I took my car in for an alignment because it was pulling to the right. Firestone did the alignment and said they aligned the front end to factory specs. It continued to pull. So, they rotated the tires and checked and said the alignment was correct. Now it pulls to the left (at any speed) and there is road noise from the front end.
I took it back to Firestone and they said my problem is “radial pull.”
Any ideas? What should I do. The tires are wearing on the outside edges.
Thanks.
Please tell us the brand and model of tire on your Altima. Also, the age and mileage on the tires would be helpful.
I do not know exactly how many miles are on the tires. I bought the car last year and have put 20,000 miles on it.
The brand of the tires are Cornell 1000 on the right and Kenetica on the left.
Two different brands of tires on the front just may be your problem. Have you thought about getting a new set of matched tires? Mismatched tires can cause all kinds of problems including pulling to the right or left.
Having mismatched tires on the front is dangerous. Get two new identical tires on the front.
That may also solve your pulling problem and the road noise.
Radial pull can occur no doubt about it, but I don’t know how they consider that possibility with worn and mismatched tires.
At least put the same brand tires on each end of the car; Cornell on one end, Kenetica on the other, etc. This may cure the problem.
I’m not familiar with Cornell or Kenetica tires but they could be questionable or downright dangerous.
A quick look shows the Kenetica tires are Chinese/Taiwan made and the Cornell tires are sold through Pep Boys.
Some Cornell tires appear to be under a Recall for improper construction and belt separation. You might check with a Pep Boys and compare the serial on the tires to see if they are covered. If they are, you could wind up with at least a pair of new tires for free.
I agree you need matched tyres*. However I if you are replacing only two, the two best need to be on the back! With the best tyres on the front, you risk having the back end loose traction in an emergency and you will loose control of your car with the back end swinging out and you end up looking where you have been and will not be able to control your car’s direction.
- Matched means both front match each other and both back match each other or ideally all for match each other.
Radial pull is caused by a tire property called “conicity” - root word cone. Every tire has it - it’s all a matter of how much.
You can start with a tire with low values of conicity and wear more into it. With the tires wearing unevenly, that would be a clue that there is a problem.
Yup, new tires are your only way to fix this.
As you seem to have cheap, mismatched, unevenly worn tires that are giving you multiple issues, I’d suggest biting the bullet and getting a new set of four brand-name tires.
Before making your purchase, you can read a lot of tire review information on Tire Rack’s web site.