I had previously started a thread about the poor high speed ride quality / stability of my 2010 premium and I was going to post an update but couldn't find it - so I started a new one...

As a refresher of my concern. At speeds above 60 the car was very unstable. Never pulling in a single direction, it was just a constant fight to keep it straight, the car rocking side to side and requiring constant correction to keep it on a straight path... I never thought to look into alignment because there were no (to me) obvious signs. It did not pull to one side and the tires were wearing evenly.


Today I went to a local auto shop and had an alignment done - I was given a before and after print out...

Essentially the left front toe and right front toe were out of alignment in opposite directions. The Rear camber both sides were off about the same and the rear toe was out in opposite directions on the rear... After the alignment the car drives way way better...

Just wanted to say don't underestimate the importance of alignment... Like I was saying I didn't have what were the obvious signs, the tires were wearing evenly, the steering wheel was dead center, and the car never pulled to one direction...

I will be having yearly alignments done from now on.

 

Good news ZMAN-glad to hear its better. The one thing to add is the importance of WHERE you have the work done. My dealership checked the alignment and said "ok" but after I had some work done, a local shop did an alignment and the car was better.

 

Good posts. Where we have the alignment done makes all the difference. Not only is some alignment equipment inadequate to properly align these finicky 7th gens, but even good alignment equipment is worthless if the operator is not proficient.

As to Zman's car not pulling in just one direction, I had that happen almost sixty years ago with a '53 Chevy. I finally figured out that when the weight of the car shifted more to the left side (because of road slant, curvature, dips, turning, etc), the car veered slightly to the right, but when the weight shifted to the right side, the car veered slightly to the left. Very annoying.

The alignment machine showed the left front tire was toed in too much to the right, so when more of the car weight was on that side, it gripped more than the right front tire and directed the car to the right. And the right front tire was toed too much to the left, so when more of the car weight was on the right side, the right front tire gripped more than the left front tire and tended to direct the car too much to the left.

What made the problem difficult to detect was that it did not result in abnormal tire wear, so my regular checks of the tires showed nothing.

I have been very fortunate with my '09 Maxima, in that it absolutely steers itself very nicely (tracks exactly straight) at all speeds, still has most of the tread left on these RS-As, and the depth of tread across the face of each tire is the same in each groove (tires are wearing very evenly). So, knowing the lack of consistency of alignment machines and operators, I have not let anyone touch my alignment.

Of course, if I detected any problem, I would have no choice but to try to find a good alignment shop. If I found a good shop, I would use it regularly, because potholes, etc, can upset alignment.

 

That is good to hear. But why do you say yearly alignment? Isn't that too long for you? When I bought my car brand new, before my first oil change, I went to firestone and bought a lifetime alignment package for $149.99. And I will tell you that I do my alignment like 3 or 4 times every single year. And I have had my car now for 4 years. So, imagine how many alignments I have had done.

My schedule is every time I do my oil change, I drive to discount tire and get my lifetime balance and rotation done, then I drive to firestone and get my lifetime alignment done

Tires last me a long time and my alignment stays in check. Car is happy and gives me the peace of mind I need with great agility and performance.

 

That is the most insane thing I've ever heard! You shouldn't have to have an alignment performed on a car more than every few years.

 

No, what you have just said is the most insane thing I have ever heard. So, you mean to say an alignment is done every 2 years? WOW!!! I am no expect in that field, but I feel confident to say you are wrong. Except you mean you guys have the best roads in your area there. Or maybe you put only like 15,000 miles or less a year on your car. I put 30K on my car every single year.

The least for an alignment should be once a year, not 2 years or more as you refer to it as it should be done "every few years". Can you be a little more specific with numbers? Do you mean every 2 years? Every 3 years? or every 4 years? I know to the best of my knowledge that the recommended is to do it 2 times a year or say every six months.

But as for me, I already paid for it and I do it every 10,000 miles when I do my oil change, which is for me every 4 months. Hence, I do it 3 times a year. It is FREE for me, so I do it as I deem I need it. And every time I go one or more wheel might be off by a bit. I don't think doing it 3 times a year, hurts my car. Also, because it is free for me, I go do it as my personal maintenance schedules requires me to go.

 

An alignment is a money maker for most shops, just cause you pay for an alignment does not mean you get one, several of my friends have went and bought tires and got an alignment, I asked them why they got an alignment when the tires showed no sign of irregular wear, when I looked at the specs on the alignment sheet, nothing changed, so they paid 150 bucks for a printout

 

That sucks that they would do such a thing to a customer. And it sucks for someone to pay $150 for a one time alignment. If they have firestone in their area, instead of paying that for a one-time thing at a shop, get lifetime from firestone.

But I always watch my car and I ALWAYS ask for the printout of my car to see. So, I know for sure all my alignments are done.

So, how often do you do yours? Every 2 years? Or every 3 years? Or you NEVER do one at all?

 

On the importance of where to have na alignment done. I settled on the local Firestone for these reasons. It's the newest place around and they have the newest equipment around. They check it for free, if you don't need one you don't pay. They give You a before and after printout.
As for frequency... If there are no symptoms of needing an alignment having it checked more than once a year is excessive in my opinion.

 

^ Ask if your Firestone dealer uses Hunter Balancing and Alignment equipment. Mine doesn't so I would never have either of these done at those kind of places. This car needs balancing and alignment on a Hunter Machine, plain and simple. I've had nothing but problems with these local chain shops, Goodyear, STS, American Tire, etc not properly balancing or aligning my cars. I only trust one local Mom & Pop place in my town and the dealership to do it right.

 

This is funny, it reminds me of last month when I took the Z in for an oil change at my dealership. I was sitting in the waiting room and my advisor came out and said that we recommend an alignment, I said why its not pulling or showing no signs of irregular wear. I said put it on the machine and pull up the specs, he did and it was clearly within specs..He then and said we just recommend it.......I said recommend hell he , 2 weeks later I got a service advisement paper saying that we recommend that you bring it in for an alignment.....WTH

 

right on starr! alignment is another one those industry tricks.

one should never need an alignment if your car runs fine straight from the factory. If it doesn't, you should know it within the warranty period and the dealer should fix it for free.

tire shops throw in the "alignment" sales pitch every time you change your tires, it's additional money maker for them. If you have never messed with your suspension, there is no need for one but they will make up all the reasons in the world for you to do so.

like...."yeah everytime u change your tires you should do an alignment".

kinda like always turning your rotors. which in all cases, make your rotors worse than it was before.

 

I watch my tire wear, make sure no irregular wear patterns are showing up, on my 06 I had 40k on the RSA before I got new tires, I think my tire guy checked my alignment, it might have been off slightly but nothing that would have prematurely worn down the tire, alignment eventually needs to be tightened up, its a FWD you have a lot of force pushing out on the wheels, eventually you will have some nice negative camber, which is awesome for high speed cornering but will eat the inside of the tire away

My 09 has 29k, alignment seems fine, I might put new tires on it, I had some unexpected bills these past months so I might push the RSA another 5-10k

 

exactly man, know your car, to many times I see friends paying for services they don't even need, never leave it up to the shop/dealer to be the one who you think has your good intentions in mind.

I can't blame the shop/dealer for throwing the sales pitch at the customer, I mean the dealers I worked in had monthly overheads of 40k a month, they have to pay the bills, but that is how you get a lot of car owners who never do any service of any kind to their cars, got to be smart