I’m driving a '02 Jetta. It’s a manual and has the 1.8L turbo engine.
After a long winter where my traction was getting worse and worse, I found that the driver’s side wheel was almost completely bald from ~1/5 of the way in from the outer edge to the inside edge.
I took it to the local shop and they replaced the balljoints and the driver’s side tie-rod. They also rotated the front tires to the back (the bald one is now driver’s side rear) and vice versa.
In the two days since I have noticed:
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the road noise is much louder
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and a pulsing vibrations who frequency is related to speed and that becomes more pronounced when I am braking hard to come to a stop.
Is this the tire rotation? Did they throw the parts on and not check alignment (should they have?)? Something else?
Thanks!
I found that the driver’s side wheel was almost completely bald from ~1/5 of the way in from the outer edge to the inside edge. -
Sounds about right to me. Why running a on a bald tyre.
Just encase you are driving around mid Ohio, Please drive really careful, at least until you get proper tyres on your car.
The vehicle had an alignment problem and that caused the tire wear. They fixed the source of the alignment, but didn’t fix the tires. The tire still have the irregular wear generated by the bad parts. Replace the tires and the problem will go away. (or live with it until those tires wear out.)
I have replaced the pair of tires in the rear (including the one that was terribly worn) and the vibration and noise persist.
So I am back to my original question: is the alignment at fault and should i have expected that the repair include that check (that was after all what I suspected when I brought it in). As is, it would seem some alignment-related parts were replaced and nothing checked for true.
I would take it to my local known good alignment shop and have them do it right. You will not find a good alignment shop with the word “quick” in their name.