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Old 01-30-2014, 12:04 PM   #1
jdm25rs
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Default AWD Auto alignment woes

Has anyone else had issues with AWD Auto and their alignements? I had my car aligned 13 months ago and have put a little over 10k on its since there. My alignment specs were 1.6 degrees camber in the front and 1.4 degrees in the rear. I had them set my car to 0 degrees toe. As I went to rotate my tires yesterday my front tires were toast and all camber wear. I called AWD Auto and they told me the only cause is not getting an alignment 1-2 times a year and not rotating my tires enough. I called BS on that as my car has not had any accidents or incidents with the curbs. I figured since Russ and AWD Auto had such a good rep and I was referred there by so many NWIC members they would take care of me and see what happened with my settings. Instead, I was told the only thing they will do is charge me for another alignment at my expense. I do not understand how my tires can be so worn with so little miles at the settings I have and how the shop who performed that alignment will not assure there work. I do not expect them to pay for tires, but I would expect a legitimate shop to take care of its customers with issues like this.

Rant over.
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Old 01-30-2014, 12:24 PM   #2
SuperScubi
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Did you install new coilovers and had the alignment specs set to that right after install?
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Old 01-30-2014, 12:28 PM   #3
jdm25rs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperScubi View Post
Did you install new coilovers and had the alignment specs set to that right after install?
Nope. Never touched the suspension since the alignment.
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Old 01-30-2014, 12:37 PM   #4
Teedub21
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I don't really see how you should be expected to get your car aligned 1-2 times a year. It shouldn't just go out of spec on its own. Camber doesn't usually do that much damage, improper toe does. Especially -1.6 degrees, that's hardly anything.
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Old 01-30-2014, 12:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm25rs View Post
Has anyone else had issues with AWD Auto and their alignements? I had my car aligned 13 months ago and have put a little over 10k on its since there. My alignment specs were 1.6 degrees camber in the front and 1.4 degrees in the rear. I had them set my car to 0 degrees toe. As I went to rotate my tires yesterday my front tires were toast and all camber wear. I called AWD Auto and they told me the only cause is not getting an alignment 1-2 times a year and not rotating my tires enough. I called BS on that as my car has not had any accidents or incidents with the curbs. I figured since Russ and AWD Auto had such a good rep and I was referred there by so many NWIC members they would take care of me and see what happened with my settings. Instead, I was told the only thing they will do is charge me for another alignment at my expense. I do not understand how my tires can be so worn with so little miles at the settings I have and how the shop who performed that alignment will not assure there work. I do not expect them to pay for tires, but I would expect a legitimate shop to take care of its customers with issues like this.

Rant over.


I am sorry to hear about your frustrations with the car. There are a few things that I am curious about over the last year...

Were the tires rotated anywhere between, or is this the first rotation after 10,000 miles?

Was the air pressure maintained?

Is it possible that a pothole, expansion joint or some other road surface imperfection knocked the toe out of spec over the last 10,000 miles?

Is your steering wheel still straight?

In any case, I am happy to recheck your alignment at no charge for you, to see what has happened, even though we are beyond the warranty time.

Let me know when you are ready to bring it in. Please make sure to ask for me when you call...

-Ryan @ AWD
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:21 PM   #6
SuperScubi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm25rs View Post

Nope. Never touched the suspension since the alignment.
My bet is that your settings changed while your suspension settled after your alignment.
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:38 PM   #7
SubaruDemon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperScubi View Post
My bet is that your settings changed while your suspension settled after your alignment.
Or some Seattle pothole action took place. Some potholes can swallow small children
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:41 PM   #8
SuperScubi
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Originally Posted by SubaruDemon View Post
Or some Seattle pothole action took place. Some potholes can swallow small children
Haha true... This is why I have a Fozzy as my daily now
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:45 PM   #9
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Haha true... This is why I have a Fozzy as my daily now
My 2002 Toyota Echo is what I drive across the bridges. My car doesn't go into Seattle for this sole reason lol.
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:48 PM   #10
tazswing
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I am also curious if this was your first tire rotation since the alignment. Unfortunately there was many things that can pull the alignment out of line.

Tire rotation is one of the best ways to start seeing an issue along with hands off the steering wheel steering. I look at my tires at full lock between when I rotate them to look for issues. Tire pressures can flux a bunch between seasons, too.

Dunkin asked some appropriate questions.


