Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Thursday March 28, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
Click here to visit TireRack
Tire & Wheel Forum sponsored by The Tire Rack

Losing traction? Need new tires?
Click here to visit the NASIOC Upgrade Garage...
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Technical > Tire & Wheel

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-26-2007, 06:09 PM   #1
chimchimm5
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 88501
Join Date: Jun 2005
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Location: NorCal
Vehicle:
2011 WRX Hatch
Dark Grey

Default Why would tires/wheels affect alignment?

I was told they do and I trust that they do... but between different tires/wheels, what is it that makes the alignment different?

I'm sure the effect is small, since all alignment adjustment is done relative to the HUB, and for AWD we typically stick with the same size tires all around.

The only thing I can think of is tire shape, which is also a function of the tire pressure. The differing shape will change rake which change weight balance which changes suspension geometry and thus alignment.

In my case, I going between 17x7ET50 with 215/45/17 to 17x7.5ET53 with 225/45/17. Diameter will be larger (slightly). Can the alignment really change that much between the two sets?
chimchimm5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2007, 09:21 PM   #2
Mind
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 109216
Join Date: Mar 2006
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: PA
Vehicle:
08 STI DGM
76-77 Lancia Scorpion(s)

Default

I know with my RE070 that have about 120 autocross runs on them, since I'm only running stock alignment they have a pretty funny wear pattern. All the 'outboard' edges are at or below the wear bars, and all of the 'inboard' edges still have some tread above the wear bar. If I stand the tire upright by itself - it will lean a bit in the direction of +camber. I'm guessing that might have an affect on alignment (I notice now that I'll roll more onto the sidewall than I did when the tire was new).

...but I doubt it's enough to be concerned about, especially if you're not the type to get the car aligned to perfect specs with ballast (or you) in the car, no roads are perfectly even, you have varying cargo load in the car, etc etc etc.
Mind is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2007, 03:16 PM   #3
javanaut
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 107274
Join Date: Feb 2006
Chapter/Region: TXIC
Location: Dallas
Vehicle:
2008 STi
Silver

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mind View Post
I know with my RE070 that have about 120 autocross runs on them, since I'm only running stock alignment they have a pretty funny wear pattern. All the 'outboard' edges are at or below the wear bars, and all of the 'inboard' edges still have some tread above the wear bar. If I stand the tire upright by itself - it will lean a bit in the direction of +camber. I'm guessing that might have an affect on alignment (I notice now that I'll roll more onto the sidewall than I did when the tire was new).
I don't know much about RE070s (I have Kumho ASXs), but can you wear a tire "wrong-side-out" to offset this outer-edge wear pattern? I'm about to have work done on my tires (valve stems all cracked to hell), and was wondering if it makes sense to swap left and right tires (flipping tire over on rim) such that the worn outside is moved to the inside. Any experts?

Last edited by javanaut; 11-13-2007 at 03:43 PM.
javanaut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2007, 09:26 PM   #4
scby rex
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 104878
Join Date: Jan 2006
Chapter/Region: TXIC
Location: copperas cove
Vehicle:
02 wrxbastardchild
aw, MPS 2.34 breaking in

Default

subaru oem alignments suck! I dont think a wheel and tire change effect anything with your alignment because it changes no suspention component.
scby rex is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-27-2007, 02:24 AM   #5
yosemitemtb
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 23437
Join Date: Aug 2002
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Location: Central California
Vehicle:
'02 WRX Wagon
Original owner blue pearl

Default

Tires and wheels shouldn't make a difference in camber or toe settings, maybe if a tire was worn on one edge, but normally no diff. Caster might change if the wheels have different offsets, I'm not really sure, but caster isn't adjustable anyway, at least with a stock setup. And as for stock alignment, do you mean like it came from the dealer? My original alignment was horrible. One rear tire toed out, one toed in. Way different camber specs on the left front and right front also.
yosemitemtb is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How could tires/wheels affect alignment? chimchimm5 Brakes, Steering & Suspension 3 01-07-2009 07:40 PM
How would OT be affected by a loss of all data? LotusDriftx Off-Topic 3 09-23-2005 03:41 PM
Will 18in rims on STI affect alignment hilfiger4you Tire & Wheel 8 08-11-2005 01:33 AM
How would air pressure affect tire wear? txl146 Tire & Wheel 4 01-30-2005 12:34 AM
Swaybar affect alignment? FatCatTurbo Brakes, Steering & Suspension 4 06-30-2004 07:11 AM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:12 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.