wheel allignment and balancing

[lal]

I have a couple of "easy" questions ... but I just want a confirmation:

1. I rotated my wheels... after doing this... there is noticeable pull to one side... since the allignment was OK before the rotaion... can I assume that this is caused by the wheel balance?do i need to get the wheel
re-balanced?

2. If I do another wheel rotation (pretend none of those metal tings they stick on your wheels don't fall off).. should the wheels be balanced no matter where you put it?? what i mean is.. do they put the same amount of weight on each wheel? if not.. then that means I can't really rotate it right.. cause they won't be balanced to what they balacned it before, so if I rotate it will upset the balcane? can some shed some light?

3. how often do you all get you wheels alligned?
I know it depends on how often you drive, the way you drive and the roads you use... but is there some rule of thumb.

4. I get my wheels alligned.. and I change wheels... will this affect the allignment? Would putting on new mags result in new allignment problems or not, since only the wheels was changed and not the springs or suspension?

5. I know you can allign just the front 2 wheels or all 4.. what's the diff and recommended?

6. where's a good place to get wheel allignment in Sydney, $$$?


sorry if these are "known facts".. jsut wanted a clarification.
thanks!.

[Teania]

Dont know all the answers.... but...

I get my wheels roatated and the balance/alignment checked every 5000km's (unless I notice a wobble beforehand) - which considering the number of potholes in our wonderful roads.... *sigh*

I always go to Beaurepairs under Westfield Parramatta - guy there Steve Burn is a top fella.

Cheers
Tanya

[ruchi]

The answer might have nothing to do with balancing. Do you have directional tyres? If you do and you put them on the wrong side of the car, the car will pull.

[GPXXX]

i'm assuming that you had swapped your rear tyres to the front and vice versa...??

are they the same tyres? did you swap the left front tyres with the left rear?

[lal]

thanks Teania

i'm assuming that you had swapped your rear tyres to the front and vice versa...??
are they the same tyres? did you swap the left front tyres with the left rear?

yes, left front to left rear etc.... front to back... not criss cross... not the same brand, but the same width and profile tyres...

Ruchi.. yes they are directional tyres... and yes, they are rolling the correct way

any answers to Q4.? coz i'm planning to allign my wheels this week before the Mrs and I go for a really long drive...and when I return put on a different set of wheels... allignment should still be ok right?

[Daz_FTO]

I aim to align approx once a year (less than 10,000k's). It shouldnt matter too much where you go - most of the major tyre centres have specials from time to time - try and get them done around that time. As for swapping tyres and the tyres pulling... The only time that has happened to me was when i had directional tyres on (see ruchi's comment) The guys that fitted them to my commodore didnt put them on the correct way (clever chaps they were) so i rotated them around the car (all four wheels, swapping the spare for each as i went around) and took the car for a drive and all was fixed. They pulled rather violently when changing lanes at times - that was the reason i did the check.

[ruchi]

Another thing to check is the tyre pressures. Different pressure between tyres will be noticed on the front (as they steer) than on the back.

If it is not a directional tyre issue or a pressure issue then I'd get the wheels re-balanced.

In relation to question 4) it won't change the alignment but it may change the driving characteristics of the car if the wheel and tyre combo is lighter / heavier, wider / thinner or the offset changes. Naturally you would need to get the new setup balanced too.

[smorison]

not the same brand, but the same width and profile tyres...

do you have the same tread pattern on the front ??? i.e. you mention that you have different brands (which is fine) but do you have the same tread pattern on the front???

if they are different it will result in different handling charracteristics... the bigger the difference the worse the handling.

[fto12345]

Ok,
Let me see if I can make a bit of sense here and clarify a few things as well...

A wheel balance is where you put those weights on the wheels to blanace the actual wheels them selves. This has nothing to do with rotating the wheels around. This will need to be done when you have gone over a lot of bumps and pot holes which will make the wheels go wonky.

Wheel alignment, however, as far as I know is that when you add a new tire(s) you don't need it.
When you change the wheels from one car to another car, and keeping the position the same, meaning one car's front right wheel to another car's front right etc.., you don't need it.
When your wheels hit a lot of guards or pot holes etc then you will need it very much soon, and doing slides etc...

I find the best way to find out if the wheels need a balancing is if you are going at a high speed and it woobles, then it could be your wheel balance as well as the alignment.
For alignment, go at about 30~40kmph and strighten the wheels and just let it go. If it starts to roll one side, then you need an alignment.
This is how I decide if I need mine done or not.

Hope this helps and hope I didn't say anything none sense...

Cheers,

[smorison]

further to what 12345 said... when you go take along the recommended settings for the FTO...

For 94 -96 MITSUBISHI FTO DE2A, DE3A
FRONT MIN PREF MAX
Caster left 2°20' 2°50' 3°20'
Caster Right 2°20' 2°50' 3°20'
Camber left -0°30' 0°00' 0°30'
Camber right -0°30' 0°00' 0°30'
Total toe -0°17' 0°00' 0°17'
SAI 14°06'
REAR MIN PREF MAX
Camber left -1°30' -1°00' -0°30'
Camber right -1°30' -1°00' -0°30'
Total toe 0°05' 0°17' 0°17'

if your crazy like rob and i when it comes to driving fast you'll probably want to go upto -2.3 to -2.5 degree's in camber ... but be prepared for some uneven and quick tyre wear. great for the race track though

[lal]

do you have the same tread pattern on the front ??? i.e. you mention that you have different brands (which is fine) but do you have the same tread pattern on the front???

if they are different it will result in different handling charracteristics... the bigger the difference the worse the handling.

thanks, i didn't think of that.. i'll check...

[smorison]

thanks, i didn't think of that.. i'll check...

no worries, glade to have been of assistance

[RichardH]

1. I rotated my wheels... after doing this... there is noticeable pull to one side... since the allignment was OK before the rotaion... can I assume that this is caused by the wheel balance?do i need to get the wheel
re-balanced?

Uneven tyre wear has a big impact on wheel alignment. It's got nowt to do with wheel balance - it's all down to tyre wear.

If you move your wheels around after getting your geometry reset, and you have uneven wear on different tyres, you'll very likely find the steering wheel is no longer 'dead ahead' on a straight flat road. Especially where one wheel at the front is worn down overall more than the other. Different rolling radius left/right is one sure way to get that annoying off-centre steering wheel! Resetting the front "toe" can correct for this. Front toe setting is one part of the wheel alignment job.

So either rotate tyres along with a wheel alignment once every 6-12 months, or rotate your tyres very frequently and try to even out the wear. Pros and cons for each.

2. If I do another wheel rotation (pretend none of those metal tings they stick on your wheels don't fall off).. should the wheels be balanced no matter where you put it??

No, it doesn't matter where you put 'em. I've never seen one of those 'balance on the car' wheel balances done here in Perth. They always take the wheel off the car, balance it on a Big Spinny Machine (tm) and put it back on.

Hope this helps!

- Rich