tire alignment - necessary if doesn't pull???

If the tires you disposed of showed signs of uneven wear then you should get an alignment to protect your new tires.

It is good that you run straight and true with the new ones installed, and I suppose that unless you have really high mileage, you haven't said, and provided that you have not had any curb hits or monster pot hole events, that all is well with your suspension components.

So, if those old tires just wore out and did so evenly, you could likely skip the procedure and save those few bucks.

Hopefully when you get your regular maintenance done somebody does a visual check of boots etc., and shakes the wheels to check the bearings etc.

What tires did Costco mount for you? The Energy's?

Roland.

 

as roland said.. you can't tell w/o looking at worn tires. The determination should have been done before replacement.

But if it doesn't pull you probably don't need one. Also if there were some noticeable alignment issues the installers most likely would have told you as they give warranty.

 

The car can be out of alignment and not pull. Like others have stated, if your old tires wore evenly then you may not benefit from an alignment. You may benefit from a slight increase in MPG though. Just depends on how out of alignment the car is.

 

+1 to all. Pull has more to do with your steering wheel and less to do with your toe, camber, and caster.

 

Please educate me. I had never heard that a steering wheel can cause pulling to one side when driving. Just how does the steering wheel affect vehicle pull? When I check for pulling, I find a long stretch of level road and remove my hands from the steering wheel.

 

Your steering wheel is not straight with your wheels, is what I meant. When they aligned the suspension on the rack they did not properly straighten the wheel.

 

even if the steering wheel is not straight the alignment could be fine. Had this happen very long time ago and took it back to shop. They did not even bother to change alignment just unscrewed steering wheel and put it straight.

 

For minor adjustments or to verify a shops work I wipe clean a small area of the tread from side to side and stick a strip of duct tape on it.
The tape will stay on for 20 plus miles. I check the wear pattern.
Factory settings are for average driving and people.
Freeway driving requires different settings than canyon racing and vehicle load add to the mix.
I make camber adjustments acordingly and check toe by strapping straight bars to the wheels with bunjee cords.
Toe should be in because the force applied to the tires while going forward will bring toe to a near zero condition due to play of the steering components.
If the car pulls to one side I increase the caster on the opposite side.