I thought I'd share my recent tire experience which turned into a balet of musical tires. A solution was finally found. Here's the story.
I had ordered two new rear 17" Yokos since mine were toast. I got them from Discount Tire Direct using the NSXCA discount and had the tires mounted and balanced on the new wheels but the tire shop I use. Went to the Acura dealer I always go to for a precision four wheel alignment. With the new alignment settings, the NSX pulled to the right. On a level smooth road, the moment you take your hands off the wheel, the car would start pulling to the right. The faster you go the quicker the pull. The alignment was checked and rechecked about four times to make sure it was perfect. A call to Acura's tech line came back with a statement that the car should be tracking straight with the provided alignment specs. Hmmm.
My front tires were the original Yokos mounted on the 16" wheels in 1997 with 21K miles on them. Perhaps they were used to the old alignment specs and are behaving oddly with the new alignment. The last time I had my NSX aligned was back in 1997. I never had it checked since the tire wear was perfect until my rears wore out quicker than normal (toe was off). The tech was thinking the tires may be very old and possibly the cause of the pull. He took my fronts and swapped them side to side. No change. So, I ordered two new front Yokos so the car would have fresh rubber all around. The originals still had 1/3 of the tread left. I got the new tires mounted and balanced and took the car for a spin. No change. Still pulling to the right. I went back to the dealer to get a fee followup alignment since I got new fronts. After the alignment, the car still pulls to the right! My tech as well as the others were really wondering what could be causing this. The shop uses a Hunter alignment rack and their rep was out to check it over and it was okay. The dealership had aligned five other cars that day and all didn't exhibit a pull.
The tech then decided to swap the rear tires side to side. Took the car on the freeway and voila! Drove in a straight line. His conclusion was that either one or both of the tires have some kind of manufacturing defect in them. The rear tires were swapped back to the correct sides and direction of rotation and the pull came back. I called Discount Tire Direct and they accepted the rear tires back for exchange. I only put about 250 freeway miles on them. I received the replacement Yokos today and had my local tire shop mount and balance them. I brought the tires back from the shop in my GSR and installed them on the NSX which has been sitting on jackstands for a week. I drove around my neighborhood around 40mph on some short but level straights and the car tracked straight. I then got on the freeway and was relieved. The car drives straight as an arrow! Either one or both of the tires had something wrong with them. Their date of manufacture was over a year apart between the two not that it makes any difference.
I thank Discount Tire Direct for taking the tires back and promptly shipping replacements to me. Todd Holzwarth was very helpful and understanding of my situation and gladly exchanged the tires with no hassle.
I'm glad my NSX drives perfectly again.
I had ordered two new rear 17" Yokos since mine were toast. I got them from Discount Tire Direct using the NSXCA discount and had the tires mounted and balanced on the new wheels but the tire shop I use. Went to the Acura dealer I always go to for a precision four wheel alignment. With the new alignment settings, the NSX pulled to the right. On a level smooth road, the moment you take your hands off the wheel, the car would start pulling to the right. The faster you go the quicker the pull. The alignment was checked and rechecked about four times to make sure it was perfect. A call to Acura's tech line came back with a statement that the car should be tracking straight with the provided alignment specs. Hmmm.
My front tires were the original Yokos mounted on the 16" wheels in 1997 with 21K miles on them. Perhaps they were used to the old alignment specs and are behaving oddly with the new alignment. The last time I had my NSX aligned was back in 1997. I never had it checked since the tire wear was perfect until my rears wore out quicker than normal (toe was off). The tech was thinking the tires may be very old and possibly the cause of the pull. He took my fronts and swapped them side to side. No change. So, I ordered two new front Yokos so the car would have fresh rubber all around. The originals still had 1/3 of the tread left. I got the new tires mounted and balanced and took the car for a spin. No change. Still pulling to the right. I went back to the dealer to get a fee followup alignment since I got new fronts. After the alignment, the car still pulls to the right! My tech as well as the others were really wondering what could be causing this. The shop uses a Hunter alignment rack and their rep was out to check it over and it was okay. The dealership had aligned five other cars that day and all didn't exhibit a pull.
The tech then decided to swap the rear tires side to side. Took the car on the freeway and voila! Drove in a straight line. His conclusion was that either one or both of the tires have some kind of manufacturing defect in them. The rear tires were swapped back to the correct sides and direction of rotation and the pull came back. I called Discount Tire Direct and they accepted the rear tires back for exchange. I only put about 250 freeway miles on them. I received the replacement Yokos today and had my local tire shop mount and balance them. I brought the tires back from the shop in my GSR and installed them on the NSX which has been sitting on jackstands for a week. I drove around my neighborhood around 40mph on some short but level straights and the car tracked straight. I then got on the freeway and was relieved. The car drives straight as an arrow! Either one or both of the tires had something wrong with them. Their date of manufacture was over a year apart between the two not that it makes any difference.
I thank Discount Tire Direct for taking the tires back and promptly shipping replacements to me. Todd Holzwarth was very helpful and understanding of my situation and gladly exchanged the tires with no hassle.
I'm glad my NSX drives perfectly again.
