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Wheel alignment needed?

obiwankabaldi

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Lots of talk about tires and wheels but no talk about doing a wheel alignment after changing. So I ask. If putting on new wheels and tires should you get an alignment done? Never owned a jeep so additional question is if and when you do is it a 4 wheel alignment? Thanks...
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FatBoy01

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Lots of talk about tires and wheels but no talk about doing a wheel alignment after changing. So I ask. If putting on new wheels and tires should you get an alignment done? Never owned a jeep so additional question is if and when you do is it a 4 wheel alignment? Thanks...
Well, I will probably get hammered for answering this as so many people have different ideas on this.

Before I say anything do know that it best to go to a decent alignment shop and ask them to "check" alignment. Don't tell them to "do an alignment."

IF you say check alignment, they put vehicle on an alignment machine/rack and check...... and then approach you with the results (usually on a printout) right then an there and you with their expert direction, decide how to proceed. They then do and charge you accordingly.

You might very well not need any adjustment so the charge will be just for the check.

Now, if you go in and say do an alignment (2 or 4 wheel) they will undoubtedly charge you for an alignment even if they did diddly squat. There is a difference in price between a "check alignment" and a "do an alignment".


4 wheel alignment: During a 4-wheel alignment service at a decent alignment shop, the tech will measure the camber, caster and toe of every wheel. Each has camber, caster and toe angles...when these are correctly aligned, your vehicle will drive straight.

If the the camber, caster and toe angles are screwed up on any wheel, you can have wheel alignment issues. Your vehicle will undoubtedly not drive straight. you will see tires wear improperly.

Anyway, camber, caster and toe are checked/adjusted to spec / both front end and rear alignment checked/done.

Can tell you that as long as the vehicle is driving straight, most guys do not have an alignment done after their lift is done. Most guys that just do taller tires do not do an alignment. SURE, it does no harm to have alignment checked but it is not mandatory I guess you would say.

In closing, if you have front end alignment or rear end alignment concerns, if you want to know, then tell the shop to check.. you want to pay for a check.... do not just say do an alignment.

Do ask to get/ and keep the printout that they came up with! Place this in your vehicle record file for future comparisons to, etc..


Also, do chose your alignment shop carefully! All alignment shops are not created equally lets say.

.
 
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FatBoy01

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Nice reply. Thanks.
Hope the info was helpful. You might want to re-read it over as I fine tuned it / edited it a little since the first post.
 
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obiwankabaldi

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Very helpful. Thanks a lot. These JEEP things are awesome. Never had one and with the mods come questions galore.
 

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Merlin28

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Well, I will probably get hammered for answering this as so many people have different ideas on this.

Before I say anything do know that it best to go to a decent alignment shop and ask them to "check" alignment. Don't tell them to "do an alignment."

IF you say check alignment, they put vehicle on an alignment machine/rack and check...... and then approach you with the results (usually on a printout) right then an there and you with their expert direction, decide how to proceed. They then do and charge you accordingly.

You might very well not need any adjustment so the charge will be just for the check.

Now, if you go in and say do an alignment (2 or 4 wheel) they will undoubtedly charge you for an alignment even if they did diddly squat. There is a difference in price between a "check alignment" and a "do an alignment".


4 wheel alignment: During a 4-wheel alignment service at a decent alignment shop, the tech will measure the camber, caster and toe of every wheel. Each has camber, caster and toe angles...when these are correctly aligned, your vehicle will drive straight.

If the the camber, caster and toe angles are screwed up on any wheel, you can have wheel alignment issues. Your vehicle will undoubtedly not drive straight. you will see tires wear improperly.

Anyway, camber, caster and toe are checked/adjusted to spec / both front end and rear alignment checked/done.

Can tell you that as long as the vehicle is driving straight, most guys do not have an alignment done after their lift is done. Most guys that just do taller tires do not do an alignment. SURE, it does no harm to have alignment checked but it is not mandatory I guess you would say.

In closing, if you have front end alignment or rear end alignment concerns, if you want to know, then tell the shop to check.. you want to pay for a check.... do not just say do an alignment.

Do ask to get/ and keep the printout that they came up with! Place this in your vehicle record file for future comparisons to, etc..


Also, do chose your alignment shop carefully! All alignment shops are not created equally lets say.

.
Dude you wrote that only to leave out that there is no adjustment anywhere on a Jeep to the acception of the toe and steering drag long to center the steering wheel. If the Jeep doesn’t track straight not much that can be done....
 

joecitrix97

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Well, I will probably get hammered for answering this as so many people have different ideas on this.

Before I say anything do know that it best to go to a decent alignment shop and ask them to "check" alignment. Don't tell them to "do an alignment."

