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Alignment... or something else?

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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 08:52 AM
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Default Alignment... or something else?

Heres my story:

I bought a brand new 09 IS250 and purchased F-sport springs from Westminster Lexus. I then had them installed by a local Houston shop, which did a great job. Alignment felt fine, but I was still told to get an alignment regardless of how the car felt. At this point the car didnt pull or have any noticeable problems.

So, I took it to my Lexus dealership, payed 99 bucks and got the alignment.

Later on, I purchased Rim and tires, which were installed by Discount Tire. All tires were mounted and balanced. After this point I noticed that the car drifted a little to the right. "Well, " I thought, "maybe I just need to get another alignment, I should have waited to get springs and rims, but oh well... worst that happens is ill pay another 99 bucks."

So I take my car to the dealer, explain the situation... They dont really ask if the rims were on before or after I came in for the first alignment.

The rep calls me today and says "hey man, somethings squirly with your car... I had my lead tech check it out and he agree... car is aligned to spec but still drifts to the right..."

At this point, I dont know if hes telling me the truth and actually checked the alignment, or if hes just bull****ting me to keep me from raising hell.

Anyways, my question is... when getting rims and tires, do you normally need an alignment? Assuming the dealer is telling the truth and the car is to spec, why would the car pull to the right?
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 08:57 AM
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I would make sure your tires are balanced to proper specs first.
Make sure your new rims are spinning true.
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 09:21 AM
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You could have a bad tire, causing a radial pull. Take it back to D.T. and have them switch the front tires side to side and see if the pull changes to the other side. If it does you need to have the tire replaced.
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 09:47 AM
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what are you running now for tire size?
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 09:50 AM
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235/35/19 - front
275/30/19 - rear
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 10:01 AM
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might have the check the camber because of the wider tires.
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 11:05 AM
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you might wanna check the tire pressure too
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 11:12 AM
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Wouldnt my TPMS sensors trip if there was a problem with the tire pressure?
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 11:43 AM
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Would you mind mentioning how much Westminster charged for their springs? Thanks.
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 12:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Fizzboy7
Would you mind mentioning how much Westminster charged for their springs? Thanks.
$252.00 incl shipping
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Old Dec 3, 2008 | 02:37 PM
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So, D.T. rebalanced the wheels which made the pull less, but it still drifts. Could this be a bad tire?

I've never seen a thread with problems of camber over F-sport springs, they are pretty conservative in terms of lowering.
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Old Dec 4, 2008 | 05:44 PM
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Anyone have ideas?
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Old Dec 5, 2008 | 11:16 AM
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take some pics of the car. may be we can judge better what the problem might be.
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Old Dec 5, 2008 | 01:12 PM
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Originally Posted by laski
Wouldnt my TPMS sensors trip if there was a problem with the tire pressure?
TPMS sensors only activates if it detects a 20% drop in tire pressure from any of the tires. So they could of under inflated or over inflated and the car TPMS sensors would be fine, that why you need to check tire pressure every month.
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Old Dec 6, 2008 | 11:33 AM
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What is the stock PSI that I should check for in my tires?
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