Sorry for the delay, got married just after the post.
At our shop (and I believe this comes from dealerships and tire
manufactures, ill check) an alignment CHECK is suggested every 5000 miles, I
generally round it up to 6000 to coincide with the oil changes. Now that is
there policies, not mine.
I think cars should have alignment checked at least once a year. I see allot
with the toe off, but just by a small bit. I am a perfectionist, I like my
alignment numbers to be as close to specs as possible.
Having a alignment shop you trust is key. I see allot of cars going to
another chain and I know most of the techs set the toe and call it good.
Sometimes our shop does things that **** me off, but I can only do so much
and still keep a job...

I try to give advise based on what the manufactures suggest, not always what
I feel.

Take care



--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Undercar Specialist




"C. E. White" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Steve wrote:
>>
>> Firestone has a Lifetime alignment. 159.99; currently on sale at 139.99
>> in
>> the west coast.
>>
>> 6000 miles or 6 months is a good schedule to keep the tire warranty good.
>
> Are you suggesting an alignment ever 6000 miles????
>
> I have only had one of my vehicles aligned in 13 years and
> hundreds of thousands of miles of combined driving. And the
> last one I had aligned didn't really need it. But then I go
> to an alignment shop I trust. He doesn't have the latest
> equipment, but he knows how to use it. Plus, the technician
> actually looks over the tires and drives the car before he
> puts in on the alignment machine. Two of the last three
> times I stopped by for an alignment I was told I didn't need
> one and didn't get charged for one. The other time they
> decided to put the car on the machine but after the
> alignment was done, I was told I really did not need an
> alignment (the car was within mfg specs before, but the tech
> tweaked it). They did make a slight toe-in adjustment and
> charged me for an alignment. When I went in, I had insisted
> there was a problem (a slight pull). The technician told me
> it was a broken belt in the tire that was causing the pull,
> but agreed it was probably worth checking a car with over
> 30K miles. I was happy for the piece of mind. On the other
> hand, I drove one Expedition to 147,000 miles without ever
> having the front end checked. In that time I replaced tires
> twice - the third set of tires on the car looked like new
> when I traded the vehicle. The first and second sets still
> had plenty of tread left and were "square" when they were
> replaced, but they had become hard to keep balanced. In both
> cases they were replaced after having been driven between
> 50k and 60k miles.
>
> I don't think either of my parents has had a car aligned in
> the last 15 years, and they don't have tire wear problems.
> Likewise for my sister. Her '97 Civic has never been
> aligned, and the tire wear just fine.
>
> I cannot imagine going in for an alignment every 6,000
> miles...
>
> Ed