Hi,

Before my tire rotation I was feeling that my car was going little (very little) left. Then I got my tire rotation done and after that I found that my car was going in right direction. So I went back to the dealer and told him about it. He suggested to switch the tires back to the way they were. Now it is going back to little left again. He suggested that I need to do the wheel allignment. Will that solve the problem?

Just wanted to let you that I had got all 4 new tires in Dec' 06 and had around 8000 miles on them. Then in last Sep I had to replace rear right tire because it went flat and was unrepairable. After this rotation that new tire was put in the passenger front. Can that be reason for the tire pull? If so what should I do?

Thanks for your help...

I'm no tire expert, but I think one (or possibly both) of your front tires might have uneven tread wear. Did you notice the 'pull' to the left after the new (right rear) tire was put on, or did it take a couple more months after? Usually uneven tread wear is a result of either mis-alignment or under inflated tires. A few tire places will do a 'free' alignment check (Tire Kingdom may or may not still do this), but you will have to call around. Being that your right rear tire (the newer tire) stayed on the same side of the vehicle after rotation, and your steering pull changed opposite directions, I am hesitant to believe that your new tire would be the culprit.

For future reference, no vehicle is perfectly aligned, and alignment deteriorates slowly over time, which is partially why all vehicles need tire rotation after about 6k miles. After keeping the same tires on the same drive axle for 8000k miles as you had described, I would expect to have some uneven tread wear. More frequent tire rotation, proper inflation, and an annual alignment check should extend the life of your tires dramatically and also help to prevent uneven wear down the road.

Hi Guy,

Sounds to me like there is a tire issue since the symptom changed with the positions of the tires. To figure it out, start with the simple stuff like tire pressure. Nissan's recommended inflation pressures for the Altima are on a label under the center console lid, and they are different from front to rear. For my '02 Altima SE, it's 33 psi front and 30 psi rear. Different pressures, especially on the front axle, will cause a pull.

With that ruled out, there could certainly be a tire issue. I don't know if 8000 miles less on a rear tire would make much of a difference, but I guess that is a possibility.

Another reason could be in the tire itself as a manufacturing issue. The lay of the steel belts in the construction of the tire can cause it to pull one way or the other. In fact, all tires have some tendancy to pull, but the manufacturer should, through the production process, control the magnitude to as close to zero as possible. Tire makers have specialized machines which measure these forces, along with bounce, shimmy, and balance, to ensure the quality remains high. Unfortunately, the production run is usually only sampled for a few each day, so a bad one could slip out the door.

To solve your problem, first make sure your tires are at the recommended pressures. Then, a proper 4-wheel alignment should be done. I would suspect that the slight pull to the left with the older tires on the front axle should go away. If it's worse, try rotating again to put the newer tire on the right front, and see if the pull to the right comes back. If it doesn't, then the problem is with one of the tires now on the rear axle. If the right pull does return, then you probably have more than one bad tire, and it's anyone's guess which one it is. You can then either put up with it, or shell out the $$$ for another set of a different brand. I use Michelin, but I use to work for them in one of their factories.

Regards.

It sounds like you have a conicity problem with a tire. That is normally caused by the steel belt and tread package run off center when the tire was produced. If that is the case the only thing that can be done is replace the tire or live with it. Unfortunately you will never get the tire dealer to admit that it's in the tire. They will suggest an alignment first.