Could use some input...

[mourvedre]

So I had my tires rotated yesterday (fronts to rears and vice versa) and immediately i noticed the car was pulling to the left at hwy speed. Before rotation i had no issues. Any thoughts/ideas about what could have caused this? I'm on stock suspension, stock avus 18s. Tires (dunlop sp sport 01s) have about 5/32 left...

[Sharkfin]

even though this might not be from the rotation, when was your last alignment?

[...Mark...]

Wheel weight or two get knocked off while taking the rim off and on maybe? Even if that is the case i would think that its more of a balance thing which would lead to more of a vibration than a pulling.

[serumk]

Just thinking out loud here about possibilities without regard to likelihood:

Are the tires directional - were they mounted correctly?

Did the shop hit one of their lifts with your car when they were in the process of doing the rotation and throw out the alignment?

Was a tire with a separated belt rotated from the back (where its effects might have been less noticeable) to the front?

Are the tires all in good shape, having been rotated roughly every 6,000 miles? No unusual wear patterns?

In any case, I'd take it straight back to the shop that rotated the tires and ask them to explain it to you. If they can't explain it, I'd take it to get an alignment, and if it's out of alignment, I'd ask them to pay for it.

[ItzDarrellS4]

this has happened to me as well. so now when i rotate I have the wheels balanced, alignment should help also

or, maybe they're directional and the shop f'd up??

[serumk]

A wheel balance issue or a weight coming off would cause a vibration, but not a pull.

[mourvedre]

thanks for the help gents; i'm pretty sure the shop did not incorrectly mount or throw it out of alignment during the rotation. i've been there before and they did 1 previous rotation (i rotate about every 3k miles since they offer free lifetime rotations and are close by). i'm going to take it back and ask them to inspect the fronts and balance just for the hell of it. worst case i'll have the front & rear re-aligned, it's been about 14 months since last alignment. though i'd imagine if it was an alignment issue it would be more progressive, rather than in instant issue after rotation (again supposing it wasn't bumped/thrown out during the rotation). any other suggestions for further action from the shop itself?

[serumk]

thanks for the help gents; i'm pretty sure the shop did not incorrectly mount or throw it out of alignment during the rotation. i've been there before and they did 1 previous rotation (i rotate about every 3k miles since they offer free lifetime rotations and are close by). i'm going to take it back and ask them to inspect the fronts and balance just for the hell of it. worst case i'll have the front & rear re-aligned, it's been about 14 months since last alignment. though i'd imagine if it was an alignment issue it would be more progressive, rather than in instant issue after rotation (again supposing it wasn't bumped/thrown out during the rotation). any other suggestions for further action from the shop itself?

I'd have them check the car for problems with steering/suspension parts (they'd do this anyway during an alignment) -- besides what I recommended above, that's the only other thing I can think of based on what little I know about your car.

Good luck -- let us know what the outcome is!

[V8weight]

This is fairly common, and nothing to worry about. There is no such thing as a perfect alignment. All alignment specifications have a tolerance limit, allowing the actual measurements to vary side to side a fraction of a degree. Your tires wear into this tolerance accordingly, so when they are rotated to a new position, they require some time to wear into the new spot. I bet everything will straighten itself out within the next hundred miles or so.

[serumk]

We'll see -- I've worked in service departments for a long time and never heard about needing to "wear in" to your alignment after a tire rotation...

[mourvedre]

quick update...balanced the fronts this afternoon: FL was off by half an ounce, FR was off by a quarter. tech said being off by half or less is pretty minor--but now the ride is _significantly_ smoother and far more neutral, though still leaning to the left by a hair (when i think i was told by the dealer that it's aligned by the factory to lean ever so slightly to the right, the behavior i'm used to). still can't believe what a massive difference balancing made. i'm going to have them do the rears tmrw just in case that's the final kink. thanks to everyone for the help--that was a good call darrell...i'll definitely rotate+balance from now on.

btw, anyone think that a tire with asymmetrical tread will over time affect alignment and/or be more sensitive to balance issues?
here are the sp01s i'm on: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=4

[DRYBONES]

Aside from the rebalance which of course helped. I find that that simply checking and and adjusting the air pressure to correct spec will always help with a pulling issue. Air pressure is always overlooked and is the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

[mourvedre]

yeah i'm always nuts about maintaining air pressure--that was one my first lessons with the s4: even a few psi too low and it'll feel like a pig, relatively speaking ;p

[serumk]

I still don't see a balance issue (especially as minor as you were talking about) creating a pull. My car has never pulled on a flat road (before or after I had it aligned). Air pressure could definitely cause a pull, but it would have to be several PSI.

I think there's something we're missing here.

[serumk]

btw, anyone think that a tire with asymmetrical tread will over time affect alignment and/or be more sensitive to balance issues?
here are the sp01s i'm on: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=4

Not any more than a symmetrical tread tire.

[mourvedre]

I still don't see a balance issue (especially as minor as you were talking about) creating a pull. My car has never pulled on a flat road (before or after I had it aligned). Air pressure could definitely cause a pull, but it would have to be several PSI.

I think there's something we're missing here.

I think you're right serum--on a flat road the pull to the left is barely noticeable. but from my experience with the car and its default alignment, it should do the opposite--pull barely to the right at speeds of 50+ mph.

I'm going to take it to the dealership and have them do an alignment check and suspension check. at this point there's nothing left--wheels are all balanced and at the correct psi. I'll update with the dealer's finding.

[chaos2984]

its the tires that are causing you to pull. you probably have a feather issue. But yea boils down to an alinment issue. But yes the cars alignmet compensates for the road crown. Caster compinsates for that. The car will slightly pull to the right on a flat road but thats normal

[mourvedre]

final update...cracked bushings up front caused excess inside shoulder tire wear which caused the leaning to the left.

serum, any idea if $557.00 is a decent price for a set of new bushings installed? (aftermarket brand, according to the shop they're better than oem and guaranteed to last for 100k miles).