I don't get excited about tire shops but listen up!
I've had steering wobble and vibration in the 60mph and up range since I bought my rig 2 years ago. The steering wheel was also always to the left by a good 10 degrees with a rightward pull. I have the lifetime alignment plan at firestone. They've done 4 alignments for me in this time as well as balancing. They've never fixed any of this. I've always gotten the printout showing before and after and one guy said my rear end has a thrust angle of -.1 degree which may be why or my frame could be twisted. Then I took it to les schwab for the same issue. They found that I was running 28 psi (factory spec) and since it was their tires on there they said 33 is best. That fixed a good deal of the right pull but not the wobbles. They also checked balance and it was fine. This summer I bought 4 new AT tires with discount tires summer sale. I waited until now to put them on since it wasn't needed. I explained to the guy in Auburn that I wanted a mounting and balancing. From my research my rig required lug centric balancing and not the more common hub centric. He assured me that "we have many cone adapters so that's not an issue" and I thought 'great another jagoff that's disregarding me'. I also asked for them to check my steering bushings because I was planning to replace those at home but wanted confirmation as it's hard for one person to check it themselves. I had about 2 inches of steering play (meaning when driving straight my hand could wiggle an inch in both directions without turning the car). This is often a steering rack issue. After all this I get in my rig after they're done and I start driving....ok...speed up....ok it's going straight!.....hit 65 on the freeway....O...M....G! Those guys fixed it...everything!!! 5 different visits to two other shops with various techs working on it and finally DT does the job. I don't know if it was the better dynamic balancing they do or maybe the crummy les schwab tires I had on there or what. I felt so relieved driving I literally felt warm and fuzzy inside like I wanted to shed tears of joy. It's like finally getting the Christmas present you always wanted. The whole drive home, about 20 minutes, I was waiting for it to act up. I thought it was too good to be true. I even installed new rotors and calipers bigger than my OEM size and I was getting vibration from 40mph and up braking, like BAD. Even that's barey noticeable. It's truly another issue I'm gonna fix today (didn't clean rotors before installing), but the balancing issue was amplified with that. In a world of shit customer service and lackluster effort with people regarding their job, I can actually say I'm a huge fan of these guys. Idk if it was this location or the tech himself, but DT just made me a LIFETIME CUSTOMER!
I've had steering wobble and vibration in the 60mph and up range since I bought my rig 2 years ago. The steering wheel was also always to the left by a good 10 degrees with a rightward pull. I have the lifetime alignment plan at firestone. They've done 4 alignments for me in this time as well as balancing. They've never fixed any of this. I've always gotten the printout showing before and after and one guy said my rear end has a thrust angle of -.1 degree which may be why or my frame could be twisted. Then I took it to les schwab for the same issue. They found that I was running 28 psi (factory spec) and since it was their tires on there they said 33 is best. That fixed a good deal of the right pull but not the wobbles. They also checked balance and it was fine. This summer I bought 4 new AT tires with discount tires summer sale. I waited until now to put them on since it wasn't needed. I explained to the guy in Auburn that I wanted a mounting and balancing. From my research my rig required lug centric balancing and not the more common hub centric. He assured me that "we have many cone adapters so that's not an issue" and I thought 'great another jagoff that's disregarding me'. I also asked for them to check my steering bushings because I was planning to replace those at home but wanted confirmation as it's hard for one person to check it themselves. I had about 2 inches of steering play (meaning when driving straight my hand could wiggle an inch in both directions without turning the car). This is often a steering rack issue. After all this I get in my rig after they're done and I start driving....ok...speed up....ok it's going straight!.....hit 65 on the freeway....O...M....G! Those guys fixed it...everything!!! 5 different visits to two other shops with various techs working on it and finally DT does the job. I don't know if it was the better dynamic balancing they do or maybe the crummy les schwab tires I had on there or what. I felt so relieved driving I literally felt warm and fuzzy inside like I wanted to shed tears of joy. It's like finally getting the Christmas present you always wanted. The whole drive home, about 20 minutes, I was waiting for it to act up. I thought it was too good to be true. I even installed new rotors and calipers bigger than my OEM size and I was getting vibration from 40mph and up braking, like BAD. Even that's barey noticeable. It's truly another issue I'm gonna fix today (didn't clean rotors before installing), but the balancing issue was amplified with that. In a world of shit customer service and lackluster effort with people regarding their job, I can actually say I'm a huge fan of these guys. Idk if it was this location or the tech himself, but DT just made me a LIFETIME CUSTOMER!
