I just took my ranger to my local tire place to have an alignment done. Before the alignment, the truck was turning to the right on its own pretty badly. Well, after the alignment was done, it's still turning to the right pretty badly and now the steering wheel isn't centered either when I'm going straight. The horn is at about 8 and 2 o'clock to the left on my steering wheel when I'm going straight. And I have to pull the steering wheel to the left when going straight. They did tell me that my one front tire has a broken belt in it and it's causing my truck to shake above 40mph. I'm getting the tire replaced tomorrow. Could one bad tire throw a vehicle out of alignment as much as I'm describing, or could there be something else that is wrong? I went back there yesterday and told them how it's still badly out of alignment after the alignment they did and he said it could be that bad tire. Anyway, any advice on this is appreciated. Thanks.

 

Then take it back and tell them to do it right. Even with a bad tire it should not pull that much.

 

A severely seperated tire can cause a pretty bad pull. If new tires don't allow the truck to drive straight, take it back to the alignment shop as many times as required to either get it right, or get a refund so you can take it somewhere they *actually* know what they're doing.

 

If it still does the same thing after the tire is replaced, then I would ask for my money back and take to someplace else.

 

The alignment was actually free, but I'll get that tire replaced and see what happens. I just looked at the tire and I can see some tread sticking up in a row long ways over the tire. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks.

 

You can't tell any thing with a bad tire on it. They can pull severly with a seperated belt. I can't believe they would have fooled with the alignment with a bad tire on it. You really need to have it realigned after the tire(s) get replaced. As for the steering wheel being off they tried to set the toe in and only made the adjustment on one side. Free might not have been so free. Somebody will have to redo this alignment.

 

It's possible (in addition to the bad tire) that some suspension components are worn. All the alignments in the world won't help if that's the case.

 

i would grab a tape measure and measure the distance from the center of one tire to the center of the other tire on the fronts of the tires, then do the same for the back of the tires, and post up what the numbers are.

 

Well, just to update you guys, my alignment problem appears to be solved. I had both front tires replaced and it seems to be riding perfectly straight now. Another problem has popped up which I started another thread about, but the alignment seems to be good now. Thanks for all of your help guys.

 

bingo!

Get TWO new front tires and make sure all 4 are set to factory air pressure. If it still pulls, take it back and demand they perform the alignment again until it's correct. If they give you BS demand your money back and take it somewhere else.