How long can I wait..

[KJ02Ltd]

for the alignment after the lift?

I just put on my Rusty's lift and now am having trouble finding a decent A/T tire here on this God-forsaken island in 245/75-16 or any close size.

Thinking of ordering some Firestone Destination A/T's off TireRack, but if I do that, it'll be ~4 weeks before they arrive.

Can I stretch it that long if I rotate the tires like every 200-300 miles?

 

[Stampey]

I believe you can go forever without an alignment (COULD BE WRONG). The purpose of it is just to make the car track straight, and give your tires a better life span. As for me its been about a month and a half with my lift on, and still no alignment. Thats soon to change im gonna splurge for my birthday and get new tires and an alignment. If your not going to save your old tires, dont bother rotating them, you should be fine.

 

[MoladoGuy]

Well on a different perspective, and experience in my last Jeep, I would suggest getting an alignment soon. As Stampey said you will experience wear on the tires, but that is not the only reason why you should get an alignment.

Your gas mileage also plays a role with bad alignments. If your adding resistence to your driving because the wheels are out of line, then your increasing your gas mileage.

Road handling is the next one. If your wheel is pulling to the side then you have a handling problem. Going over bumps will be a lot smoother if your aligned. This also includes safety. Your suspension plays a big role on the way your vehicle handles. Keeping it mis-aligned can only cause wear on important suspension components which in turn creates premature failing.

After lifting I got an alignment, which they gave me a 30 day or 3000 mile warranty if it didn't fix it. A couple weeks later I put on new tires and went back to say its pulling again. They did the alignment for free

 

[steepcreekfreak]

I waited about 200-300 miles. It didn't pull too bad but it definately handled better after the alignment. I would just go and get it aligned now and worry about new tires later. Thats what I did. Now I got some big fat 245/75 on it and it handles great.

 

[JeepJeepster]

If youre getting new tires, then why are you worried about them? Do you plan on putting them on another set of rims and using them for road tires? Just let her be and wear them out! The mpg may go down alittle also.

 

[Dave]

If youre getting new tires, then why are you worried about them?

I agree. Besides, Guam is only about 35 miles long. I've been there.

Dave

 

[KJ02Ltd]

I agree. Besides, Guam is only about 35 miles long. I've been there.

Dave

I'm mainly worried 'cause they're already low on tread a little, these Goodyears suck (!), and Guam's roads aren't anywhere near the greatest roads that I've ever driven on.

 

[adamkrz]

Just got an alignment today,Lifted the KJ last week,My front end shop could not get within specs for the caster but my alignment was way off-(Rustys coil lift w/2conduit nuts).My front sits about 1 in. lower than the rear right now so I'll get the the new upper a-arms when I put a couple more spacers under the front struts after a few months..

 

[Dave]

I'm mainly worried 'cause they're already low on tread a little, these Goodyears suck (!), and Guam's roads aren't anywhere near the greatest roads that I've ever driven on.

Those Goodyears will be dangerous there. The roads are as slippery as ice every time it rains there. The rest of the dirt roads I remember were a lot of volcanic rock.

Dave

 

[Marlon_JB2]

I agree. Besides, Guam is only about 35 miles long. I've been there.

Dave

Are you serious?

 

[KJ02Ltd]

Heck, yeah, he's serious. Actually, I think he's being generous. Guam is ~220 square miles. It's ~25 miles north to south (I think) and anywhere from 4-12 miles east to west depending on where you're measuring. I think that's a little closer to the distances.

FWIW, I got the alignment today.