possibly ripped off???

[jakwoo39]

Took my landcruiser to firestone dunedin after my soa conversion for a wheel alignment. and now 1000ks on there is noticible wear on front tires only. the castor angle is good and there is obviously no cabmer so the only option left is toe in/out. i went in today and the guy told me the tires were the problem( new 35 kl71s). I reckob hes talking shit
what are other peoples thoughts

[mud_slinger]

wat firestone?

[jakwoo39]

Andybay. also had really bad service at the time. they left my acc on anf battery went flat then procrastonated about pull starting me. And they didnt actually listen to my instructions in reguards with the link that goes between pitman arm and passenger wheel

[wayfastwhitee]

Had a similar issue with firestone. The problem is that they base their readings off a standard truck. My Suzuki has 31s and went from going in a straight line to post alignment, pulling to the left very hard. After a lot of b/s talking from the guy who did my alignment he finally fixed it for me. I got him to point them in slightly. A year later and my tyres are wearing perfect. Same thing happened to my uncles hilux. I think if you're unhappy, take it back and get it fixed. In future, definitely going to go to 4wd shops for alignments

[klompy]

May have a bent diff

[privitepiles]

ya need a guy that really knows how to do alignments and can be bothered doing them the guy we got at work is brillent if he feels it isnt right he makes his job to work out why it isnt working and trying to solve even if it takes him all day to work out so see how long they have been doing it and what exp they have had with vehicles out side of work

[kbushnz]

The best alignment guys are the ones who can use the old school gear also.
The young chap at my Firestone branch was trained on the old way first then was only allowed to use the new laser one once he knew how everything worked.
He can think outside the square when things dont go right per the computer.
And also set up a basic alignment using typical settings.
He says his training comes in handy when the boy racers come in.....
Anyone can dial in the new computer ones but do they know how it all works????

[jakwoo39]

May have a bent diff

um i dont think so, put a new front diff housing in when i did the soa and if it was bent in or out a wheel alignment would fix anyway and if it was bent up and down this would create camber and the tires are showing wear all over not on one edge like camber causes

The best alignment guys are the ones who can use the old school gear also.
The young chap at my Firestone branch was trained on the old way first then was only allowed to use the new laser one once he knew how everything worked.
He can think outside the square when things dont go right per the computer.
And also set up a basic alignment using typical settings.
He says his training comes in handy when the boy racers come in.....
Anyone can dial in the new computer ones but do they know how it all works????

is there any where else good in dunedin?.
and i would perfer firestone fixed it as i have allready paid for the alignment

[privitepiles]

so it is wearing even on the front it wont be alignment
i have a lot of farmers using these tires and saying they wear out fast on road
I dont think they were made for as much road use as we do over here they are brillent in paddocks but not road

[ClassicCruiserSpares]

If your toe is out it wont wear evenlly, so you wheel alignment is most likely ok, the KL71s wear out real fast on the road on heavy trucks.

[Sadam_Husain]

the castor angle is good and there is obviously no cabmer so the only option left is toe in/out.

it would take you 5 mins to check the toe in yourself with a tape measure and piece of chalk

[skid]

scan the printout and post up here



as others have said, theres a lot of tyre shops that just set a vehicle to the specs in their computer without looking at the big picture and thinking outside the square

[tallsam66]

With KL71 if you dont run them at the right pressure on road they do wear real fast

[smurf182]

Last time I had an alignment done I found the dude at Otago Tyres to be very good, he even lowered the frond end slightly to get the alignment right (torsions wound right up by previous owner).

[Roenut]

The best alignment guys are the ones who can use the old school gear also.
The young chap at my Firestone branch was trained on the old way first then was only allowed to use the new laser one once he knew how everything worked.
He can think outside the square when things dont go right per the computer.
And also set up a basic alignment using typical settings.
He says his training comes in handy when the boy racers come in.....
Anyone can dial in the new computer ones but do they know how it all works????

i was taught on about three different machines and did alignments for a about 4 years. when dealing with a lifted truck, obviously kpi's and things are out. its not hard to get them driving and wearing well. i would ask for the previous printout (if you dont have it still) and compare the second alignment to the first one. going offroad etc is obviously going to put your alignment out a wee bit depending on what youve hit. but normal road driving should only change it slightly.
my 2c
what firestone was it????

also, on most modern machines you can enter and save a custom setting for certain trucks. (came in really handy for the track cars etc. )

[jakwoo39]

The reason why i thought it was alignment is because the rear tires are mint anf not showing any wear

[juz]

Otago tyres deal with alot of 4x4s, thats who I use. But go back to Firestone first and ask them to fix it or give your money back. On a side note, Were meant to get a good staff discount through Firestone Andy bay, got a price of them and just laughed.Could get them cheaper without a discount almost anywhere else in town.

