stealth1281

Like the thread says, I had work done to my 09 z06 over the winter (h/c/i) and when I went to the dealership for a wheel alignment, they said they couldn't do it since there is a protruding "lip" on the tire. They referred to it as a "rim protector."
They suggested I go to a mercedes or bmw dealership to get it done.

Has anyone ever run into this problem?

Nowanker

Yes... all the time. It makes doing an alignment a pain in the *ss, but shouldn't stop them from doing one. Some of the newest alignment machines have sensors that clamp the outside of tire instead of the rim itself, but you don't need one. Worst case, they could let the air out of tire to get past that rubber.
Bottom line: better off using a performance shop for the alignment anyway.

stealth1281

I never heard of that before. At least I'm not alone. Since it's a runflat, I didn't think that letting air out would do anything due to the stiff sidewalls? I'll have to find a performance shop somewhere. Thanks

383vett

A number of dealerships don't have alignment racks and sub the jobs out to nearby shops. Better to go with a specialist that aligns for a living anyway.

JoesC5

The tire shop I used had no problem with the rubber "rim protector". I believe there is a special apparatus they have to use, so you will probably have to check several places to see it they have one.

And, even though they are in a small town of less than 10,000 people, they knew how to install wide tires without damaging the wheels. It was worth the 70 mile round trip from home to have them install new tires, balance them and do an alignment to the exact specs I gave them.

Is there a Corvette club or hot rod club where you live, to ask them where they get their work done?

Bill Dearborn

A lot of the so called specialists are no better than the dealerships. A lot of dealerships have a dedicated alignment guy who makes his living doing alignments.

Bill

z06clif

My dealership had no trouble. The machine is a laser guided set up

Clif

Nowanker

Alignments are the same as most technical operations: the quality of the final product depends on the diligence of the technician.
Dealer techs are often under terrible time pressure, and the way to overcome that is to do bare minimum work when possible. Wheel alignments are tailor made for that... working to "acceptable industry standards" (which is a Ca legal term applying to auto repair) means just getting the readings into spec. Actually taking the time to adjust the angles evenly takes longer, setting them where the customer wants, longer still.
Your a lot more likely to get that precision at a performance shop than either the dealer or general repair/tire shop.
Just my opinion... 35+ years as a tech.

spy2520

If they have an older system i can see this being a problem. In the past it was always a pain to use the rim clamp style heads on tires like that. especially for stuff bigger than 16-17".

No excuse though, i dunno why a dealer wouldn't have a newer hunter hawkeye system by now. They've been out for atleast 5-6 years now. No issues with those.