BraveHelios

Update... Went to the local Les Schwab. They had no qualms about setting the camber from -2.0 degrees to -1.6 degrees. Tech says that even this setting will make a difference in my tire wear. I also noticed that it does feel just a tad bit different... it doesn't feel as tight, even driving in a straight line. Could be all in my lil ol' head... idk.

Now back to Commercial Tire... went to my local store during their grand opening celebration last Saturday. Lots of stuff going on... car show, radio station there. I asked the manager if she could relay a message to the alignment tech… to ask him if he could check to see if the camber spec could be adjusted to something closer to zero degree. She said she would most certainly tell him. Two hours go by and my car is finished (they also installed two new rear tires, mounted balanced them and swapped sides on the fronts). The tech showed me the spec sheet and it showed -2.0 degrees camber. I then asked if the manager had spoken to him about my request. Negative. He had no idea of my request. I thought, well maybe too many distractions for her with their show and the crowds going on. The tech was nice enough to write on the invoice that I could bring my car in at a later date for the adjustment and it would also give him a chance to check on how much it could be adjusted. Inconvenient, but I agreed.

I went home and started doing my Saturday afternoon stuff around the house. My son comes home and checks out the new rear tires. He then tells me that something is not right. One tire tread is going in one direction and the other is going in the opposite direction. What!? I was so livid now! I immediately called Commercial Tire and commenced to chewing their pseudo professional asses out! They apologized and asked to bring my car in immediately to fix the tire. Sure; I’ll drive 10 miles one way to get their mistake fixed. When I got there; I chewed them out some more, but no swears this time. The manager apologized, said mistakes happen. I said; yes they do but this one goes beyond a forgivable mistake. I know the tech would have had multiple times to verify the tires were installed in the correct direction. If my son hadn’t noticed the tire installed incorrectly, I honestly do not know how long it would have taken me to notice… days, weeks, months; then what, call them at that point with a ruined tire?

The manger refunded a good portion of my bill and I appreciated her gesture of reconciliation. I asked one more time if they can find out about the camber setting. She and the tech said they would call me by Wednesday. They never called so I called them on Thursday and asked. The manager said that they ‘could’ not adjust it (more like would not adjust it). So, they basically washed their hands of my whole ordeal with them.

I have gone to Commercial Tire many times in the past but this was the last straw. Tire shops are a dime a dozen… we go to these shops expecting a level of expertise and professionalism. If they can make such a simple yet critical mistake like this, what else do they let go as ‘fixed’. Time to move on.

Rant over… thank you for your support ��

H F

In order to get maximum wear on the rears and save the inside corners with a -2.0 camber . Is to do a off wheel side to side rotate . It will double your tire life . The key is to monitor the inside tread wear bar , and rotate them before the wear bar gets exposed . And second is to go 3psi over .. To help get more of the vehicle weight increasing the contact patch toward the center of the tire . This will significantly help the inside tire wear . I also do the same on the fronts .. It's the only thing you can do on a staggerd set up to increase tire life ..