[jakwoo39]

Its back at firestone today to get checked. but as far as i can see wheel alignment can be the only problem. and i dont think the tyres can be blamed as the rear ones are fine

[Sadam_Husain]

as far as i can see wheel alignment can be the only problem.

being a solid axle SOA truck there isnt much that can be adjusted, the camber is fixed, the caster is fixed but its unknown what you set it to when you welded the new perches onto the housing so that only leaves toe in/out that they can adjust unless they start putting caster correction wedges in between your perches and leaf springs. If the readings are all on the piss you might have your caster angle out from the new spring perches or a bent axle housing or stub axle?

[skid]

maybe I'm not reading this thread right

but you state the tryes are worn evenly across the front, so that means its in no way related to the alignment, because as others have said if the camber or toe was out then you would have noticable edge wear, but you say there is no edge wear so it can only be the tyres.

you seem mis-informed as to how much you can actually fix with a wheel alignment, you may be suprised to know that its usually only a toe in/out that is adjustable.

oh well I will eagerly await your results from the re-check

[De-Ranged]

Some thing else to consider most trucks have a nasty weight bias to the front axle.... my little 413 zuk the front is over two and half times heavier than the rear

[jakwoo39]

Some thing else to consider most trucks have a nasty weight bias to the front axle.... my little 413 zuk the front is over two and half times heavier than the rear

the weight difference is a definate possibility as the only thing that weighs anything in the back is the fuel tank versus the engine, batteries ect.

maybe I'm not reading this thread right

but you state the tryes are worn evenly across the front, so that means its in no way related to the alignment, because as others have said if the camber or toe was out then you would have noticable edge wear, but you say there is no edge wear so it can only be the tyres.

you seem mis-informed as to how much you can actually fix with a wheel alignment, you may be suprised to know that its usually only a toe in/out that is adjustable.

oh well I will eagerly await your results from the re-check

i havnt explained very well, the front tires arent worn down so much, but all the sharp edges on the front tires are gone where as the rear is fine.


and i took it for a wheel alignment again today and he said the front was out, and one of the nuts on the steering arms was loose, i dont really understand the form but heres what it says

as i dont have a degrees symbol on my key board just assume * means degrees


caster left 2*40'
right 2*04

toe left 2.8 final 1.9
right 1.2 final 1.6
total 4.0 final 3.4

he had a bit of an embaresed look on his face when he told me it was actually out and not the tires fault.

and on another note he left the acc on in the car all day

[Roenut]

thats not really out far enough to cause major probs.
the fact that there was a nut loose couldve though
looks like firestone let a 'nut' do the alignment!
castor looks ok, it'l help counteract a bit of pull due to road camber
how does it drive now?

[callum007]

I use Kev at Beaurepaires Andy Bay, wouldnt go to Firestone Andy bay if they were giving away free merc's...F'N useless pack of.... Or Malcolm at
Otago Tyres.

[mudlark]

I've seen wat clowns doing wheel alignments can destroy, for one putting bolts in has spacers didnt seem to ring alarm bells,
for the guys in Invercargill Discount tires and Mags Have a guy who can sort out most 4wd steering probs, he knows steering inside out and backwards

[mud_slinger]

I've seen wat clowns doing wheel alignments can destroy, for one putting bolts in has spacers didnt seem to ring alarm bells,
for the guys in Invercargill Discount tires and Mags Have a guy who can sort out most 4wd steering probs, he knows steering inside out and backwards

ben?

[mudlark]

yep

[mud_slinger]

good bastard

[Big]

Just a note.. i also have heard , you need to have the tire pressure spot on when on road.. or on slightly high side.. they do not like being flat / low pressure.. Just putting it out there..

[jakwoo39]

just did pressure the other day, and it was only a few psi below 38?