Wheel Alignment at local shop?

[SSGP90X]

Hi,

I have a 2016 model X p90. I've owned it for 8 months, put 15K miles on it. I've had to replace the rear tires on 4 different occasions because of severely uneven inner tire wear (the last one resulting in a tire blowout on the highway). I've read this is a somewhat of a common issue. I live 500 miles from the nearest service center however. I had mobile service come out today to look over the issue, and the mechanic suggested I take it some local place for realignment. The few places I've asked weren't comfortable working on teslas of courses, but haven't yet done an exhaustive search. Does anyone have any experience with getting their wheel alignment done at a non-SC local place? Is there anything specific to be telling them about this? Does anyone strongly advice against it? If so, beyond driving 500 miles to a service center are there any other options I have?

thanks

 

[pjotr]

I'm also curious about this. Just wrote another post actually with similar topic.

 

[NoSoup4U!]

I just had mine done yesterday! At a reputable independent shop. The reason was that my tires started to wear on the OUTSIDE even though I drive in low setting all the time. They had to correct quite a bit, especially the toe setting was out of whack. You should do an alignment maybe every year or two, depending if you have bad roads. Keep searching for a professional shop that works Teslas too. They’re out there.

 

[ElectricTravel]

I'd imagine other New Mexico owners are in the same boat. Try posting in the Mountain/Southwest forum to see if someone has a local recommendation: Mountain/Southwest

For cars with air suspension, Tesla does add some extra steps to the alignment procedure that independent shops aren't going to do, but for the most part, they're more "nice-to-haves" than "must haves".

If you lived close to a Service Center, my personal recommendation would be to take it to there since you have air suspension, but the odds are good that a regular shop doing a standard alignment procedure will be able to align it just fine.

In the off chance that a shop says they can't align the car because they don't know the alignment specs, you'll have better luck at a shop that uses Hunter alignment equipment. Tesla uploads their alignment specifications directly to Hunter.

 

[aesculus]

I tried to get Americas Tire to check the alignment when I got new tires and they said they couldn't and would have to take it to a SC.

 

[ysquared2]

Go to discount tires. They have lifetime alignment for $279. You can do it every 6 months or 5,000 miles, whichever comes first.

 

[kpeng]

Go to discount tires. They have lifetime alignment for $279. You can do it every 6 months or 5,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Discount Tire doesn't do alignments. I think you are horribly confused as to what an alignment is.

 

[jsmay311]

Go to discount tires. They have lifetime alignment for $279. You can do it every 6 months or 5,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Discount Tire doesn't do alignments. I think you are horribly confused as to what an alignment is.

You're correct that "Discount Tire" doesn't do alignments. (Straight from their website: "Discount Tire does not perform alignment services.")

But seeing that ysquared2 is from southern California, I'm guessing he's referring to the almost-identically-named "Discount Tire Centers", which has a bunch of locations around the L.A. area and does do alignments.

 

[ngng]

Hi,

I have a 2016 model X p90. I've owned it for 8 months, put 15K miles on it. I've had to replace the rear tires on 4 different occasions because of severely uneven inner tire wear (the last one resulting in a tire blowout on the highway). I've read this is a somewhat of a common issue. I live 500 miles from the nearest service center however. I had mobile service come out today to look over the issue, and the mechanic suggested I take it some local place for realignment. The few places I've asked weren't comfortable working on teslas of courses, but haven't yet done an exhaustive search. Does anyone have any experience with getting their wheel alignment done at a non-SC local place? Is there anything specific to be telling them about this? Does anyone strongly advice against it? If so, beyond driving 500 miles to a service center are there any other options I have?

thanks

sounds like toe is out of spec. any reputable shop can do an alignment. i don't think this car has anything beyond toe? does anybody know? remember that your alignment changes, if you raise or lower the vehicle so set it for the ride height you will be in most often

a "lifetime shop" is going to be some random shop person doing your alignment. you get what you pay for. as long as it is "in spec" they won't make any changes. if you go to a performance focused shop you can talk to them and say, hey, im having really bad inner tire wear, what can i do? and they should be able to dial your alignment in to a 1/16

 

[DCGOO]

Hi,

I have a 2016 model X p90. I've owned it for 8 months, put 15K miles on it. I've had to replace the rear tires on 4 different occasions because of severely uneven inner tire wear (the last one resulting in a tire blowout on the highway). I've read this is a somewhat of a common issue. I live 500 miles from the nearest service center however. I had mobile service come out today to look over the issue, and the mechanic suggested I take it some local place for realignment. The few places I've asked weren't comfortable working on teslas of courses, but haven't yet done an exhaustive search. Does anyone have any experience with getting their wheel alignment done at a non-SC local place? Is there anything specific to be telling them about this? Does anyone strongly advice against it? If so, beyond driving 500 miles to a service center are there any other options I have?

thanks

Firestone Auto Care shops often have a tech or two that are Tesla qualified, at least around here.

