Alignment question

[comquat1]

A week or so ago when I got my car back from Acura of Brookfield John Vasos mentioned that my alignment looked out of wack because my steering wheel was off center. They didn't have time to mess with it as I had to get back on the ferry for michigan so I scheduled a time for tonight (7-26) to get it done at my local Acura dealer. Anyways, long story short, they canceled on me when I got there tonight because the tech went home sick so now I have to reschedule yet again. My next time is on 8-6 so my question is, how much will I mess my tires' wear my continuing to drive with it out of wack like this? I've got Potenza SO-3's that are probably half worn on the front and my steering wheel is about 1 good inch off of top dead center. Is my alignment that out of it? I don't think it'll matter much from now until then but I just want to make sure, I've got a driving school these tires need to get to in September before I replace them.
Thanks in advance.

 

[jdoner]

Poor alignment will destroy tires faster than anything. Getting it fixed sooner than later will save your tires. Once they are messed up due to wrong alignment - they are that way for good from what I have experienced.

 

[comquat1]

I know, but I'm talking maybe 200-300 miles over the next couple weeks, if that even.

 

[nis350]

I know, but I'm talking maybe 200-300 miles over the next couple weeks, if that even.

why can't you have it done some where else? It is not rocket science. I have mine done locally and it is great. I gave them the spec. I wanted and they adjusted it accordingly.

 

[comquat1]

I'm just skittish about having anyone other than an NSX tech work on the car. Also when I sell the car (which is a long ways off I'm hoping) I want to be able to give the new owner a packet of work orders that show I went to one place and had all the work done by one mechanic. In my mind (though some may argue) it gives a better history that one person worked on it and made sure everything was done right on the car since he knew it was coming back to him next time.

Still no one has said driving 200-300 miles total will or will not mess up my front tires.....

 

[Lud]

Still no one has said driving 200-300 miles total will or will not mess up my front tires.....

If the car feels OK when you drive it, another 200-300 miles will not be that big a deal. Heck for all you know the alignment is off in a direction that will extend tire life vs. factory alignment

Steering wheel center does not necessarily indicate an alignment problem anyway. It is possible to align the car and have the steering wheel be off center, it's just not the right way to do it. If the steering wheel was centered and suddenly went an inch off center, I'd guess you hit something and you alignment probably is off. But if it's been that way for a long time and the car feels OK and tires are wearking OK I wouldn't sweat it for a couple hundred more miles.

 

[apapada]

But if it's been that way for a long time and the car feels OK and tires are wearking OK I wouldn't sweat it for a couple hundred more miles.

with all due respect to you Lud, a car might be feeling "ok" with a messed up alignement and once the alignement put back where it should be, the car is not driving straight anymore due to uneven wear developed while driving with the messed up alignement. What I'd advice dnyhof is to drive it as little as possible if the problem is recent and plan on a new set of tires if otherwise.

 

[comquat1]

Point taken Lud and apapada. I don't plan on driving it very far, only quick trips the the store and church on Sunday. I plan on replacing the fronts most likely this winter if I get any significant wear at my track event in September. I knew going in expecting to for sure buy new rears every year and new fronts most likely every other year. Just a cost of ownership.

 

[Lud]

with all due respect to you Lud, a car might be feeling "ok" with a messed up alignement and once the alignement put back where it should be, the car is not driving straight anymore due to uneven wear developed while driving with the messed up alignement. What I'd advice dnyhof is to drive it as little as possible if the problem is recent and plan on a new set of tires if otherwise.

Unless he recently hit something or went through the pothole from hell, the alignment has probably been close to where it is now for 50% of the life of the tires. I was just saying that in that case I didn't really think another couple hundred miles was going to make a big difference.

And as I mentioned if nothing has changed recently (i.e. the steering wheel has been off center the same way) then there may not even be an alignment problem, they may have just been sloppy about centering the steering wheel last time the car was aligned.

If you HAVE hit something or the car went through a monster pothole or something, I would get it inspected for suspension damage ASAP. That would be more of a concern to me than tire wear because you could potentially have damaged suspension components that could lead to a loss of control if they fail.