Questions Regarding Alignment Issues – 2009 Cube

[Mike]

Hi all, my girlfriend’s 2009 Nissan cube needed tires and also it was pulling to the left and generally felt really bad in corners and in the rain so we got a new set put on and when they pulled the old ones off the inner shoulder of the old tires was down to the belt really bad. Basically the front tires were wearing on the inside shoulder more than the rest of the tire.

The guy who installed the tires said we should immediately bring it to firestone for an alignment which we did. When we picked it up from firestone they said that my gf’s car can only have the front toe adjusted. They said nothing else is adjustable on her car!

The said the main issue is the rear is out of alignment and that the front cant be aligned until the rear was fixed. They said to fix the rear we would need to bring it to a dealer and they would need to take apart the entire rear of the car and install shims to fix it. Lots of money they said.

They said the front camber could be fixed but we would need a camber kit but this was pointless unless we had the dealer fix the rear first. I was under the impression that the issue with the weaing the inside shoulder of the fronts was a camber issue but they said the camber kit wouldnt help until the rear was fixed.

This is a copy of the alignment report from firestone:

So my question is basically is this all sound correct? The tires on the car were over 3 years old, if it took that long to wear the inside that bad is it worth paying the delaer to do this huge shim job in the rear and the camber kit? Perhaps it’s just cheaper to replace the tires 6 months earlier than normal? How bad are these problem numbers that show in pink? The guy from firestone said they werent “that bad”.

I should add that after putting the new tires on the car now drives perfectly, no more pulling to the left, feels good in corners and rain, etc.

Thanks for any help/advice you all can offer.

Topic

[ed k]

I would take the car to the dealer if it has not been aligned yet. Every time i have had an alignment done at any place besides the dealer it has not been perfect….. honestly i don’t think the guy from firestone knows what he’s talking about with adding shims or a camber kit. I just looked up the suspension setup on the nissan cube, its the same setup as my scion…. the rear is not adjustable, its just a solid beam axle with trailing arms…. on the front the only thing you can adjust is the tie rods and maybe the struts if the bolt holes allow that.

If there really is anything wrong with the car the dealer will tell you when they go to align it then go from there.

[Author]

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