Alignment necessary to go from 16s to 17s?

[JLav211]

Hey folks,

I have a BE Legacy lowered on Whiteline Control springs. It got a full alignment once it when it was lowered in December. It's been riding on the stock 16s with 205/40 tires, and I'll be moving up to 17s with 215/45s. Do I absolutely need another alignment for the summer? Or do I have to get it aligned every time I go from 16s to 17s (since I ride on 16s in the winter)?

Thanks for the help.

-Jeff

[sansMYSTi]

I can't see needing an alignment when you swap wheels. If that were necessary, alignment shops would be whiping their asses with gold .

[warrior]

If you don't increase/decrease the over all circumference of the wheel/tire combination; you shouldn't have to do an alignment.

The rule of thumb is when you change suspension setups (ie. lowering springs, struts, etc) which can cause your camber to change is when you need an alignment.

For more information on Camber (caster and toe as well) visit:

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

[shazapple]

I go from 14" to 16" winter to summer, so you should be fine

[StatGSR]

why r u going from a 205/40/16 to a 215/45/17??????????????

[SilentRacer]

I didn't do alignment when I went from 16-17. No problems.

StatGSR 215/45/17 is the stock tire size for 17s on a legacy.

[StatGSR]

well then hopfully he messed up with the 16s, cause thats over a 2 inch increase in diameter....

[dplacencia]

No alignment needed.

[MCarp22]

The tires / tire diameter, etc. don't have anything to do with the alignment of the car.

[studum]

why r u going from a 205/40/16 to a 215/45/17??????????????

His initial tire size is way off. OEM tire size is 205/55/16 which is about 215/45/17.

[rougeben83]

If it's the first time you're doing it, you may want to anyway, just to make sure you're not going to be wearing down your new shoes

[Sarra]

Why waste money on an alignment? Unless it's pulling to one side or wearing tires out quickly, don't bother.

[rougeben83]

Because you'll only find out you have a bad alignment when your tires are already worn to the point that you can't do anything about them? I mean unless you inspect your tires every week that is.

It's $50 worth of preventive maintance. Besides there are other things that an alignment can pick up that may be hindering you from getting the most handling out of your car.

You've already blown $1000 on new tires and wheels, an alignment is cheap insurance to make sure you're getting your money's worth out of that.