Why would I think I would need a wheel alignment on a brand new car with only 18K miles? Especially since I can not remember hitting any makor bumps or pot holes. I have no problem springing for a wheel alignment and have done so on other cars I've owned in the past. But a new car? Has anyone else here had a wheel alignment done with less than 20K miles?

 

Here is a link to descriptions of tire wear to determine what the cause is. It may not necessarily be an alignment problem.

Tire wear chart

 

I would love to live where you do if you have smooth roads without potholes or bumps or speed bumps. Allignment goes off on cars fairly easily, especially smaller cars. SUV's and trucks are harder to throw off but with sedans and especially compacts, alignments can really go off easily.
When we get our new cars alligned it's usually after 1 year and 12,000 miles. We've gone through various types of cars and the smaller they are the more they're off by that time.

My uncle who is one of those tire specialists has also been taught and noticed the same effects. He notes that going over speed bumps, driveways or loading up the car with heavy weight can affect the alignment.

I do not doubt what you've done and experienced in the past, but every indvidual car is different and how or what you do with each car is slightly different too. There's really nothing wrong with getting an alignment a bit earlier on. I know many shops i live around sell alignments for 90 bucks (without a coupon) for 4 wheels and you can come back as many times within 12 months or 12,000 miles. I really liked that when i had a lowered car...haha

 

Thanks for the chart. According to this chart other than alignment problems, under inflation would seem to be the cause. I have kept the tires inflated to 32 psi. Maybe I need to go higher.

 

Your biggest problem is lack of rotation. Front tires wear more on the outside due to "cornering wear" caused by steering. I keep my tires at 32 psi with normal wear. Tire rotation reduces this wear by spreading it out to all four tires.

 

I just turned 40 so I've been around for a while and have heard a lot of B.S.
My 07 BOMFitSport manufactured 03/06 which is my birth month now has 20,000 mi, regular oil changes, and much pampering by me.
Of all the vehicles I have ever owned this is the first to REALLY DISAPPOINT me.
Front tires are shot, I never had to align any other vehicles by 30,000 unless they pulled.
Rattles like a freezing hooker, c'mon I had 2 6x9s 2 12s and over 1200 watts in my Isuzu Trooper and it rocked your socks off!!! Set car alarms off and took your breath but NEVER RATTLED!!!!!
I put almost 60,000 Mi on my 99 F150 with the 5.4 triton motor running flat out in central Florida back country ON THE SAME SET OF TIRES.

I love My FIT but I tell everyone to avoid them like the friggin plague
DOMO ARIGATO HONDA SAN

 

Sounds like maybe you should be telling people to avoid those particular cheap Dunlop tires instead. There's nothing wrong with getting an alignment early..... If it needs it.... It needs it.

 

Regardless of how many miles you rack on a car, you're supposed to have an alignment check done every year.

And rotate those tires.

 

I just got back from the dealer and need new tires. They said I did not rotate my tires enough. I had a front end problem fixed at 6000 miles and rotated at 9000. I have 21000 mile now and rotated tires and there is a noise front right tire. I tired to argue that there must be a problem with the suspension but they said everything was OK, I am going to write Honda and see if that goes anywhere. Just one tire is bad so there is a problem. Dont Pay for a Bumper to Bumper warranty because it dont cover wear items which is everything.

 

I have not rotated the tires until today. 07 FIT has a mere 8k on it and the front tires were shot. Belts showing on insides and wear on outsides. Looks like under inflation, yet I always keep them at 35. I would almost call it "peeling" on the front insides. Brought it in and got the "rotate" them. Could be my fault, since it is low driving, but obviously had it for a while, as I bought it when the light blue first appeared. Also I am lucky to get better mileage than my Accord. Brought it in twice for that and got the "if no dash light is on, it is fine". I am close to getting a special "look at it" from corporate, since there must be something wrong in the front end with that crazy of a wear. Even rotating, there is not way all FOUR tires would be that way by only 16k. It is also Dunlaps. I am curious if everyone that has issues has Dunlaps, or does "everyone" just have Dunlaps. I sense a trip to Costco coming soon.

 

It could be the alignment or you were running low pressure the tires were rolling over which accelerated the outside wear.

 

I still have the same tires on at 35000 miles no alignment. Just rotated X pattern. When I get new tires, I will get an alignment. The reason the tires feather is because the back of the car is so light that the tires skim the road at highway speeds. I still have alot of tire thread so I will try to get 1 more winter out of them.

