Dealer says they noticed feathering on my tires and recommended a balance/alignment. I told them to skip it, figuring I'd get a better deal with a local shop. Should I be looking for 4 wheel alignment or will front end only suffice?

 

Strongly recomment getting all four wheels. The front/rear alignments are interdependent.

 

Typically you don't need an alignment unless you've hit something (damaged suspension), your suspension worn out, or you replaced/repaired certain suspension parts.

I've seen plenty of TNGA class Toyota/Lexuses with blown shocks/struts. How are your air pressure and damper status? Sometimes you'll see a leak (wet shock) or the wheel will bounce up and down rapidly while driving. i've seen quite a few Camrys, one 7ES, and a highlander with bouncing rear wheels. All the above can cause uneven tire wear

former alignment tech here

 

Interesting. It's CPO and has been in there 3 times for maintenance, this is the first time they've said anything, so who knows. Air pressure has always been good as far as I know. I'm going to a local shop here and will ask them to check the suspension parts, so thanks for that

 

Is your car driving straight, with steering wheel straight? any obvious or even subtle driving characteristics that seem off?

 

I doubt the price will be drastically different for a front vs all wheel alignment. Besides, any shop that does alignments is going to nearly insist you do an all wheel alignment if your rear wheels are adjustable. I don't think all three angles are adjustable on the rear (camber, toe, caster) but at the least, camber is probably adjustable.

I believe I've wasted a lot of money on unnecessary alignments done on my cars in the past. Nowadays, I only get it done if I notice the car drifting to one side or the other, not driving straight when the wheel is centered or if the tires are wearing very unevenly. If the tires are wearing slightly uneven, I'll usually go with a rotation and balance first since it's free with tire purchase at Discount Tire. I only ever did one alignment on my 2017 ES and that was due to installing new sway bar end links at about 180K miles. None so far on the '22 with 51K miles.

Edit: If you have a Big-O near you, they used to have a 4 alignment deal for about $120. You could get four alignments for the same car within 12 months. That's a pretty decent deal, although chances are you won't need all four. Even if you do only two, it's a decent deal.

 

I don't notice any pulling in either direction but since that visit I do notice a slight jump/bounce to the ride.

 

Ask them to look at the shocks & struts to make sure they're not failed or leaking. sometimes they can fail without leaking or sometimes there'll be a wet spot on the shocks.

 

I will, thanks

 

Front and rear.

 

There is no such thing as a front wheel alignment. There has to be a reference to check against to see how the wheels are pointed that would be the rear wheels.

 

if it's just front toe that's off, say if you change a tierod, all you'd need to do is just the front. actually, you'd only need a one wheel alignment in that case.

but best practice to check them all for out of adjustment because brand new, the factory can get it wrong.

also another fun fact is just cause an alignment is "out of spec" doesn't necessarily mean it's "wrong." i used to purposely do alignments "out of spec" all the time. i'd do custom performance alignments with custom toe & camber.

another fun fact, just because all adjustments are "in the green," or "in spec," doesn't mean it's necessarily good. it's an art and you better hope you get a really detailed & savvy tech.

luckily my Model Y has a perfect alignment. tracks like a beast. dead straight dead center. i would throw a fit if it were off from the factory, cause this often means you have to go back 2 or 3x for the tech to get it right. they'll just "stick it in the green" and you'll get back a car that's "in spec" but drives crooked.

 

​​You have a Tesla? I had no idea 🙄

 

He never mentioned it before.