Tires for alignment
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,235
Likes: 658
From: Thunder Bay
Tires for alignment
I'm preparing my car for an alignment. I'm not going to let the shop have my good rims. Too many bad experiences with alignment shops marking up my aluminum wheels. I have an old set of tires on steel rims that I am going to mount on the car for the alignment. Same size tire but the steel rim is slightly narrower than the aluminum wheel. The backspacing of the wheels is the same, but with the wider aluminum rim the resulting offset is slightly lower. It's not a lot, but the tire sits about 1/2-3/4" farther outboard with the aluminum wheel. Should I use some washers to space the steel wheel away from the hub to simulate the offset with the sluminum wheels when I get the alignment done?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,235
Likes: 658
From: Thunder Bay
Thanks for the suggestion. If I knew the technician who is going to do the alignment, I might do exactly that. I have seen guys do it with the heads that grip the outside edge of the rim and leave few marks, but I have also seen guys clamp on the heads that are designed for steel rims, which will carve huge gouges in an aluminum rim. I'm not willing to take that chance. I have the same size tires on steel rims that I can use for the alignment. I just want to know how much the difference in offset is likely to affect the alignment and if there is some way I can compensate for that.