From my own experience with alignments, I would get my alignment re-done after every two track days. And each time the alignment was off by a touch to over a full degree depending on how high on the curbs I got that session. I have never considered alignments static but then again I am not an expert. I realize track racing is not comparable to street driving.
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Old 01-30-2014, 01:51 PM   #11
jdm25rs
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Gotta thank Ryan for taking care of this. Appt already setup and all taken care of. Much appreciation to Ryan and AWD Auto for their help and handling of the situation.
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Old 01-30-2014, 02:18 PM   #12
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I'm glad they are taking care of you. Still curious about the above questions from people.
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Old 01-30-2014, 02:36 PM   #13
jdm25rs
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Steering wheel is straight, air pressure is regularly checked, and rotated them about 5000 miles ago. I rarely drive through downtown and only put about 10 miles round trip to work. Other than that it's mostly drinking around everett/lynnwood area and the roads are pretty good up this way. The odd thing is they are both worn evenly. I could see if only one tire wore off and that could definitely e a result if a pothole or something from the road throwing it out if whack.
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Old 01-30-2014, 02:53 PM   #14
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I had an alignment from Russ years ago. All my tire sets have even tire wear.
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Old 01-30-2014, 03:15 PM   #15
Dunkin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm25rs View Post
Steering wheel is straight, air pressure is regularly checked, and rotated them about 5000 miles ago. I rarely drive through downtown and only put about 10 miles round trip to work. Other than that it's mostly drinking around everett/lynnwood area and the roads are pretty good up this way. The odd thing is they are both worn evenly. I could see if only one tire wore off and that could definitely e a result if a pothole or something from the road throwing it out if whack.

Many things are possible, as we live in a dynamic world. However, I am glad to hear that this is not the first tire rotation and the pressures have been maintained.

We will see you this afternoon, get the heads set up on the car and see what has changed from the previous alignment.



Sadly, Russ has moved on to Portland, Oregon, but we do still have Tim the Magician here.
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Old 01-30-2014, 03:26 PM   #16
SubaruDemon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunkin View Post
Many things are possible, as we live in a dynamic world. However, I am glad to hear that this is not the first tire rotation and the pressures have been maintained.

We will see you this afternoon, get the heads set up on the car and see what has changed from the previous alignment.



Sadly, Russ has moved on to Portland, Oregon, but we do still have Tim the Magician here.
Tim Watt FTMFW. He works miracles in mysterious ways.
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Old 01-30-2014, 06:43 PM   #17
tazswing
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Cool.

Please follow-up with this thread once it is back on the rack. I am interested to see what is found.



Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm25rs View Post
Steering wheel is straight, air pressure is regularly checked, and rotated them about 5000 miles ago. I rarely drive through downtown and only put about 10 miles round trip to work. Other than that it's mostly drinking around everett/lynnwood area and the roads are pretty good up this way. The odd thing is they are both worn evenly. I could see if only one tire wore off and that could definitely e a result if a pothole or something from the road throwing it out if whack.
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Old 01-30-2014, 07:03 PM   #18
newby
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I get my car aligned 2-3 times a year. Usually every other oil change. Firestone does life time alignments for $179, you can take your car in every day if you want. Just a thought.
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Old 01-31-2014, 05:45 PM   #19
Hondaslayer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SubaruDemon View Post
Or some Seattle pothole action took place. Some potholes can swallow small children

Awwww

It's cute when you locals talk about "big" pot holes. Let me know when you can lose a Humvee in one, then we can talk.




-Detroiter
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Old 03-11-2015, 04:27 PM   #20
sway162
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Any updates to this? What was the issue?
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Old 03-11-2015, 05:39 PM   #21
sc00by4life
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sway162 View Post
Any updates to this? What was the issue?
the issue was with OP.

alignments change simply by driving the car. toe eats tires, not camber.

I'd imagine AWD auto realigned the car and got it sorted out, which is why noone updated this thread.
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Old 03-11-2015, 08:37 PM   #22
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I had the same issue with mine! Tires were toast after 10K miles and rotated at 4K! The camber wear in the front is just insane. Guess we have to get re-alignments every oil change.
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Old 03-12-2015, 10:44 AM   #23
sway162
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sc00by4life View Post
the issue was with OP.

alignments change simply by driving the car. toe eats tires, not camber.

I'd imagine AWD auto realigned the car and got it sorted out, which is why noone updated this thread.
Yeah, I am well aware of alignment specs and what Toe does.

I wanted to find out details since the OP stated this...

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm25rs View Post
Steering wheel is straight, air pressure is regularly checked, and rotated them about 5000 miles ago. I rarely drive through downtown and only put about 10 miles round trip to work. Other than that it's mostly drinking around everett/lynnwood area and the roads are pretty good up this way. The odd thing is they are both worn evenly. I could see if only one tire wore off and that could definitely e a result if a pothole or something from the road throwing it out if whack.
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Old 03-12-2015, 10:58 AM   #24
sc00by4life
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Just saying what that post states - still looks like toe out of spec. Even small degrees on our cars can cause aggressive tire wear.
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