 

That definitely sounds like underinflation. When do you measure your pressure? hot or cold tires?

I am also one that overinflates to 40psi. I prefer the stiffer ride, and I believe it also helps with more even wear.

I also like to get alignments at least 4 times a year if I can remember to. Alignments can get shifted pretty easily, and this isn't as often as I used to get alignments on my previous car (STi, alignment at least every other month - expensive rubber!). I did pay for the NTB 5 year alignment, so I could go in every week if I wanted to.

Also, if you have been checking your tires regularly, you really should not have let them get that far, it is really dangerous, and you are lucky to not have had any safety issues so far. If you can see the steel belt anywhere, those tires should have been replaced thousands of miles ago most likely (unless alignment just got out of spec, and started wearing only on one side - that could cause damage in less than 1k miles).

I check my tires on a regular basis. I should rotate them more often that I have in the past, but I always make sure I have enough tread to be safe on the road with.

 

Well, there's your problem. I rotated mine every 5,000 miles and had roughly 35,000 miles on the stock Dunlops before they needed to be replaced.

 

When I am looking at the rear of our Fit, I have noticed something that continues to make me wonder. Does anyone elese notice that the rear tires on their Fit seem to sit as if the car has a heavy weight in the rear even when the car is empty? It looks as if the rear tires would wear prematurely on the inside due to the angle the tires sit at.

At 30k miles we had to replace the factory tires and supposedly had a bad alignment (toe was out, indicating wear inside). We have babied this car since it's our first new one together, and I am not aware of any rough potholes and it has never left pavement.

That said, we did get a nail perilously close to the sidewall around 10k miles and replaced the one tire. Weird thing though was that all 4 tires wore badly on the inside, yet we only had front to back tire rotations so the one pair of tires should have worn poorly, not all 4. Maybe it was poor alignment combined with differing age of tires, but I was surprised they wore out so quickly.

We did get an alignment at Sears, but the roads here are well, not rough per se, but very uneven. I can't tell if they balanced the tires poorly or the roads are really that bad - even the newly paved ones. It seems when at highway speeds, even on new pavement, around 60-80 MPH you can feel what feels like unbalanced tires vibration. I have taken the car back in to have it rechecked, and they supposedly had to rebalance a tire, but it continues.

My old car has the same issue, though the tires, alignment, and a bunch of suspension work were done within a couple of months as the one on the Fit, and at a different shop.

 

your alignment could definitely be out even if you didn't hit any major pot holes. I try to get my car aligned every couple months or so (I have a 5 year plan at NTB, but wouldn't do it this often if I had to pay each time), and that helps me keep my alignment in good order.

Toe misalignment will kill a tire in no time (if it is bad enough, you can go down to the steel within two weeks of regular driving). The quickest way to tell whether you have an issue with toe or camber is the wear - if it is just on the corner a couple inches or so, it is a toe issue, if half of the tire is worn, then you have a camber issue.

The tires tilting is due to the camber. if it is extreme, the camber could be out of spec, as it should only be at a degree or so, which should be somewhat difficult to see by just looking at the car.

For what it is worth, my OEM tires only lasted around 20k, but that is more due to my driving style.

If you don't trust the sears place, it is worthwhile to go somewhere you trust the employees and equipment to get the job done right. If the tires really are out of balance, that could cause some problematic wear on the tires. Try to go to the flattest section of the highway if possible and go at different speeds to see if you can replicate any resonating vibrations.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

As for the visible camber on the rear tires thing, I just wonder if the Fit is manufactured to be set at that camber. Per the alignment folks, it is well within specs. There are a few around town, but I haven't been able to see one in a parking lot and see how similar they are yet. Most folks around here have trucks or Detroit steel (or plastic).

I would check with another shop I trust, but quite frankly, if I trusted what was around, I would go there first. I don't know the places here very well yet. It's not like a larger city where you can do some internet searching to find ratings and reviews. As for the highway, I have tried on the flattest, brand new section of interstate, but still feel some vibration, but only at certain speeds and not all of the time. This happens with both of our cars, so I wonder if two seperate shops did a poor job, or if the highway is just paved poorly (I vote for the latter).

 

Try a search on the forum, I know it's been discussed in the trix forums.. I think the camber is fixed.

Look through this sticky: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ons-specs.html