When Do You Guys Get Alignments?

I would not bother to get a wheel alignment unless you notice driveability issues (steering pulls to one side, car feels unstable at high speeds etc.) or see unusual tire wear.

 

I'd also add in driving through a lot of construction zones, lots of pot-holed roads, etc. Those pot-holes can do a number to the alignment, but you may not really notice it until it's worn out your tire pretty far.

When I had the 5-yr Alignment warranty at NTB, I'd also go in before any long road trip. I'm debating looking into that again, since the old one ran out. I definitely got my money worth on that at the time.

I'm usually pretty good at realizing when the car is handling differently that normal to take it in.

 

Yes seeing as my country is heading towards becoming a paid up member of the third world club, we have loads of big bad potholes and this has knocked my alignment right out. I noticed this when I had the car on full lock on the steering and the inside edge is pretty badly scuffed.

Can anywhere do the tracking/alignment on a Prius or is it a specialist job at the main dealers?

Am a little cheesed off as I hate to replace tyres when they could still have had plenty of life left in them

 

Excellent point. Or, if you hit a curb with a front tire.

The zero point calibration of the yaw rate and deceleration sensors is supposed to performed after front toe-in is adjusted. This requires the Toyota diagnostic laptop, so it sounds like a visit to the Toyota dealer service dept is required.

 

Oh

Well if needs must

 

While Toyota is still in business.

 

Hi Grumpy - I had a full geometry check at Wheelsinmotion in Chesham when I had winter tyres fitted in November, but there was very little wrong with it.

I haven't found many places that are really competent to do full geometry checks.

 

I've had premature tire wear on two different cars (minivans) due to poor alignment - neither car had any tracking or other driving problems. Switching from winter to summer tires sounds like the perfect time to do an alignment every year, or at least get it checked for free at the tire place.

- D

 

Yes, according to the Toyota repair manual.

 

Sorry to say, but I have had my 2007 aligned at two different dealers and neither bothered to reset the steering and yaw sensors. In fact, when i asked the local dealer service manager if they reset the sensors, he looked at me like I was from a different planet and then mumbled (under his breath) "damn internet". I'm beginning to believe that the dealer's service people are somewhat comfortable with doing the mechanical work but want nothing to do with the high tech electronics in the Prius.
Walt

 

Hi Walt,

To promote discussion, I've attached a couple of 2G repair manual excerpts.

What is interesting is that my 2006 Highlander Hybrid also has similar VSC, ABS etc. functionality as Prius; yet the HiHy repair manual does not require any sensor calibration after toe-in adjustment. I looked up the procedure before taking the HiHy for wheel alignment earlier this week, at a local independent.

 

Do I really have to get the sensors reset? Can I not just take it down the local tyre centre and get them to do the tracking? It's not too far out - but bad enough.

 

I finally realized you have a 3G model, and I don't have access to the wheel alignment details for that model. You could try the local tyre centre as an experiment, good luck.

 

I bought the unlimited Lifetime Alignment service from Firestone for $140 - now I get free lifetime tire rotations and wheel alignments. Not bad considering a tire alignment is usually $80 a pop.

I will get the alignments done the same time I get my tires rotated, every 5000 miles.

Or if I hit a curb, I can just bring it in. But I haven't done that - I mean bring it in. I have hit curbs, in fact I just hit one in downtown SF yesterday. DOH

 

You could, but it is not cheap: $8K.
https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInf...nfo/html/prelogin/docs/ts/tsprodinfosheet.pdf

I'd say that is out of the budget for most DIYers.

 

One year or never whichever comes last. Unless there is a very noticeable issue I stay away from alignments. The reason is I know there are a few good shops out there, but the adjustments involve precision, and most garages don't do that. The finest machine in the world is no good if there is a piece of dirt in the way, the parts are worn, or the machine isn't set up right. That means you have to care about your work, understand precision measurement, and take the time to do it right. I am not lucky enough to find such people.