 

[CorneliusRox]

There's nothing special about a Tesla suspension. Any shop can do it.

If the MX is similar to the M3, it only has front toe adjustment. That won't take care of your rear tires wearing.
I've seen plenty of generic alignment shops tell people they adjusted something in the rear and fixed it when there's literally no adjustable components in the rear.

If the MX does have rear toe, rule of thumb is 'too much toe in = outer tire wear, too much toe out = inner tire wear'.
Camber plays a role too, just not as significant. Positive camber means the tires are leaning away from the car and would give outer tire wear. This would happen when the car is at its highest point, but unlikely. Negative camber means the tires are leaning towards the car and would give inner tire wear. This would happen when the car is at its lowest point.

Hope that helps.
Be weary of buying aftermarket adjustable control arms as most of them are not set up for long term durability.

 

[CorneliusRox]

If this image is accurate, you do have rear toe adjustment. I'd start at a local alignment shop. They should be able to knock this out pretty quick.

 

[jsmay311]

As for the "any shop can do it" claims... I called a couple nearby Firestone locations and both said they didn't have a "new-enough rack" to do an alignment on my Model 3. (I don't know enough about alignments to know what that means or judge whether or not these claims are true, but none of that changes the fact that they wouldn't do the alignment, which makes the debate moot as far as my car is concerned.)

One of these locations did, however, refer me to another Firestone location about 30 mins away* that he knew does have the "latest and greatest" equipment and does do alignments on Teslas, so that's where I'm headed tomorrow. (*It's still closer than the nearest Tesla Service Center, and they'll do an alignment for <$100.)

 

[ngng]

As for the "any shop can do it" claims... I called a couple nearby Firestone locations and both said they didn't have a "new-enough rack" to do an alignment on my Model 3. (I don't know enough about alignments to know what that means or judge whether or not these claims are true, but none of that changes the fact that they wouldn't do the alignment, which makes the debate moot as far as my car is concerned.)

One of these locations did, however, refer me to another Firestone location about 30 mins away* that he knew does have the "latest and greatest" equipment and does do alignments on Teslas, so that's where I'm headed tomorrow. (*It's still closer than the nearest Tesla Service Center, and they'll do an alignment for <$100.)

any shop that knows what they're doing. you don't need a fancy machine to adjust the toe. you can literally do it with string (of course they aren't g oing to). they are likely not willing to do it because they won't make any money on it

 

[CorneliusRox]

As for the "any shop can do it" claims... I called a couple nearby Firestone locations and both said they didn't have a "new-enough rack" to do an alignment on my Model 3. (I don't know enough about alignments to know what that means or judge whether or not these claims are true, but none of that changes the fact that they wouldn't do the alignment, which makes the debate moot as far as my car is concerned.)

One of these locations did, however, refer me to another Firestone location about 30 mins away* that he knew does have the "latest and greatest" equipment and does do alignments on Teslas, so that's where I'm headed tomorrow. (*It's still closer than the nearest Tesla Service Center, and they'll do an alignment for <$100.)

All they mean by the 'not new enough' comment is their machine doesn't have the pre-loaded Tesla specs in there. It's not like all of a sudden their machine cannot hang off a Tesla wheel/tire. Hunter is the company most chain alignment shops use and they supply toe, camber, and caster details (nominal, min, max) and they usually make you buy a package of data (likely a Tesla package). The thing is, most vehicles in a certain segment have a very similar alignment spec. Below are some specs that would make your car drive well.

Front
Camber: -1.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.10-0.20 deg total toe (zero toe is best for non-track driving, but no parts are perfect, especially on independent suspension, so you do a little toe in to account for the tolerances)

Rear
Camber: -1.0 to -1.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.20 total toe in


Now, if you were going to track your car or autocross it, I'd do something more like this.

Front
Camber: -3.5 deg per side
Toe: 0.10 to 0 toe OUT

Rear
Camber: -2.0 to -2.5 deg per side
Toe: 0.20 total toe in

 

[ngng]

All they mean by the 'not new enough' comment is their machine doesn't have the pre-loaded Tesla specs in there. It's not like all of a sudden their machine cannot hang off a Tesla wheel/tire. Hunter is the company most chain alignment shops use and they supply toe, camber, and caster details (nominal, min, max) and they usually make you buy a package of data (likely a Tesla package). The thing is, most vehicles in a certain segment have a very similar alignment spec. Below are some specs that would make your car drive well.

