Alignment Issues

[Xzelick]

Ok, first off i have a 93' explorer sport with no modifications. In December i had noticed the front tires making a ton of rubbing noise, and upon further inspection it seemed the front tires were out of line, looking kinda like this | / but not nearly as drastic. I had the truck towed to a shop where they redid 4 u joints, repacked my bearings, and installed special bushings in order to align the thing. Final cost just over $1,000. When I brought it home i still noticed the same rubbing noise, but figured it must have been coming from my tires since they are worn much more on the inside than the outside. So i forgot about the whole thing for a while and ignored the loud, airplane taking off, noise coming from my tires. I don't know when it started but just the other day i noticed that now my truck veers to the right A very decent ammount. And looking at the front tires it seems as if they are more | / than they were in december. I still am using the same tires but im planning on buying brand new ones asap. So my questions are, How bad is this? Did i get ripped off? What should i do about it? and How much should i pay?


PS - Every once in a while when im driving very slow i hear a metal on metal groan/hum noise coming from the front right wheel once per full tire rotation(seems more often when it's wet)

 

[DeRocha]

Did they replace your ball joints or U-joints? The ball joints are responsible for holding your aligment. If your tires were driven while the alignment was bad then they would have a permanet wear pattern to them. Even if aligned correctly the vehicled will tend to pull to one side. If the grinding noise only occurs during the first several brake applications (after your X has sat for a day or so) it could just be flash rust on the rotors (this is normal); or possible a brake caliper getting hung up and failing to release. Don't get new tires until you have corrected the alignment or they will get screwed up as well.

 

[FHfirefighter]

have you rotated them? that would tell you if it's the tires or still an alignment prob

 

[Xzelick]

they did the balls and the u's now i remember. So all i need is an alignment and new tires at the same time?

 

[DeRocha]

I would do as FHfirefighter suggests and swap tires. Try putting the back tires on the front. You don't want to put new tires on any vehicle that can't hold an alignment. The tires will wear oddly and cause handling problems.

 

[Xzelick]

The problem with that is my tires have almost no tread in spots. I'm having problems with hydroplaning with all the rain we get around here. So I really need to get some new tires. The tires i have on there were rotated about 6 months ago so that probably will not help. Shouldn't the replacing of the ball joints have fixed the "can't hold alignment" problem? And since new tires are inevitable, how bad could the circumstances be as far as developing handling problems?

 

[DeRocha]

I don't know when it started but just the other day i noticed that now my truck veers to the right A very decent ammount. And looking at the front tires it seems as if they are more | / than they were in december.

General speaking the above statement indicates you still have camber problems. So if you got an alignment in Dec and are running bad tires then the alingment should be on the money since the steering knuckle is aligned not the tires. The tires will ride poorly and pull because of the uneven wear. That being said if you get new tires you will need a new alignment. I am just wondering why a stock vehicle would need new camber bushings to align it, and why the camber would be off after 6 months (check the work receipt to see how long the shop warrantees their alignment).