QuestionI Have an08 ford taurus that came with pirelli tires new. I have 26,000 miles on the car and the tires have developed loud road noise. I have checked air pressure and adjusting that has not helped. What is my problem please?
AnswerMarshall,
You probably have irregular wear.
Irregular wear is caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient rotation practices.
My experience says that the published alignment tolerances are too wide. Not the target value, but the allowable deviation from that value. I think it ought to be half of what is published.
Put another way, the alignment should be within the inner half of the spec.
You should be aware that even vehicles that do not have a pull can be out of alignment. There are settings where one out of spec condition is offset by another out of spec condition – typically camber vs toe.
Also, many alignment techs think that if the factory did not make provisions to make adjustments for the alignment, then they can’t make an adjustment and will declare the vehicle “OK”. This is totally wrong.
ALL alignment settings are adjustable, but it may require an eccentric bolt, some shims, etc. A GOOD alignment tech will know what to do and the vehicle should leave a shop with ALL the alignment settings close to the nominal.
