Got a 4 wheel alignment, and now the ride is rougher. What could have happened during alignment to cause this?

 

they might have put more air in the tires making them stiffer, or they could have corrected the toe...the alignment on our cars have little adjustment...

 

It could by that your tires are cupped or off some other way if it was out of alignment. Now that the car is back in alignment, you are probably noticing the improprely worn tires. If the alignment wasn't off too much and it wasn't off for too long, the tires might wear back to normal. In the meantime it might be rough.

 

Sounds possible... I would check the tire wear on each tire. Maybe they put them back on the wrong side :-P

 

Yep. These cars can't hold an alignment to save their lives.

 

Yes, my tires were cupped. I had the fronts swapped (removing the tire from the left rim and mounting it on the right rim, and vice versa) to get rid of the tire roar and get more life. I drove it for 2 days and it was fine until I got the alignment. And they did adjust the camber and toe from what I can remember from the printout. You think it will go back to normal after some time?

 

It is hard to say if it will go back to normal. I have had my fair share of tires and sport cars....I only have 16k miles on my 05 G...so not too much experience there and how their alignments are....But usually I find that it isn't worth the money to have the tires rotated off the wheels. If it doesn't cost anything, I might do it.

If you had them rotated off the wheels, is it possible that they didn't rebalance the wheels? Or possibly that you threw a weight? That will definitely give you vibration in the steering wheel.

FWIW, I usually don't see many sets of tires going beyond 20k on a sports car. I've seen some Pilot Sports go well beyond 20k...but I haven't tried them yet. Acutally I'm getting some Pilot All Seasons on mine very soon.

Basically, it might be worth getting new tires I would just get new ones and then do nothing to them until they wear out.....or you could do a different wheel and tire setup. Then you could incorporate a rotating scheme.

 

I can't see how an alignment itself would cause a rougher ride. The most likely possibility is the tires have higher air pressures now or because they were flipped it's translating a different "rougher" feeling into your steering. Worn tires will allows make a car ride noticeably rougher with less rubber to absorb road variances. I don't expect it would go away and its more likely you would just get used to any possible small change in a very short time.

I've had the same cupping problem and "flipping" solution as you and did not notice any appreciable difference in ride. I believe your tire pressure is a bit different, that's all.

 

After I "flipped" or "swapped" the tires and balanced them, the ride was the same. Then 2 days later I got the alignment. It was then that the ride got rough. They didn't remove the wheels (or at least thats what they told me). I also checked and the wheels are in its original location. So it wasn't the tire swap that cause the rough ride. It has to do something with the alignment. I will probably ask the technician if he put more air in the tires.

 

42,000 miles and never been touched. They always check it, but it never needs adjusting.

 

There is no adjustment for the camber.....thus the problem with feathering.

 

Besides having the tires over-inflated that maybe causing the issue, can anyone think of anything else that could have happened during the alignment? Do they mess with the suspension?

 

First thing like a few others said.....check your air pressure.....when they remount the tires, they sometimes put in 60-70lbs to seat the beads.....alot of times they balance them and forget to adjust the air pressure.....

They ship the cars with 60lbs in the tires when the chain them down on the trailers.....the dealership usually adjusts them to the proper pressure during prep......

I doubt seriously if an alignment would change the feel of the ride........

also, my car is dead on after 37,000 miles...never needed adjustment yet

 

They probably jacked up your tire pressure to 40 lbs +. I run 37 lbs front
and back and it's amazing how just a few lbs can change the way your
G rides.

 

Yep, they did. The pressure was 42-44 (max is 40). I released to 38 all around and now its back to normal. Thanx all.