Mazda pulls to the left after summer wheels/tires are put on

[Mtl_guy]

Hey Guys,
Looking for some advise on what else I can try to figure out what might be causing my car to pull to the left when driving and also when braking.
Im driving a 2013 Mazda 3 Sky and all winter i had my winter mags/tires and steering was bang on, with no pulling to either side.
Yesterday I put put on my summer mags/tires and my steering is completely off always pulling to the left, it pulls to the left when braking as well.

My winter setup is on 16" mags running 205-55-16 and my summer is on 18" mags 225-40-18.

Wheels were balanced before placing on the car.
Running 35psi in the front and 34psi in the rear.

Any thoughts on what else to try?
Would switching the front left with the front right tires do anything? maybe the car will put to the right and it could be something with the tire?

Thanks in advance

[Tozer]

alignment?

[standsideways]

You run magnesium wheels?!

Mag wheels= magnesium wheels that used to come on old muscle cars, they sucked quite a bit, and were banned from racing use because they catch fire LOL

You sure you arent using cast aluminum or steel?

[Mtl_guy]

Don't think I would need an alignment if the winter tires were fine the day the switch was made to summers?
As soon as the summers were put on, the car started pulling to the left.

[standsideways]

Its a 2013 take it back to the dealer, you get free alignment within your first year

[Mtl_guy]

No no...run the 18" speed3 wheels..sorry for any mix-up.


You run magnesium wheels?!

Mag wheels= magnesium wheels that used to come on old muscle cars, they sucked quite a bit, and were banned from racing use because they catch fire LOL

You sure you arent using cast aluminum or steel?

[standsideways]

Lol its all good ;)

But yea take it back to the dealer

[Jackal]

alignment?

+1 When was the last time your car had an alignment? May need one.

[Mtl_guy]

Would i need an lignment if the winters were straight and the same day the summers were put on, the car started pulling to one side??

+1 When was the last time your car had an alignment? May need one.

[standsideways]

Check your pressures, if they are even all around it is your alignment.

[Mtl_guy]

Pressure is 35 front and 34 rear...guess ill give the alignment a shot

Check your pressures, if they are even all around it is your alignment.

[Jackal]

Would i need an lignment if the winters were straight and the same day the summers were put on, the car started pulling to one side??

It may not have been as noticeable on 16" rims. Now that you have your 18" on it has become more pronounced. Question again. When was the last time you got it aligned? It may be time.

[Mtl_guy]

You may be right on that.
Bought the car in Feb, so haven't done any alignment since delivery.


It may not have been as noticeable on 16" rims. Now that you have your 18" on it has become more pronounced. Question again. When was the last time you got it aligned? It may be time.

[standsideways]

Its a 13 so probably never

[standsideways]

From now on, when you switch a part and a problem arises, it is likely because of what you did.

He explained it well^^

[Mtl_guy]

Thanks for the help guys, I'm going to book an alignment next week.

[mikey32235]

hey dude, put the front tires on the rear, and the rear to the front, do a rotation that should fix ur problem

[Mtl_guy]

Won't hurt to try the rotation since all the shops are closed until Monday for the alignment.
I'll try that, thanks.

hey dude, put the front tires on the rear, and the rear to the front, do a rotation that should fix ur problem

[standsideways]

hey dude, put the front tires on the rear, and the rear to the front, do a rotation that should fix ur problem

How??

[Rob23]

even if you rotate them and it seems fine, you could end up with some bad tread wear. Then you will have problems with 2 tires. get your alignment checked when you get a chance.

[Mtl_guy]

Thanks for this info :)
Booked an appointment on Tuesday, no charge under the Mazda service adjustment warranty.


Its a 2013 take it back to the dealer, you get free alignment within your first year

[McGuyver_3]

The most important question here is what condition are the summer tires in?

to answer your question in the original post, yes if you switch tires from front left to front right and it pulls in the opposite direction then there are issues with the tires themselves

[Mtl_guy]

Thanks for the reply.
Tires are almost new, maybe 10,000 km max, the wear looks to be even on them.

The most important question here is what condition are the summer tires in?

to answer your question in the original post, yes if you switch tires from front left to front right and it pulls in the opposite direction then there are issues with the tires themselves

[McGuyver_3]

Just because they are new does not mean they don't have a shifted belt for example. Going from a 205 to a 225 is literally no diference at all and would not cause the car to "track" to the grooves of the road. From you saying that the car drove straight with the winters makes me think you have a problem with the tires themselves nd not an alignment issue.

[SonicBoy]

You say you are running 18" Speed wheels now after switching from winters?

I would have your summer wheels/tires examined and Road force balanced using a Hunter Tire Balancer. The machine can measure the run out and mount match each wheel to a specific location on the car to reduce pulling. I believe the feature is called StraightTrak (http://www.gsp9700.com/videos/index.cfm?cat=3)

Use this link (http://www.gsp9700.com/search/findgsp9700.cfm) to find a shop with this machine.

If there is an issue, the machine should be able to tell you if there is a problem with a particular wheel if the tech knows what he/she is doing.

Doubt it's an alignment thing.

Maybe provide more details on the summer wheels.
-How were your summer tires stored during the winter season? Stored inside/out? Up right, stacked, on wheel stands?
-What Tires are you running?
-What was the condition of the wheels?

Do you have the option of trying out the all season tires that came with the car? If you try that set and everything is good, it's your summer setup and the above mentioned tire machine should be able to diagnose and possibly resolve your issue.

[Hads_Carbon3]

Might be alignment issue, especially if your jumping 2inches in wheel size. Differences in rim size and differences in the wheels weight can sometimes throw off the alignement.

[Rob23]

Might be alignment issue, especially if your jumping 2inches in wheel size. Differences in rim size and differences in the wheels weight can sometimes throw off the alignement.

really? never heard that one before... So every time someone switches from winters to summers they need an alignment?

[peterm15]

Might be alignment issue, especially if your jumping 2inches in wheel size. Differences in rim size and differences in the wheels weight can sometimes throw off the alignement.

Odd.
Cause my 18" wheels are the EXACT same diameter as my 15"

As long as you have the correct tires on your wheels. It should not throw your alignment off.

[Mtl_guy]

Hey guys,
Here's an update on what happened.
Mazda dealer did the alignment and it seems much better now.
Barely any pull, they said that they saw the alignment off and set it back to the suggested value for the car.
Thanks for all tips :cool

[McGuyver_3]

That sounds suspicious but the main thing is it is fixed

[Jackal]

Hey guys,
Here's an update on what happened.
Mazda dealer did the alignment and it seems much better now.
Barely any pull, they said that they saw the alignment off and set it back to the suggested value for the car.
Thanks for all tips :cool

Great! Alignment under warranty and the problem fixed! :like

[Dynames]

alignment?

+1

go get an alignment done

[Jackal]

Hey guys,
Here's an update on what happened.
Mazda dealer did the alignment and it seems much better now.
Barely any pull, they said that they saw the alignment off and set it back to the suggested value for the car.
Thanks for all tips :cool


+1

go get an alignment done

It's been done.

[Tozer]

:O i was right? that's a first.