is it possible for a wheel alignment to be off a lot after replacing the lower driver side rearward ball joint. keep in mind the ball joint still had play in it the only reason i had it replace was because the boot was torn some and this was like 4 months ago.the reason i asked is. today after coming home from work i notice the front driver side inner tire is going bald and the passenger side tire is fine and . was thinking the cause of my tire going bald could be from the lower ball joint since 3 days after having the ball joint replace i had to take the car back in for another alignment since it was off a little.

 

Yes.

 

I believe that replacing any suspension part(s) requires an alignment. I am not saying that the alignment will always be off, but if it is, you may incur additional expenses such as tire replacement.

 

I don't think I understand what you mean when you said ( I am not saying that the alignment will always be off, but if it is, you may incur additional expenses such as tire replacement.)

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but-
Any time you change anything on your suspension you should have your alignment checked/corrected to prevent any damage like tires or bushings etc.

 

do you think i could have the two front tires rotate with a alignment being how the outside of the tire is fine it is just the inner part ?

 

if the inside of the tire is bald, replace them they are not safe. rotating them will not help that, because the bald side will still be on the inside. i also believe that a tire shop will not do that due to liability reasons

 

This!


Don't be cheap. An $80 dollar alignment is much better than a few hundred for a new set of tires or replacing prematurely worn suspension parts/bushings

 

How am I being cheap ?.

 

Unknot yourself, 813 was only saying "you need an alignment" and the cost of such is minuscule in comparison with the parts that can be affected.

But before doing so, as it was mentioned by every responder, it's key for you to check for other front parts that may be causing the tire issue. You don't mention year of car. If it's a 2003-2004.5, the alignment shop should use specs from a 2005+ model as the early settings led to the "controversial tire cupping issue never properly addressed by Nissan".

But all bushings, ball joints, and associated parts, PARTICULARLY the compression rod bushings need to be checked by someone who knows Nissan Z front ends, not just any alignment monkey with all the settings built into their Hunter rack. (That's not dissing anyone, I worked with a bunch of these guys who couldn't deviate from the machine specs to save their lives - and neither should they. But someone who knows the Z knows s/he should.)

Keep in mind that only caster and toe can be adjusted on a stock suspended Z car. If you are having inside tire wear, it's very possible you have a camber issue which may or may not be tied to improper toe or caster. If that's the case, the only true remedy is to replace your upper links (AKA front upper control arm or FUCA) with an adjustable, performance unit.

Do NOT do a lateral tire/wheel change. This will do NOTHING and could cause squirrely handling due to the change in rotational direction of the already gronked tire. Ride, handling, steering will go straight into the trashcan, possibly causing a safety issue.

 

Thanks for clearing all that up. It's a 08 350z all stock. I do plan on having everything look at before I get it realigned. Is there a possible chance have a newer tire on the other side with little more tread cause alignment to be off slot after replacing the ball joint.

 

You should always replace both tires

 

that is what I plan on doing here in a month is replace all 4 of my tires. Had them for 6 years now. I was just hoping to get by for 1 more month on my driver side tire.

 

Yes, absolutely. Misalignment can affect one wheel, two wheels or all four. Especially where you have one new ball joint and everything else is 11 years old. The wear on one side will show up on your alignment chart. You have copies of those? If so, post the specs so that way we can give you some additional info or corroboration of the speculation already out there.

 

Sorry no i do not have that info on me. Wonder if the tire shop that align my car might have it on file.I just have a bad gut feeling the cause to my tire has something to do with the new ball joint i had installed. Do you think the dealer ship would be able to find out the cause of the tire problem even if there is no sign of wear on any of the parts up front.

 

It's called camber.....and yes, if you took something apart, it will never go back into the exact same place it was before you removed it

 

l went in for a wheel alignment today. From the looks of things everything was good even the driver side tire. As you can see the top is before and the bottom is after. They told me the front right tire camber is off a little after the alignment which is the newer tire with the most tread that I replaced a year ago. I asked what could of cause the camber issue. They told me they aren't sure it could be a weak front right strunt.

 

It looks as though the "toe" measurement is the most significant variation between "before" and "after." Toe can cause premature tire wear (which is something you mention in a previous post).