So last Monday, I bought some new all season for winter travel and when I took the car in to get the tires changed, the car drove straight and true. Now, there is a slight pull to the right. I know this can have to do with incorrect jack points used, but is there anything else that could have done this? Maybe my old tires wore unevenly, so I never noticed before? I have already checked lugnuts to make sure they are tight, evened out the tire pressure (1 tire was 3 psi more than the other 3) and checked for visible damage under the car, which i did not see.

Any input would be great. I want this to get fixed soon, but I want to see if the tire company should be at fault or if it is something else. And FYI, the place I got it from doesn't do alignments, that if it is their fault, I think it might be more difficult to pay out for that.

 

Something could be mis-adjusted, take it back to where you got the alignment done. Any reputable alignment shop worth their salt is going to tell you to come back within the first 1000~ miles to check it for any issues.

 

i had the same thing happen on my 2011, 2 weeks old and had tire shop switch me to all season tires for snow season and now my alignment is off, I am taking it back to suby to look at it on fri.

 

is it always a slight pull to the right? Is it wandering?

It could be that you have a grabbier tread with the AS tires and it's tramming or just following the grade of the road more.

 

I never had the alignment done. It was new tires. Before I got the new tires, everything was traveling straight, after, a pull to the right.

 

It is always a pull to the right. Also, I travel on some roads were the highpoint of the road is centered between the lanes of traffic all going the same direction and it pulls to the right regardless of what lane I am in.

 

No good. Sounds like you need an alignment regardless. But no harm in asking them to check the balance of the tires.

 

Yeah, think I am going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they are going to do. Not feeling a vibration that out of balance tires would give, but I will bring that up anyways.

 

Take it back to where you had the tires done, if it was straight going in it should be straight going out. They could've ****ed up your alignment or something worse.

My advice still stands. Take it back and make them make it straight, it was their responsibility.

 

Rotate the tires around. See if the pull follows the tire.

 

Best advice here. This happened to me after AN ALIGNMENT. The specs were spot on, but the tech came back from the drive and was concerned that the car had began to pull to the right. He said that the tires are often the cause, and swapping them around should fix it. Especially with all season tires. Unfortunately my tires are directional

I highly doubt that they "messed up your alignment" by changing the tires Most tires shops use the seam welds to jack up the car. Otherwise they use the front subframe, the rear subframe outrigger, or the rear diff. In any of these scenarios, there is no way to damage the alignment.

 

yah sounds like we have the same problem...
I can feel the AS tires grabbing the grooves in the freeway but this is a constant pull to the right, and like yours it happens even if the grade of the road falls off to the left. I am going to have Subaru look at it because I have to go in for a new windshield this week anyway. 3 weeks old and I got hit by a pinhead sized rock the has almost split my front window into two. I just hope the tire shop didn't bend anything when jacking up my car...

 

A couple of things... just because your alignment was straight before you got new tires doesn't mean it will be after. Always get an alignment when replacing tires. Always.

Also, different tires act differently. Some are even made differently. Often times there is what is called 'tire pull'. Easy enough to correct.

The moral of the story... before you blame the shop for 'messing up your car' get an alignment. Done.

 

y would you need an alignment with new tires on a 2 week old car
new rubber shouldn't effect geom of the cars suspension
not blaming anyone, just going over possible problems that might have happened....

 

Because not all tires are exactly the same. Alignment is more than the function of some adjustable bolts.