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#21
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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 |
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#22
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"C. E. White" > wrote in message ... > > > Ray O wrote: > >> A steering rack itself is not really adjustable, other than the crush >> collar >> that determines loading on the rack. As the name implies, a crush collar >> does not adjust - once it is crushed, it is set. > > But steering racks do wear, which introduces additional > play. And at least in the old days, some had adjustable > pre-loads. If the rack was worn, the loose feeling would be present at all speeds, not just highway speeds. I forget what year the OP's Camry is but AFAIK, Camry racks have always used crush collars to set pre-load. > >> Loose feeling at highway speeds might be caused by an out of alignment >> condition, not enough positive caster, or an improperly functioning power >> steering pump. > > Would loose ball joints, or tie rods ends also contribute to > a loose feeling? And running the tires at too high a > pressure can definitely make a car feel squirrelly. > > Regards, > > Ed White Loose ball joints and tie rod ends would probably cause a loose feeling at all speeds and also usually make noise. You could probably run the tires up to at least 40 psi without making the car handle adversely. In fact, the higher tire pressures would probably improve handling because the sidewalls are a little stiffer. Competition driving schools usually boost tire pressures to around 40 psi before taking the cars on the track to improve handling, reduce tread squirm, and keep the tires from rolling off the beads. The downside to having hard tires is a harsher ride and the possibility of wearing the center of the tread more quickly than the shoulders. I keep tire pressures at 36 psi in our Avalon and LS 400 and have not experienced any excessive center tread wear and have reduced the shoulder wear that we usually get. Back to my original response, positive caster aids straight line stability. The Camry has speed sensitive power steering, I don't know if it is regulated by engine RPM or road speed. At higher speeds, the amount of power steering assist is supposed to be reduced to improve road feel. At lower speeds, more assist is provided to make low speed maneuvering easier. If whatever regulates the amount of assist is not working properly, then the car can seem to be over sensitive at highway speeds. -- Ray O correct the return address punctuation to reply |
#23
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Ray O > wrote:
: I keep tire pressures at 36 psi in our Avalon and LS 400... Hi Ray. Is this the cold, morning pressure and you would leave it to rise to whatever it rises to in the sun and during driving? Or, do yo uactually strive to actually maintain 36 as much as practical, eg, bleeding some air suring a long drive? |
#24
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"Newbie" > wrote in message ... > Ray O > wrote: > > : I keep tire pressures at 36 psi in our Avalon and LS 400... > > Hi Ray. Is this the cold, morning pressure and you would leave it to > rise to whatever it rises to in the sun and during driving? Always measure tire pressures with cold tires - tires that have not moved for at least 4 hours. That is how I measure and set tire pressures. > > Or, do yo uactually strive to actually maintain 36 as much as > practical, eg, bleeding some air suring a long drive? The higher pressures make the ride a little harsher but the Avalon and LS400 both have a pretty mushy ride to start with. The slightly stiffer ride doesn't bother me. -- Ray O correct the return address punctuation to reply |
#25
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On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 21:03:47 GMT, Ajanta , said the following in
rec.autos.driving... > How often car needs to be aligned? (I have Toyota Camry 98 V6 LE ) Check your owners manual. It might give some indication of whether or not this needs to be done regularly. As a rule, I don't worry about it unless I notice a handling problem or have had an particularly jarring encounter with some road obsticle/defect. > Should it be combined with oil change and tire rotation, or is needed > less frequently? Less. > Does any chain (or local garage in Chicago area) have a great > "lifetime" alignment deal? Beware of these "lifetime," deals. They are a means of getting you into the shop inorder to sell you something else. |
#26
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Paul. > wrote:
: Beware of these "lifetime," deals. They are a means of getting you into : the shop inorder to sell you something else. For a practice supposedly beneficial to dealers, such offers are surprisingly difficult to find. Most service garages I asked don't offer lifetime alignment. |
#27
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On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 14:51:45 -0400, Alex Rodriguez >
wrote: >>Does any chain (or local garage in Chicago area) have a great >>"lifetime" alignment deal? > >Sears does. Well I guess I would consider them, assuming I won the lottery first. Sears, the place where a relative took his car for brakes, and was charged $1500. True need was pads, nothing more. Sears, the place where they pay commission to increase sales. Doesn't matter if you need it or not. Sears, the place that decided to buy batteries from mexico, and now requires you to change your battery cables every time you buy a battery. Yep, I wouldn't mind taking my car there at all. |
#28
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On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:17:23 -0500, "*" > wrote:
>Virtually anybody who posts on this board can be taught to set up a I guess you are new to this. It isn't a board, and you obviously haven't read many of the posts. |
#29
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DTJ > wrote in article >... > On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:17:23 -0500, "*" > wrote: > > >Virtually anybody who posts on this board can be taught to set up a > > I guess you are new to this. It isn't a board,... I have been participating on this and other "newsgroups" for a number of years..... > ...and you obviously > haven't read many of the posts. > I HAVE read a number of the posts, and I STILL contend that I could have MOST of the participants here - virtually anybody who can grasp the concept of "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" - satisfactorily setting up a four-wheel computerized alignment rack in an afternoon......it's THAT easy. Now, if the question were to concern having them do a quality alignment, or troubleshoot a problem beyond the specifications in the machine's database, then all bets are off....... |
#30
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True, true, how can one do a comprehensive alignment with out knowing the
functions of caster, camber and toe in, sai, thrust angle and set back? "*" > wrote in message news:01c578b6$679dc120$30a4c3d8@race... > > DTJ > wrote in article > >... >> On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:17:23 -0500, "*" > wrote: >> >> >Virtually anybody who posts on this board can be taught to set up a >> >> I guess you are new to this. It isn't a board,... > > > I have been participating on this and other "newsgroups" for a number of > years..... > > >> ...and you obviously >> haven't read many of the posts. >> > > I HAVE read a number of the posts, and I STILL contend that I could have > MOST of the participants here - virtually anybody who can grasp the > concept > of "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" - satisfactorily setting up a four-wheel > computerized alignment rack in an afternoon......it's THAT easy. > > Now, if the question were to concern having them do a quality alignment, > or > troubleshoot a problem beyond the specifications in the machine's > database, > then all bets are off....... > > > ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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