Passat (B7) :: Changing Tires - Wheel Alignment
Apr 7, 2014
As the weather has been getting warmer lately, I'm about to change over to my summer wheels and tires. First, I'm just wondering when most people who use winter tires on this forum make the change.
On my previous cars, I've just changed over in the fall and spring by myself unless I needed a wheel balance or alignment. With the harsh winter and roads we've had this year, I'm thinking maybe I've hit too many potholes, since I'm noticing a vibration at 140kph (87mph). I got the current OEM rims and winter tires new last October and had them balanced before installing them on the car and I hadn't noticed anything until about 2 weeks ago. The issue did not suddenly show up after hitting a pot hole, but just started happening and becoming a bit more noticeable recently. The weird part is that it seems to be happening only at that specific speed when accelerating, which makes me wonder if its the wheels out of balance or engine/turbo vibrating under load. As you can imagine, if you let off the acceleration at high speeds, the car slows down slowly and the vibration goes away. So it's hard for me to say what the problem is.
When I switch over to the summer wheels and tires, I'm thinking of just changing them myself to see if the same vibration still occurs at the same speed and then deciding on whether to get them balanced or not.
A related issue, which I think some others have posted about on this site has been the wheel alignment. In the last 3 or 4 months, I've noticed that the car has a slight pull to the left under no steering input, so I may have to do an alignment soon.
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I would like to upgrade my rims, from originally 18 inch Champion to the Omanyt, but I once heard that it is necessary to change the wheel alignment (german: spur and sturz) if you want to use the 19 inch VW Omanyt (ET40 255/40 R19) rims on Phaetons that were shipped with 18 inch wheels. Is this correct?
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My 2000 ford Taurus which has 120,543 miles needs an outer tie rod end. I went to sts for an oil change and asked them about an alignment after I did the tie rod and they told me I need to change my struts. If I only change the front struts could I get an alignment or am I going to need to change the rear also? Also, i know I have to get new tires in the front because they are getting bad from the alignment being off so I would have to get tires also.
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I have a Hyundai Sonata w/ P215/55R17 tires.
I am almost due to get new tires and my husband says that we should switch the wheels and get regular tires, not the lower profile tires that were OEM w/ the vehicle. The current tires are expensive and regular tires would be less expensive in the long run. When I asked at the dealership 6 mos ago they said that it would not be good for the car and would adversely affect the performance. If I do change, what tire size (regular sidewall height) would be appropriate (and less expensive)to change to?
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The steering wheel mysteriously clocked itself slightly to the right after changing out the standard tires to same sized studded tires for winter. This has never happened before and I was unaware of any alignment/wheel clocking problems up to driving into the shop to swap out the tires on the wheels.
Air pressures were all good and even all around--but I don't know if they were even before the change-out. Also, the wheels were balanced and the drive afterwards revealed no pulling either way or vibrations. On top of that neither the tire store nor my Toyota dealer had any explanation(s).
I'm only guessing at this point that prior to studded tires there might have been a clocking error so slight it was not perceptible in over 5K miles and with the studded tires now it is perceptible.
Q: Is it possible under my circumstances for a different set of tires on the same wheels to make this sort of difference?
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After installing drive gear springs i had a wheel alignment done. Since then the steering wheel is not level even thought the car goes straight it is slightly off. i brought it back 3 times and every time they did the alignment the steering wheel is off either the left of the right. i made an appointment to have it done at the dealer but cant figure out why they cant get it right.
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I took my Passat to a VW dealer this weekend for an alignment. I could tell the car was pulling slightly to the right. Later that day, I received a call from the dealer that sub-frame needed to be replaced because they could not align the car. I asked if the sub-frame or any other component was bent because I don't recall hitting anything hitting anything could cause this kind of damage.
The dealer said that there was nothing bent but he could not align the car and I need to replace the sub-frame. I told him I just wanted to pick up the car and take it to another shop. I then received a call half hour later that the front right wheel was pushed back further than the left one and they will try to adjust it. I am not sure what is normally involved in VW alignment but I believe that I am getting poor advice from this dealer. Likewise, I am not sure if some inexperience weekend mechanic who did not know a lot of alignments and just wanted to throw parts at the car?
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I recently had a 4-wheel alignment performed on my 2003 VW Passat. A couple days after the procedure I noticed my steering wheel was stiff and a whirring noise when I turned the wheel. Come to find out my power steering fluid is now leaking. Is this just a coincidence, or could the garage have broken something. It was not leaking or making any noises prior to the alignment.
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I think I need to have them done some where else. but around 65-70mph my wheels shakes. even after alignment!!!
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My Excursion only has 74000 miles and I just replaced the original shocks with Monroe Reflex and combined with my Goodyear Silent Armor tires was running beautifully. Then after a "deal" from Ford, I replaced the Goodyears with LTX-MS2's and had the alignment checked since my Goodyears did have a little cupping after 45000 miles. They also checked all the front end components and said that everything was in good shape! Upon driving it home, the Excursion steering was extremely loose and I was ready to return the tires and get new Silent Armors, but I figured that there probably was something screwy with the alignment that they just did. So I brought it back, test drove it with the tech at 75 mph and he decided he needed to recheck the alignment. After the realignment, it drove beautifully, but after reading the posts on various forums regarding the proper toe-in on the front, I am questioning whether the alignment is set properly?
