshop at the evening for rim balancing, I detected that my car was slightly moving toward right and also asked for a wheel alignment. I like to mention that I also made sure to purchase one tire of the same (175 X 65 X 14R) size, at per with the remaining three.

Unfortunately the car still steers to the right. When I pointed the same to the mechanic, I was told that this was because one tire at the rear was new while the other was old. And the new one at the back has different tire tread designs (the new one is from Bridgestone).

Is what he is saying is true? How do I rectify this defect? Where do I get old and similarly worn out tires? Or shall I insist on a fresh alignment job? Knowledgeable persons please help me to sort out this problem.please:

Always replace an axle pair (2 tires on the same axle) if you are going with a different type of tire than what you have.

Put newer tires in front and move the old ones to the rear. An alignment is not necessary. Balancing the new tires is.

sAP

Quote:

Originally Posted by sAP (Post 2657683)

Sorry I mistyped the 2nd part of my previous post. Put newer tires always in the rear, not the front -- to prevent tail-outs on wet surfaces. Regardless of front wheel drive or not.

This might me a silly question but still want to get it confirmed. I will be taking my car for Wheel Alignment/Balancing/Rotation. Please let me know the order in which it should be performed.

1) Wheel Balancing
2) 5 Tyre Rotation
3) Wheel Alignment.

(OR) any order would do? My concern is if alignment is done before balancing, wouldn't it affect the alignment?

Quote:

Originally Posted by arun_josie (Post 2672459)

Here's what most reputed tyre shops do :

1) un-mount all the tyres and decide how the rotation will be (4/5 tyre and direction)
2) carry out wheel balancing
3) go in for wheel alignment

Unless the guys are totally useless, you don't have to tell them anything except your preference of tyre rotation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arun_josie (Post 2672459)

That is the usual order. Balancing and Wheel rotation is done at the same time as the tyres have been removed from the car.

Alignment is usually done after balancing. However, there is no technical reason why alignment cant be done before balancing. Once alignment is done and you remove the tyres to do balancing, it will NOT affect the alignment in any way.

Guys,

I need to know the following:-

1. Is alignment and balancing necessary while doing tyre rotation?

2. Should tyres be only rotated or flipped inside out as well? When should they be flipped if et all? If tyres are rotated + flipped inside out, is alignment and balancing required?

I would appreciate if someone can respond to my queries.

Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahul4640 (Post 2657501)

A new tyre always has less rolling resistance as compared to a old one.
Either buy a pair and retain new pair at the rear, or keep the new tyre as a spare and us your spare one in place of the damaged one. If you take the second option you will have to stick to 4 wheel rotation till you damage another tyre and have another new one to pair with this one.

Rahul

A new tyre has softer rubber, since rubber tends to harden over time. Softer rubber means more grip, which means more rolling resistance.
The imbalance is caused by the slightly different diameters of the rear tyres. The used tyre will be smaller in diameter than the brand new one. Also the tyre pressure could have been different.
If both the rear tyres are relatively same age, i.e. purchased within a few weeks of each other, get the wheels balanced and tyres aligned with correct pressure in them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao (Post 3790531)

A new tyre always has less rolling resistance as compared to a old one.

Thanks, though my posting was made three years earlier. I understand that it is caused mainly by softer rubber in newer ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao (Post 3790531)

Either buy a pair and retain new pair at the rear, or keep the new tyre as a spare and us your spare one in place of the damaged one.

I chose the former option. For some reason the MRF ZVTS tyres did not last long with me and I had to replace them all, within one or one and half years. That was when I chose Michelin tyres in all wheels as a replacement, mostly due to the good reviews published in this forum. And the two XM1+ tyres (XM2 tyres possibly did not come out then) which I bought first are still giving me good service, though they are almost 60,000 KM old.