So this weekend I upgraded my tire and wheel setup. I went from this which is 15x7 (4.5" backspacing i think) wheels and 33x10.5x15 tires.:


The new setup, pics to come later, I got is 16x8 (4.5" backspacking=0 offset) wheels and 285x75x16 (33x11.5x16) tires.

From just visually looking the tires seem to be aligned pretty well, no obvious off camber problems. As far as driving it feels fine as well. No vibes or anything in the steering and it doesnt feel loose at all. If anything it SLIGHTLY drifts but I am sure it did that before. So tell me, do I need an alignment. I really dont want to end up with tires that have worn bad because I fully intend on keeping this tires for as long as possible.

 

My first question would be did you see any evidence of irregular wear on your BFG's that would lead you to think you have an alignment problem? Just changing tires and wheels would not normally knock anything out of alignment. If it goes down a flat road straight when you are cruising, accelerating, and/or braking and you don't have any weird wear patterns on your tires I would not worry about it. Oh yeah, did you get around to updating your website yet? Ever get the ARB locker?

 

I did not see any evidence of irregular tire wear before. But I figure since I have gone to both a wider tire and wider rim that somehow the geometry may change due to that. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how the the alignment adjustments exactly work so if someone could explain I would be much appreciated and it would help me visualize exactly what is going on.

 

i work in the tire industry, so my opinion might be a little biased towards going to get an alignment done.... you might have had no problems with the old tires, but for peace of mind, i would just go and at least get it checked to maximize tire life and make sure everything is well. some places will actually check the alignemnt for free and then advise you if you need it....

 

If you can get a free alignment check from a reputable place, I'd say go for it. But like calg3 said, if you didn't see any irregular wear on your previous tires, I also would say you'd be alright with the new ones.

 

Alightment check sounds good. IMHO, if I can't find anything that goes wrong with the truck, forget alightment. There have been some cases when it gets worse after alightment. So be aware.

Nam

 

Some good information here on the Hunter website, but I am sure others will chime in with more:

http://hunter.com/pub/undercar/2470T/index.htm

 

the hunter website is a good read... hunter is the company that makes the alignment machines... i really havent seen an alignemnt machine around that isnt made by hunter... they are the monoploy on the alignment industry