Potential tire problem

[davis449]

I took my tires in to get rotated last Friday and nothing was wrong. I got it done and all of the sudden my car is pulling to the right. I take it back to Discount Tire yesterday and they cross rotate them and now it pulls to the left. I got these tires in June and I estimate I've put about 10K-11K on them total. I got a new tire (cause one went flat) on Dec. 31. My question to y'all is: Is this an alignment problem or a tire wear issue that just needs to iron itself out over time?

[max2105]

I would think it's a tire issue since cross rotating them changed from puuling to the right to pulling to the left. Are they directional tires? If not, try putting the offending or suspect tire on the back.

[davis449]

There's no mishapen or bad tires, it's juist one tire is newer than the other three and I believe it is on the front right now. I'm just wondering if I leave it there if it'll correct itself over time or if it will fuck up my other three tires.

[vas2vas]

well two possible issues... mayby you need to rebalance the tires.... also it's better to have equally worn tires in the front...

[davis449]

Good suggestion, I'll probably go back and have them put it back the way it was.

[jlomon]

I'd be willing to bet that your tires are staggered a little bit if one has deeper tread than the other. The one with the deeper tread wear has a longer rotational length than the other one, so your car should turn-in a little bit towards the side with the more worn tire.

Jonathan

[davis449]

That's what I'm assuming. Since I addressed this problem more than once and have evidence to document it, I'm just gonna ride it out for a while and see if it corrects itself over time. If they (the tires) fuck up on me then I'll get them replaced for free under the Discount Tire warranty. I pretty DAMN sure it ain't my alignment becuase of the fact that when the tires were rotated it (the pulling problem) swtiched around.

[Renn 208]

You mentioned that one tire went flat on Dec31st. Could you tell me what happened exactly? Was it a sudden burst, a slow leak, or something else? If you happened to ride on the flat/underinflated tire for a significant number of miles causing uneven wear, that could explain the tire pull that you are seeing now.

[davis449]

The tire that went flat was promptly replaced and that new tire seems to be what's screwing up my steering. Hope that clarifies things, Renn.