rahgagS4

I just replaced my original Michelin PS3 tires 245/40's with Michelin super sports 245/40's (I was able to "squeeze approx 27,000 mi out of the PS3's). This happened earlier today, but I notice now that my S4 definitely pulls a little to the right, seems to me the alignment is off a bit now (I also put 30-35 miles on the car today testing out this and tire performance, and it's still there). I had the tires installed at pep boys after ordering the tires thru tirerack.com. I am planning to take the car back tomorrow to see if they can fix this pulling/more properly align the wheels, but I am curious though if this may fix itself out after a few more miles with the new tires, Any thoughts?

RobC

Same thing happened to me when I first put mine on (the S4). I swapped 1 at a time from front to rear and the pull went away. Not sure what I'll do when it comes time to rotate :P.

snagitseven

It's possible that one of the tires is defective and is pulling off center. If this is the case, the only remedy is to have it replaced under the warranty. Been there, done that more than once over the years.

RickFLS4

I'd bring it back (or elsewhere for diagnosis) to get it fixed (tire replacement or alignment) ASAP. It doesn't sound normal to me and I don't think I'd accept an answer that it will improve with more miles. My car didn't do that when new with new tires, so I wouldn't expect it to occur when getting new tires if it wasn't pulling with old tires. I had PSS on my previous A6 and this did it occur.

rahgagS4

Just a quick update on my alignment issue, the new tires were fine and not defective, I took the car back to Pep Boys for re-alignment, which they performed, but the same thing happened - car pulls to the right. So I got a refund from them and went ahead and took it to a local Audi dealer. It cost more, but they found the exact problem (I believe the front or front left toe was misaligned by 19 degrees, if I am saying that correctly) and they fixed it. It actually took a couple of days since they were having some problems with their machine and they gave me a loaner and actually gave a small discount on the service, but all in all the car does not pull now and appears to be perfectly aligned (I've put 40-50 miles since then and it's straight.

MerkurRS

Not to knock Pep Boys, I will be critical here though....

My question is: if it didn't pull with worn tires (this is definitely when it WILL pull because of limited flex in the tread since it's worn down), then WHY did it pull with new tires??
I would have a problem with that if it were me.

• Did they damage something while lifting the car?
• Did they damage something during tire installation?
• Did they adjust something they should not have?

After managing a PB for years and knowing who they hire to install stuff like tires/batteries/etc (ill-trained, non-experienced beginning "installers"- NOT experienced mechanics) I would never trust them to work on my car. Unless you personally know the manager/ installer, I would suggest a professional garage.

Buying items over the counter is one thing, but trusting someone to do the job professionally and correctly the first time is paramount. PB and similar mass chains usually don't. IMHO.

Tweakophyte

I was raised that you generally don't need an alignment unless you hit something. I addition, I regularly rub my hand over the tire tread for irregular wear, which is your best indicator of an alignment issue. This is something the old-school, local tire guy (run by the old guy... when I was a teen) showed me how to do.

Steering pull is not always the best indicator. I have a spot on my regular drive that drives me nuts, because the car pulls hard to the right, even though it is freshly paved. When I hit the next section of road, it goes away.

GUEST123

I just replaced a set of PS3s with PSSs and took the car to the dealer to have an alignment done as a precaution against premature wear. There was even wear and no cupping on the old tires (which had about 20K or so on them. Never hit anything (other than the occasional unavoidable pothole) and the front alignment specs were within limits - no adjustments needed. However the toe-in on the rear specs were slightly out on both sides and so were adjusted to within specs.

I had the rear sport diff seal leak fixed early last year (as I recall). Wonder if dropping the diff might have been the cause of the rear toe being out. There was no mention of the car being aligned at the time of that TSB fix, but I'm not sure if something would have been removed/loosened to cause the toe to change from that repair.

Anyway, I'll stay away from Pep Boys for alignment work!

rahgagS4

Regarding Pep Boys, yes this particular one seemed like they did not know how to properly align my car, although I will say the manager at this particular one was professional and willing to try and resolve the issue. But it is true that my old tires appeared to have even wear, and I did not have any alignment issues until after Pep put on the new tires. Regarding who they hire, yes I wasn't really impressed with some of their crew, mainly the guy who claimed that my car was indeed aligned correctly after I had taken it back to them the next day after I found the misalignment. Not to make a long story, but in short, the tires were installed on a Saturday, I took it back the next day Sunday complaining about the pull to the right, and they put the car back on their alignment machine and after that said they "fixed" the problem. I was like, ok great, I drive the car away and immediately I noticed it was exactly the same pull to the right (I drove it for a mile or so, changing lanes to make sure it wasn't that), immediately take it back a few minutes later (still Sunday) and tell them it still pulls. Here the manager at Pep then asked the same mechanic who aligned the car to drive with me to see if he (or we?) can figure it out, and the mechanic is saying things like "oh it's fine not too bad, it's the road" and "maybe it's your tire pressure" (although I already had checked that myself the day before and pressures were fine), stuff like that - basically he did not appear to have a real idea. by this time we took the car back after our little test drive, and I asked the manager for a refund on the alignment and he obliged. But he was professional and really I got the sense that he didn't have muck more to offer.

I actually went down the street to a firestone right after this to see if they could align it, and explained what happened at Pep Boys. Before I could say more, the firestone guy said, "Buddy, it might be better to just take it to Audi b/c I can't guarantee the same thing won't happen here since our machine may not be able to correctly calibrate the alignment, and I don't want you to go through the same process again" and he said something about them not having a specific tool used to more accurately align german cars like audi and bmw. So that's when I decided to take it to audi, although I was already planning to do that after Pep Boys, but wanted to see first if firestone could help out. Anyway, it's aligned correctly now.

MerkurRS

So, maybe what I hear you saying is that the dealer corrected alignment to compensate for what PB adjusted creating the car to be OUT of alignment? Maybe...just maybe the car never really needed any adjusting.
Of course this is all speculation, which at this point it only really means it's a lesson (for you and the readers of this thread). Not much anyone can do at this time.
Glad your car is healthy again.