Front
Camber: -1.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.10-0.20 deg total toe (zero toe is best for non-track driving, but no parts are perfect, especially on independent suspension, so you do a little toe in to account for the tolerances)

Rear
Camber: -1.0 to -1.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.20 total toe in


Now, if you were going to track your car or autocross it, I'd do something more like this.

Front
Camber: -3.5 deg per side
Toe: 0.10 to 0 toe OUT

Rear
Camber: -2.0 to -2.5 deg per side
Toe: 0.20 total toe in

i would even argue 0 toe all around would be fine for street driving, esp on this car, where people have known premature inner tire wear. BUT, also, most "tire rack" style shops are just gonna set the car to "acceptable" specs and call it a day. once their computer screen turns green, their job is done.

side note, lots of RWD cars have a TON of rear camber to prevent drivers from unintentionally killing themselves.

 

[jsmay311]

All they mean by the 'not new enough' comment is their machine doesn't have the pre-loaded Tesla specs in there. It's not like all of a sudden their machine cannot hang off a Tesla wheel/tire. Hunter is the company most chain alignment shops use and they supply toe, camber, and caster details (nominal, min, max) and they usually make you buy a package of data (likely a Tesla package). The thing is, most vehicles in a certain segment have a very similar alignment spec.

Well, I did go to the other Firestone that said they could do it, aaaaand... turns out they couldn't/wouldn't.

They did do the alignment check and they had the alignment specs in their system (they gave me the print out of it), but the manager said he couldn't proceed with the actual alignment cuz their computer system was "flashing red" with warnings that my car required various recalibrations of the cameras and/or steering angle sensor after a realignment that they couldn't do, so he wouldn't proceed since it would be "unsafe". He said I'd have to get Tesla to do it. I expressed my skepticism at this and explained that I had read plenty of reports of other non-Tesla shops doing alignments, but I didn't argue it too much since he wasn't going to change his mind.

Meanwhile, the local Tesla SC quoted me $297.50.

 

[djillusion]

Well, I did go to the other Firestone that said they could do it, aaaaand... turns out they couldn't/wouldn't.

They did do the alignment check and they had the alignment specs in their system (they gave me the print out of it), but the manager said he couldn't proceed with the actual alignment cuz their computer system was "flashing red" with warnings that my car required various recalibrations of the cameras and/or steering angle sensor after a realignment that they couldn't do, so he wouldn't proceed since it would be "unsafe". He said I'd have to get Tesla to do it. I expressed my skepticism at this and explained that I had read plenty of reports of other non-Tesla shops doing alignments, but I didn't argue it too much since he wasn't going to change his mind.

Meanwhile, the local Tesla SC quoted me $297.50.

i see you are Chicago, as am i.

call over to Chicago Performance & Tuning (www.gocpt.com) and get an alignment on the books via Al (the owner). independent shops for this type of work is the way to go vs. a firestone. Al is swapping out my 22" stock tesla wheels to the 22" TSS Sportlines next Monday and its a shop like that i want handling my needs.

i'm near positive CPT won't charge $297.50 for the alignment and they have a top tier Hunter machine used for all Porsche/Audi/MB work.

 

[Cjbabie]

There's nothing special about a Tesla suspension. Any shop can do it.

If the MX is similar to the M3, it only has front toe adjustment. That won't take care of your rear tires wearing.
I've seen plenty of generic alignment shops tell people they adjusted something in the rear and fixed it when there's literally no adjustable components in the rear.

If the MX does have rear toe, rule of thumb is 'too much toe in = outer tire wear, too much toe out = inner tire wear'.
Camber plays a role too, just not as significant. Positive camber means the tires are leaning away from the car and would give outer tire wear. This would happen when the car is at its highest point, but unlikely. Negative camber means the tires are leaning towards the car and would give inner tire wear. This would happen when the car is at its lowest point.

Hope that helps.
Be weary of buying aftermarket adjustable control arms as most of them are not set up for long term durability.

I bought tires at a Firestone and they couldn’t do an alignment on any Tesla, stated he didn’t have the special machine to do Tesla’s…so not all shops can do them! Also, last time I buy tires from them. I’m looking for a place near Tracy/Livermore CA to get my alignment.

 

[CorneliusRox]

They physically could have. They likely didn't have specs in their machine.
You could also do it yourself with little more than some string and a tape measure. If you have adjustable upper control arms for camber, you'd need a digital protractor too. I've done it plenty of times. It'll probably take you a few cracks at it until you get your rhythm, but it's really easy.
Pro Tip - Put a couple garbage bags under the tires so they're very low friction when adjusting the tie rod ends.