I have a local chain change my tires at spring and after first snow fall. They also keep my tires in their storage, which is a very convenient because I would otherwise have to vacuum the car every time I transport the tires. That, and the fact that I highrise apartments generally don't allow residents to store their tires in the parking spot.

I'm trying to assess how much I trust the place that I bring it to. I'm a fairly new customer, having bought a 2013 Honda Fit at the end of 2013, and that being the first time I've brought the car into the tire place to get winter tires. Some things that I was puzzled about was that the tires had some significant imbalance in the pressure the first time I brought it there. Also, I've brought it back in to have adjust balance adusted because of a shudder at highway speeds. It improved slightly. More recently (this past winter), there was a significant shudder at highway speeds, which my regular mechanic corrected and described as a significant imbalance. However, it could have been that the weights got disturbed (maybe one fell off, I'm not sure) due to a rut in the road. I don't think it's tire age, because my round trip to work is about 25km.

I just had them change from my winter tires to my all-season tires. There is a slight but noticable pull to the left, corrected by a 5-10 degree offset of the steering wheel. I'm wondering if it is reasonable to have the tire place look into this as part of the responsibility of changing the tire. They have a decent reputation, and I don't want to be the stick-in-the-mud client that foists all my problems on them. I spend long hours at my work, so making an extra trip to my regular mechanic is something I prefer not to do, plus he would have to drive away from the garage and drive it on the highway. If I had the tire place look into it, it would hopefully be in the same trip as the follow-up visit to tighten the torque nuts (they request a return trip after 80km to tighten the torque nuts). Of course, it is quite possible that they wouldn't be able to look into it in the same trip because the tire torquing is suppose to be a 5 minute job. However, if it is during a non-busy time, perhaps they can do whatever checks for causes of left-pull that are quick to do.

What would be considered reasonable practice in terms of expectations placed on a tire-changing business?

 

I also have a GE ('10) and I've been wondering the exact same thing! Unlike your experience, though, I have my studded winter tires mounted on the factory rims. I have a set of the Honda 'accessory' rims that my summer tires stay on. I change out the wheels myself in my garage.

When I put my summer tires away last year I was relieved to find that the pull to the left disappeared. All winter, no pull. This was driving on Nokian Hakkapeliittas with a taller sidewall than the factory tire.

A few weeks ago I put the summer wheels back on and, BAM, the pull to the left has returned. I'm tempted to rotate the tires to see if it changes anything. I don't know if it could be a tire failing internally, the shorter sidewall causing the road crown to give more feedback or if it's a suspension issue.

Even more puzzling...it comes and goes. Same roads over and over, but some days there's no pull, other days it's back.

I kind of look forward to getting new tires. I intend to go with a tire with a taller sidewall like my winter tires. It seems to make the steering wheel easier to turn and gives a softer ride.

 

Hi, Brayton,

When you say you have them on factory rims, do you mean Honda rims? I also have the tires permanently on the rims (so 8 rims total, 4 for summer, 4 for winter). But the winter wheels were bought separately, so they aren't Honda rims. In fact, I don't know what brand they are, or how much that matters. The tire shop stores them for me.

The tire shop said that they identify each wheel so that they can do the proper rotation of the summer tires each summer, and of the winter tires each winter. They said that if there was something "off" about the current front tires, I wouldn't have noticed them as much last year because they would have been in the back. I assume that you follow the standard rotation for front wheel drives (Canadian Tire, section entitled "Front Wheel Drive Vehicles")?

I would be unpleasantly surprised if the tires were the problem. They only had one summer: 2014. Actually, since I bought the car at the end of 2013, they had a few weeks of use in 2013 before I had winter tires put on. As I said, I typically drive about 25km each working day, so I can't imagine that excessive wear would be the problem. I've also made around 5 trips to another city in this car, but that just adds about 6000km to the odometer (and that's split between summer & winter tires).

Now the part about having pull on some days but not others...yeah, I don't know enough about tires to be able to comment. May the temperature changes the pliability of the rubber, or the belts shift, or perhaps they shift when the rubber is pliable? (If this seems like a naive line of questioning to you, believe you me, you are right).

Anyway, you're probably right into the zone as far as tire knowledge goes. I had no idea that tall sidewalls make it easier to turn the steering wheel and give a softer ride. With power steering, it probably makes less difference.

 

Yes, all of my rims are Honda originals. One set from the factory and another that I bought from the dealer later. The factory rims are painted silver aluminum and the accessory set is painted metallic grey aluminum. They're nicer looking.

I plan to drive from Anchorage to Seattle this summer when we move. I may end up needing new tires not long after I get to Seattle, which would be the point that I get taller tires.

I'm not that obsessed with tire rotation. I don't put that many miles on my car. I actually measure the tread myself and, it may just be mind tricks, but I try to find the tires with deeper tread to put on the front. Maybe they're different, but half the time I feel like I'm guessing. :-)

 

I just noticed that I used the word 'tires' a lot in that post. Geez.

 

Coincidence?.....Probably!