anthraciterunner

I had my shocks installed a while back and the fronts were installed wrong with the spring seat thingy installed upside down. They said they did an alighnment but my front tires are badly worn on the outside. Could this have been a result of the height difference (higher in the front) OR JUST A bad alighnment? SHould I even pursue this? I am getting them to fix the front shocks...for free of course. Thanks... (they have wireless internet here. *thumbs up*)

rimpainter.com

Yes, this could be part of the cause. AKA: Negative camber. However, if they aligned the rig according the incorrect install, then they should have compensated the camber accordingly.

This will be hard to prove. I think they owe you something for screwing up.

bike4miles

If the shocks forced the front wheels to sit at a higher position, that was probably the cause of the tire wear, however, baised on my expeirence with shocks, the installation should never throw things off that badly. I bet they didn't do the alignment corectly. Most shops screw up on alignment if you have oversized tires. I would make them check youre alignment after they fix the shocks.

anthraciterunner

I figure it was a bad alighnment but have no way to prove it. What should I expect for compensation? The last time they made me wait over 3 hrs from the time they said my service would be completed. I complained and got a coupon for a free 5000k service. I know they won't buy me new tires but I am a little pissed. The tread on the other parts of the tires are still good.

rimpainter.com

There are a couple good threads about dealer compensation, but they would be hard to find. You need to come to a reasonable amount of compensation in your head, then present your case. The first thing they are going to do is offer you something like the 5K service which really isn't much anyway. Their goal is to keep you coming back in (at least it should be) so be prepared for some really silly offers on their part.

Personally, if they contributed to ruining my tires, I would expect them to help pay for new ones. I would say 30% would be fair.

Unhappy99

Having the outside edges wear is indicative of positive camber, not negative. Negative tilts in, positive tilts out. Should you also have toe-in (positive toe, and normal for everything except sports cars), then your outside edges wear quickly.

On independent suspensions, lifting usually introduces positive camber. Upside down spring perches certainly means lift, until the spring slips off the perch.

Do you have a printout of the last alignment? If not, ask for one. They are stored in the computer somewhere. It should show excessive positive camber, and there's your proof that they screwed up and should replace both front tires.

rimpainter.com

My bad. I was looking at a really confusing chart online and just posted what I read.

anthraciterunner

Just got home. I spent 8.5 hrs at the stealership today. Eventhough I asked for an alighnment when I got my shocks installed, they didn't give me one. He even said that it was included in the price when I got them put on. It turns out that they "apparently" don't do alignments on 4runners even when replacing shocks. HE gave me a free alignmnet when I complained....wow! SO GENEROUS right? I went and asked for a manager and told him to look at the tires. He came back 15 minutes later and said that "I was important to them" and all that type of stuff. When I got my 4runner back 4 hrs later when they originally promised it would be done, I got two new tires. I'm totally greatful that they made good on this and they didn't even need to hassle me about anything. The cost of the tires were about 350. My only concern is that they gave me the wrong speed rating. My originals were rated H and they gave me S. Should there be any cause for concern in handling? (S rating=112mph H rating= 130mph).
I don't ever take it past 90 anymore. Think it'll be alright?-thanks

slyang1012

i jsut added spacers to the front and addaleafs today!! i need an alignment.. will they charge me more if i get it from, lets say, goodyear since it will not be the standard alignment ?? Will they even do an alignment because of the spacer and they have to offset it? anybody know roughly the cost?? THANKS

bike4miles

Wow, sounds like everything turned out ok. I have found that compaining really helps sometimes as does beeing a cheep skate at a junk yard. I would recomend what I do my self which is: get your rig aligned at a speciallty shop that deals with lifted trucks. The dealership mechanics do things the fast way by useing refrance charts (which only have stock tire sizes) rather than calculating everything case by case.

Billf6531

You might as well post the name of the dealership. When one stands up and does the right thing, which is extremely rare IMHO, they deserve to be recognized. After all, we don't hesitate to 'recognize' the goofs that won't / don't do the right thing when they screw up.

As far as quality alignments are concerned, find the tire shop where the fleet users (Police, Fire, Utility) in your town go, and get it done there. Talk to the alignment guy and tell him your mods. He'll know what to do. You might pay a little more, but cheap is not the way to go when expensive tires are involved.

anthraciterunner

Props go out to Longo Toyota. They've done me wrong before and all I got was a coupon but this time they went above and beyond. The manager's name was Glenn and I am hoping he calls so I can thank him. Didn't get a chance to do so before I left for home.

So...no issues w/ different speed rated tires?

zebra1550

I had a shop install my shock mount seats upside down as well. They told me I didn't need an alignment, but after a couple hundred miles I knew I needed one. I thought it was odd that the front of my truck sat higher as well, but the dealership never said anything when I had it aligned. Long story short, the good members of Yotatech put me on the correct path, and today I'm having the original shop correct the problem as well as installing my new OME 891's up front. I did install OME 906's in the rear last weekend, so the truck is actually level right now with new springs in the rear and the upside down spring seats in the front. I figure once they correct the seats and install the new springs, the height change in the front should be negligible. Hopefully I won't need a new alignment, but I'll probably have it done anyway. In the end it worked out that they are installing my new springs for free and the labor on the rear was all me, so I at least I go a 2" lift out of the deal.
I don't think you'll have any problems with the speed rating. I believe I read somewhere that the speed rating is based on what speed a tire can sustain for 1 hour before coming apart. If some point down the road you should find yourself going over 112 mph briefly, I'm pretty confident it will hold. If it makes you feel any better, BFG AT KO's are not even given a speed rating. I have taken my former Tundra up around 105 mph briefly with the BFG AT's and never had a problem. Granted, 105 mph is not inherently safe, but the tires held. I'd go out and buy yourself two matching rear tires as well, but that's just me.