After the 1st alignment (in degrees):
LF Camber .3; Caster 3.0; Toe .01
RF Camber -.2; Caster 3.2; Toe -.03
Total Toe -.03; Steer Ahead .02
LR Camber .1; Toe .12
RR Camber -.03; Toe .16
Total Toe .27; Thrust Angle -.02
After the Realignment (in degrees):
LF Camber .3; Caster 3.0; Toe -.03
RF Camber -.2; Caster 3.2; Toe -.04
Total Toe -.07; Steer Ahead 0.00
LR Camber .1; Toe .13
RR Camber -.3; Toe .18
Total Toe .31; Thrust Angle -.03
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I just got new rotiform BLQ rims and nexen tires. I have the hub rings and the setup was balanced and aligned (double checked).
Before this I had 3 bent TSW rims and got a pretty bad shake in the wheel around 65-70 mph. Before or after that speed everything is smooth now.
Why would this shake still occur.
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i have noticed that my front tires are wearing quicker on the inside. that is to say they don't seem to be wearing evenly. have almost no tread left on the insides of front tires and these tires only have about 13000 mi on them. is this and aligment problem? dealer says no.
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My car is a 2000 Corolla CE.
If I replace the rear sway bar end links, do I need to get an alignment? (I just got an alignment 2 days ago). Here is a DIY on replacing the rear sway bar end links: [URL]
The top attaches to the strut.....what is the bar the other end attaches to?
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Changing the OEM steering wheel to something sportier? I have a 2002 1.8 Passat, without the multifunctional steering wheel. The wheel is huge. I am thinking of changing to a hree 'spoke' wheel, a la GTI or R32.
How would that effect the airbag? What about ease of turning?
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Other than during cold winter weather, our 2+ year old Prius has been averaging 51-56mpg all around. Our tires needed changing and my spouse went to a tire dealer. The dealer recommended Cooper tires, a model supposed to get 50k miles. Almost immediately we now average 45-46mpg.
In looking back, we didn't buy tires that accentuate mpgs. Is there anything we can do short of selling the tires? And are they makes and models we should think about when it's time to change the tires?
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I own a 2008 Prius and I have been taking it to the dealer for service because it seems like non-Toyota shops don't know how to economically service the Prius.I'm seeing that the dealer I go to also seems to want to change the filters and rotate the tires at every service and this really increases the cost well above a normal oil change price.
How often have people really been changing the engine filter; cabin filter; and rotating tires? How often is this really necessary? I'm at 108000 miles now.
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Lexus: GX 470 2003
I went to go get a wheel alignment (when driving my car starts drifting to the left hard/ also when my hands aren't on wheel) and they discovered that my front left tie rod is wobbly (also said lower ball joint is suspect). I was told they couldn't perform a complete wheel alignment until fixing the front left tie rod first.
Overall to fix/part/wheel alignment, the quote is
Labor: 223.97
Parts: 71.13 (I seen online for about 50 dollars cheaper??)
ENVIRO/DISPO: 23.61
Sales Tax: 5.68
Total: 324.39 (After 40.00 coupon)
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2nd time for alignment in two weeks. My numbers were WAY different than when I left. Rear toe is out, it was out when I left the first time, but it's out in the opposite direction now. Are those four bolts stretch bolts? Maybe my bushings are shot which are causing the varied numbers??
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When I took my 4WD Highlander Hybrid in for an alignment, they said there was a problem that kept them from aligning one wheel. Assuming they did the other 3, can the one remaining wheel be aligned when the wheel is fixed? Or do they all have to be redone?
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Met with my dealer today to discuss my alignment problems and take a test drive. My car drifts seriously to the right when I take my hand off the wheel. I basically have to countersteer the car down the road.
I took a test drive with their alignment tech, a really nice guy who seems to know his stuff, and he concluded it's a 'drift' not a 'pull' and that the car is within spec now. The only thing they can do is move it slightly more left or do a 'custom alignment', which means they would align it left outside of spec to offset the drift. However, if they do this, they don't warrant tire wear, etc. While I'm never in favor of a band aid fix like this, I'm inclined to try it before I give up and sell the truck. I think it's something more than just the alignment.
Needed to do this, i.e., align the car out of spec slightly left to get it to track straight? Based on his markings, I can see where I am in spec, but I also know what the car's doing and it's pulling right. I'm not imagining it and I've never had this problem with another vehicle. I showed him over and over how it drifts hard right and said this is not normal, but they go back to the spec sheet. As an aside, they told me they have done 50 Treg alignments so far. 50! On a two year old model. That's ridiculous.
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And I have coil overs, I'm not super low but pretty low and every time I get my alignment done they say they can't so anything about the rear having so much negative camber. And it is really eating up the inside sidewalls of my tires like crazy.
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