new tires and alignment

[AaronHurd]

Hello Renntech,

I just purchased a full set of BFGoodrich g-Force KDW-2 tires for my 99 boxster. They replace PS2. The tire have a great review and they feel much better that the PS2. My question is based on the alignment. I had it aligned at a local Porsche/BMW/Merc...shop. They preformed a 4 wheel alignment. The car still pulls to the right as I was notified of this before I picked up the car. The owner/manager stated that I would not get uneven tire ware that the reason the car was pulling to one side is that the "knuckle" might have been damaged and that they adjusted as much as they possibly could. Have any of you guys heard of this.. in all honesty it sound like this could happen as I have 18 inch rims and low profile tires which don't allow for any give in the tire department. What do you guys think!!!

Thanks Aaron

[adsach]

Hello Renntech,

I just purchased a full set of BFGoodrich g-Force KDW-2 tires for my 99 boxster. They replace PS2. The tire have a great review and they feel much better that the PS2. My question is based on the alignment. I had it aligned at a local Porsche/BMW/Merc...shop. They preformed a 4 wheel alignment. The car still pulls to the right as I was notified of this before I picked up the car. The owner/manager stated that I would not get uneven tire ware that the reason the car was pulling to one side is that the "knuckle" might have been damaged and that they adjusted as much as they possibly could. Have any of you guys heard of this.. in all honesty it sound like this could happen as I have 18 inch rims and low profile tires which don't allow for any give in the tire department. What do you guys think!!!

Thanks Aaron

I'll tell you what I think!!!

- If they really know what they are doing they should be able to give you the specs of the alignment. If they were proud of the work they did, they probably would have sent you home with specs on Camber toe, etc. Please post the specs so we can see how they did.

- If they adjusted 'as much as they possibly could', then it is probably out of spec. If they couldn't bring it into spec, and they don't definitively know what is wrong, then they probably don't know enough about aligning a Boxster to have done a good job.

- your car should not pull.

- These jury is out as to whether these folks are incompetent at alignment, but there is reaonable grounds for suspicion.

- It is common for a shop to do excellent work at jobs like clutch and spark plugs and be worthless for alignment. From what I hear, aligning a 986/996 is a bit like conducting an orchestra with a rubber mallet.

[Q-Ship986]

Unless they save the results in an electronic file (or hardcopy), if they didn't already give you the actual alignment settings after they made adjustments, they'll probably have to put it back on the rack to give you that info.

Vehicle drift/pull tendencies during steady state operation are usually tied to front axle cross-camber or cross-caster; it won't be toe. Could also be one or both of the front tires. The rear axle or rear tires are rarely an influence in this situation (even at the extremes for alignment and tire parameters)--so focus on the front axle and front tires.

--Brian

Edited December 15, 2005 by Q-Ship986