New car / Bad Alignmnet? Or maybe not!

[auslandt]

I just bought a 2004 Tundra DC (just means 3 months or so). It has less than 3000 miles but it's front tires showed excessive strange wear. The ouside of both front tires were feathered. Looking down on the tread from the top, the rear of the lug was lower than the front of the lug and the front edge was lipped up.

Also it had pulled ever so slightly to the right ever since I bought it. I just thought it was the slope of the road, but after the funny tire wear, I was convinced it had an alignment problem.

I took this to the Toyota Dealer I bought it from to have the alighnment checked, and to get its first oil change.

Well it turns out the alignment was dead on, but the tire pressure was 20 FL, 22 FR, and 26 RL and RR. The low tire pressure and 2 lb difference between front L and R was enough to simulate a bad toe in alignment problem.

Well aired up to 30/32 and she runs beautifully.

The service tech said the bad pressure was likley that way from the factory. They [toyota dealer] used to do a presales check of the entire vehicle and would have caught and corrected this issue. However, she said that recently Toyota [Company I guess] does not allow them to do this final checkup... and hence my issue.

Has anyone heard of this? I am curious who is responsible for proper tire pressure upon delivery. The wear on the tires was significant enough to see a lot of wear in under 3K miles. I am going to measure the wear, but I am guessing I have lost 15-20% of my tread. If true, shouldn't Toyota be on the hook for tire replacement?

- Matt

[osteon.618]

I purchased what looks like the same truck as you except an AC. I have 800 miles and it has pulled ever so slightly to the right. Its not a big deal but it has been nagging me. I'll certainly check mine out and let you know.

[KLS]

Matt,
The guy looking at you from your mirror every morning is the guy responsible for everything about your truck.

You really do get what you inspect, not what you expect.

Sure, the dealer's service was shoddy, and I think the story you were told was a CYA lie. Nevertheless, you own the truck and you are responsible. Buy a tire pressure gauge and check your inflation pressure at least monthly. I like 35 psi in the fronts and 32 in the rears, and you'll get lots of opinions on the best tire pressure.


Ken

[auslandt]

Originally Posted by KLS

Matt,
The guy looking at you from your mirror every morning is the guy responsible for everything about your truck.

Yeah I know...

Maintained many a cars. Never trusted shop work. Always did it myself. This was one of the rareities. Left the dealer pulling slightly, never changed, tires got wear, I automatically jumped to the "alignment" conclusion.

My bad. Just hoped to curb others bads...

And although I am responsible for my vehicle, I would expect any new car to be 100%, without maintenance, up to the first oil change.

- Matt

[osteon.618]

Just FYI, checked my pressures:

FR=27.5
FL=28.5
BR=28
BL=28

This is the 265/65/17 Dunlops 2 weeks out from purchase. I will also air up to 30 front and 32 rear. Thanks.

[auslandt]

Originally Posted by osteon.618

Just FYI, checked my pressures:

FR=27.5
FL=28.5
BR=28
BL=28

This is the 265/65/17 Dunlops 2 weeks out from purchase. I will also air up to 30 front and 32 rear. Thanks.

That 1lb might be the cause for the tug. Let me know if your slight pull goes away.

[dsconstructs]

auslandtI had the exact same tire wear you describe from brand new also. I tried DJs specs which helped some, generally feathering is toe alignment related. The thing is it never did stop scrubbing my tire's tread the way it was. What finally stopped it for me was steering rack bushings, from brand new there was too much movement in the rack. New bushings and I finally quite wearing my tires the same as you describe. I'd have it put on a rack and check to see how much your rack moves when grabbing a wheel and moving horizontally by grabbing the front and rear of the wheel by hand.
Anyways, just thought I'd add that to the things to check. I was a bit surprised to know that from brand new it was rack bushings all along for me.

[mustang67408]

The service tech said the bad pressure was likley that way from the factory. They [toyota dealer] used to do a presales check of the entire vehicle and would have caught and corrected this issue. However, she said that recently Toyota [Company I guess] does not allow them to do this final checkup... and hence my issue.

Who ever told you this is full of HORSE-HOCKEY.
The dealership is the last person to inspect the vehicle. Its called a PDI
P=pre
D= delivery
I= Inspection
there is a check sheet to be follwed and filled out accordingly.
KLS is correct we are all responsible for our own vehicles.
The roads here in NV suck. I usually end up checking my alignment once every few months, just to make sure. I did notice like DSCONSTRUTS, that there was less change in alignment measurements, after i changed the rack bushings.

[dsconstructs]

It would be a good excuse to go urethane bushings from OffRoad Warehouse.
The first time I changed it I just used a stock bushing, the one on the passenger side, and that solved the tire wear issue. Since then I've changed to the urethane bushings, even better.