I just had my 35000 oil change on Saturday and the dealer noted uneven wear on the front tires. Quoted me 650... also requested an alignment.

Lately I've had a rubbing issue with the front right tire, I checked today and found a small hole in the plastic well I am on the OEm 17" wheels. This should not be occurring right?

Should I replace all 4 tires? Or just the front 2?
Do tire dealerships do alignments?
I shoudl talk with the dealership about the rubbing right?

Are there any consequences of keeping these tires through the summer? I live in San Diego so there isn't that much weather... and the tires still have lots of tread left.

 

not sure how you are even rubbing on stock suspension and stock wheels. You need to fix the alignment tho because if you cook the inside of the tires they will have to be prematurely replaced. Its going to depend on how bad the uneven wear is if you need to replace or not

 

I was in a little accident a little over a year ago where my front right side needed to be fixed. Should I take this up with the people who fixed my car or the dealer?

 

in accidents where damage was near the suspension, its a standard practice to do an alignment after the repair. If the actual suspension was damaged in the accident, its never going to be the same really. All you can really do is get an alignment to preserve the current and future tires.

I check my tires very frequently by putting my hand everywhere to check for abnormal wear. My previous car had to replace 2 front tires (aftermarket suspension) because of wearing on the inside. I didnt check the tires as closely as I should have, I learned my lesson there. Abnormal wear is very easy to detect.

 

Should I take this up with the people who fixed my car <-- yes, them first!

 

You can replace fronts and/or rears; it depends on the amount of wear left on the 'good' 2 tires.

 

Couple of ?'s:
1. are you sure you have 17"s? Most 350's come standard with 18"s
2. can you take pics of the tires?

Regardless. When in doubt, get new tires. They're expensive but nothing compared to getting into an accident because of them.

 

Yes, mine are 17's with the cooler spokes
will take pics when I get home
The back tires look a lot better tread wise, so I think I'll replace the front only.

Do the tire people do the alignments?
Also, If i buy from tire rack, who do I take them to to get mounted?
Would costco be cheaper than tirerack?

 

r u in norcal or socal?

 

costco can be cheaper, depends how they package their installation costs with the cost of the tires. if u go tirerack, u can ask them where they have recommended installers and ship to the installer directly, waiting for u to drop the car. don't believe the 17" have a bit of a lip, but either way, should make sure they use sticky weights for balancing only, not those clip ones.

if ur car is staggered, front and rear different sized, u just need to change the front if the rears have plenty of tread left.

some might argue if u get different type/brand/line of tires for the front compared to the rear, it's not the safest and u might need to change all four. but that is more your own judgement call for most streetable uses.

and yeah, have the original body shop look at ur car again. if it's insurance, need to get some sort of re-do if the suspension is really whacked. gl

 

i have stock suspension on my 18's, if i turn all the way in either direction it rubs the plastic piece under the fender

 

mine doesnt, i do full hard lefts on u turns and I dont get any noises or rubbing

 

I'm in Socal ( san diego ). I'll hit up costco since they're cheap and easy.

thanks for the help

 

How about checking around for any tire specials in San Diego? Maybe get 4 new ones if the deal is good and store the 2 for future use?

Before you do that I would definately question the body shop - "17 stock tires shouldn't be rubbing.

Good luck.

 

I dont have a rubbing problem, but mine is a 250 with 18". Talk to the insurance company thay you filed a claim with. AAA has a guarentee if you use a bodyshop they recommend they will fix it for free no matter how long down the road as long as your the original owner.

Costco is cheap but your going to have to special order. FYI costco doesnt do alignments tho. Just order the fronts because you have staggered tires as well. Tire rack can deliver to a authorized installer of tire rack and have them install it.

Good luck.