Steering Wheel Not Straight After Tyre Replacement

[sanzomat]

Hi All. Slightly weird one so thought I'd post and see if anyone has any thoughts.

I had the front tyres replaced on my 2013 Prius+ today. Its a company/lease car and I have to use Kwik Fit. The original Bridgestones had lasted 24,000 miles and still had around 3mm over the middle 75% but had worn to nothing on the outside and pretty thin on the inside. Nearside slightly worse than offside (but I put this down to road camber).

Anyway, the new ones are Pirelli P7. I didn't get any choice, this is what the lease firm agreed to.

The receipt said nothing about tracking/alignment but I'm not surprised as lease firms rarely authorise this and 24k from a set of fronts isn't bad.

The weird thing is that when I got to a straight road I noticed that although the car is tracking straight and true the steering wheel is slightly left of centre when going straight.

I've had this before when the tracking has been adjusted and they didn't centre the wheel properly.

I went to a different Kwik fit branch and they said they wouldn't have adjusted the tracking as they aren't allowed to. He phoned the other branch and they confirmed they hadn't.

He checked the pressures - all fine, he checked the tyres where the right way round (yes) and checked the wheel nut torque (fine) so couldn't offer any explanation as to why the steering wheel isn't straight now. His only suggestion was to go to a Toyota dealer.

I've no ideas but it was definitely straight before and isn't now.

Any thoughts?

[kithmo]

Bent suspension parts ?

[alan333]

I had this on a 55 plate Avensis. I bought the car with new cheap front tyres just fitted and the steering wheel didn't sit straight. I adjusted the tracking to suit. However I later changed the tyres and the wheel was now out the same amount but the opposite way. If I hadn't adjusted the tracking the wheel would have been back straight.

I also had a similar problem recently with an 11 plate Auris. The car pulled to the left until the back wheels were swapped to the fronts.

I put both cases down to cheap quality tyres, but I wouldn't expect new Pirelli's to do it. I'd go back to Kwik Fit and speak to the manager, explaining your problem and that it only manifested when the new tyres were fitted. They probably won't believe you so, to prove it, suggest to them either swapping them side to side, or temporarily swapping the fronts and rears and see what difference it makes. Assuming your findings are that the tyres are causing the wheel not to sit straight then demand a new pair (or at least whichever one is flawed).

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Check tyre pressures and then let the tyres bed in. Give it 500 miles and things should improve.

I got some new tyres on the front recently and at first the car tended to wander a little and also seemed to pull ever so slightly. After about 500 miles they're fine.

[PeteB]

Did they check/adjust the wheel alignment?

I used to often find in the 1970s & 80s if a dealer, tyre shop etc touched the tracking, the steering wheel went off centre (ended up taking steering wheel off and realigning that in severe cases, but not likely these days with an air bag in the way!).

In my early dealings with my Toyota dealer in Norwich (on my Mk 1 Prius!), the first time I asked for an alignment check, I asked the Service Manager about making sure the steering wheel stayed true - he told me it was a result of places that only adjusted one side, and that his boys knew better - they've adjusted my tracking many times since and never put the steering wheel off centre.

When I replaced 2 tyres last November and 2 more in July, each time I had my dealer move the rear wheels to the front and put the new tyres on the rear, so I never had brand new tyres on the front straight away, which may tie in with what GC said.

[Joseph D]

... The original Bridgestones had lasted 24,000 miles and still had around 3mm over the middle 75% but had worn to nothing on the outside and pretty thin on the inside...

As a slight aside, this is a classic symptom of tyre under inflation. You might want to try running your tyre pressures a little higher than whatever you currently run. Add, say, an additional 3-4 PSI to start with, front and back. Check them regularly for even tyre wear and adjust accordingly. Bonus, you may very well see a slight improvement in fuel economy.

My 2p.

[sanzomat]

... The original Bridgestones had lasted 24,000 miles and still had around 3mm over the middle 75% but had worn to nothing on the outside and pretty thin on the inside...

As a slight aside, this is classic symptoms of tyre under inflation. You might want to try running your tyre pressures a little higher than whatever you currently run. Add, say, an additional 3-4 PSI to start with, front and back. Check them regularly for even tyre wear and adjust accordingly. Bonus, you may very well see a slight improvement in fuel economy.

My 2p.

I agree that edge wear is a symptom of under inflation but (following guidance on this site on improved MPG) I've always run them 4 psi above the recommended and checked regularly. Maybe the recommended is actually far too low!

[sanzomat]

Did they check/adjust the wheel alignment?

I used to often find in the 1970s & 80s if a dealer, tyre shop etc touched the tracking, the steering wheel went off centre (ended up taking steering wheel off and realigning that in severe cases, but not likely these days with an air bag in the way!).

In my early dealings with my Toyota dealer in Norwich (on my Mk 1 Prius!), the first time I asked for an alignment check, I asked the Service Manager about making sure the steering wheel stayed true - he told me it was a result of places that only adjusted one side, and that his boys knew better - they've adjusted my tracking many times since and never put the steering wheel off centre.

When I replaced 2 tyres last November and 2 more in July, each time I had my dealer move the rear wheels to the front and put the new tyres on the rear, so I never had brand new tyres on the front straight away, which may tie in with what GC said.

As I said in the original post, they hadn't touched the tracking. Apparently Kwik fit aren't allowed to adjust the tracking on hybrids. The branch manager said they are only allowed to do tyres and Wiper Blades on them!

[johalareewi]

The branch manager said they are only allowed to do tyres and wiper blades on them!

Very wise.

[Joseph D]

... The original Bridgestones had lasted 24,000 miles and still had around 3mm over the middle 75% but had worn to nothing on the outside and pretty thin on the inside...

As a slight aside, this is a classic symptom of tyre under inflation. You might want to try running your tyre pressures a little higher than whatever you currently run. Add, say, an additional 3-4 PSI to start with, front and back. Check them regularly for even tyre wear and adjust accordingly. Bonus, you may very well see a slight improvement in fuel economy.

My 2p.

I agree that edge wear is a symptom of under inflation but (following guidance on this site on improved MPG) I've always run them 4 psi above the recommended and checked regularly. Maybe the recommended is actually far too low!

That is interesting, I'm currently running my tyres at 39F/37R after trying higher pressures. I lowered the pressure due to the wear pattern at the higher pressure showing excessive wear in the centre of the tyre.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I run at 1psi over stock and don't have any weird wear patterns (other than usual pothole smashes).

[PeteB]

I run at 1psi over stock and don't have any weird wear patterns (other than usual pothole smashes).

same here, and the ride on my 15" wheels is pretty good too

[PeteB]

As I said in the original post, they hadn't touched the tracking...

Hmm, sorry, I was obviously not awake enough to remember to re-read the original post!

There older I get the more I realise the main thing I've learnt from past mistakes is that I don't!