IF you say check alignment, they put vehicle on an alignment machine/rack and check...... and then approach you with the results (usually on a printout) right then an there and you with their expert direction, decide how to proceed. They then do and charge you accordingly.

You might very well not need any adjustment so the charge will be just for the check.

Now, if you go in and say do an alignment (2 or 4 wheel) they will undoubtedly charge you for an alignment even if they did diddly squat. There is a difference in price between a "check alignment" and a "do an alignment".


4 wheel alignment: During a 4-wheel alignment service at a decent alignment shop, the tech will measure the camber, caster and toe of every wheel. Each has camber, caster and toe angles...when these are correctly aligned, your vehicle will drive straight.

If the the camber, caster and toe angles are screwed up on any wheel, you can have wheel alignment issues. Your vehicle will undoubtedly not drive straight. you will see tires wear improperly.

Anyway, camber, caster and toe are checked/adjusted to spec / both front end and rear alignment checked/done.

Can tell you that as long as the vehicle is driving straight, most guys do not have an alignment done after their lift is done. Most guys that just do taller tires do not do an alignment. SURE, it does no harm to have alignment checked but it is not mandatory I guess you would say.

In closing, if you have front end alignment or rear end alignment concerns, if you want to know, then tell the shop to check.. you want to pay for a check.... do not just say do an alignment.

Do ask to get/ and keep the printout that they came up with! Place this in your vehicle record file for future comparisons to, etc..


Also, do chose your alignment shop carefully! All alignment shops are not created equally lets say.

.
Thank you for the nice writeup. I am about ready to take mine into the dealer. Mine is all over the road and I hope its just an alignment issue.
 

Owen~TJ-2-JL

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Thank you for the nice writeup. I am about ready to take mine into the dealer. Mine is all over the road and I hope its just an alignment issue.
Did you get any resolution? Just got my JL 2dr this weekend. I’ve had Jeep’s (TJ and JK) and this thing is all over the place.
 

MarcRRT

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Did you get any resolution? Just got my JL 2dr this weekend. I’ve had Jeep’s (TJ and JK) and this thing is all over the place.
I just bought my JL 2 days ago and I"m taking it in when dealership opens. Steering wheel is not straight. Jeep is all over the place a higher speeds. I definitely want to get this fixed before I start upgrading wheels/tires/lift.
 

offcamber

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There is NOTHING TO ADJUST BUT TOE IN on a Jeep. You can check and set toe-in with a tape measure and chalk, Paying money for an alignment on a Jeep is 100% a waste of money unless you are completely unable to turn a wrench.
 

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Did you get any resolution? Just got my JL 2dr this weekend. I’ve had Jeep’s (TJ and JK) and this thing is all over the place.
I just bought my JL 2 days ago and I"m taking it in when dealership opens. Steering wheel is not straight. Jeep is all over the place a higher speeds. I definitely want to get this fixed before I start upgrading wheels/tires/lift.
How’s the tire pressure?
 

vavaroutsos

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I think some of you guys might want to read the "loose steering" thread.
 

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If I'm interpreting alignment and the responses here, is it safe to assume that no alignment is needed of only new wheels and larger tires are put on? No lift, just wheels and tires.
I understand @FatBoy01 's "check" vs "do" the/an alignment, but I don't want to pay for the "check" when I get wheel and tires installed next week. I'm not a mechanic or an engineer, but I don't understand how any angle of any suspension component will change just by installing different wheels and/or tires. I hope more folks chime in, here.
 
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Lots of talk about tires and wheels but no talk about doing a wheel alignment after changing. So I ask. If putting on new wheels and tires should you get an alignment done? Never owned a jeep so additional question is if and when you do is it a 4 wheel alignment? Thanks...
I just couldn’t let this pass. The people in here that say there is no adjustment are just plain wrong. Here are the specs for a 2018.

CB9F5EF5-C948-46E0-902B-8885921B320C.jpeg
 

timn1984

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Reviving this thread. I just changed tires to K02 275/70/18. After getting a nail in the sidewall of one of my Wrangler Tires, I decided to pull the trigger on NEW K02's after doing much research on this forum. Dealer had "buy 3 get one for $1". So I took the bait. I was in a hurry and told them if they could do it quickly I would appreciate it. To make a long story short I prepaid for the tires and was on the pricing sheet another ($150 ???- not sure of the exact amount since I do not have my pricing sheet in front of me). They came back and said the tires are on but they hadn't done the alignment, the rack was busy. So I told them I needed the car because I needed to leave. They gave me the keys and I left. I did not pay for the alignment.

My question is I went from stock Wranglers (255/70/18) to BFG K02 275/70/18. Do I really need an alignment when switching to this slightly larger tire?

AND how would I look to see if I really needed and alignment and how would I do it myself?
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