Front end alignment required

[gjp0928]

I own a 2008 Rogue SL AWD with 20,000 miles on it. I bought the car new and am extremely careful not to hit any hard bumps or chuck holes in the road. I even steer to miss manhole covers. Also, I do not corner hard or break hard. In other words the car has been handled very carefully. The past two times I have been to the dealer for an oil change the service reps have suggested that the car needs an alignment pointing out the "feathering" on the outside edge of the front tire tread. I cannot see the "feathering" myself. The tires are the original Continental 4x4 Contact P225/60 R17 and they have been rotated 3 times. Tire pressure has been maintained at the recommended 33 PSI. I have seen a pronounced "feathering" on 4WD's in the past (before FWD) but I think the state of the art AWD's like the Rogue are beyond that and I think the dealer is pushing service that is not required. Especially since I have not hit any hard bumps, curbs, or road hazzards. Has anyone else had this issue?

[kerrton]

I have not had this issue. If it were me, I'd take it on a flat section of highway and see if it pulls to one side to try to find evidence that the alignment might be out. It takes some time to determine if a vehicle is truly pulling to one side, or if it's just because of other factors such as the road. Repeat the test many times and if the majority of the time it pulls to the same side, then maybe they're right but if it seems to track nice and straight then I wouldn't worry about it.

[RubenTheRogue]

Pulling isn't the only test for alignment issues. The toe could be off on a front tire or even the rears. I do not know what I hit, but it knocked the steering wheel off, so that driving straight cocked the steering wheel slightly off center...the toe was off on the rear driver's side tire. Whaddya know...

[philipa_240sx]

I already got the feathering issue on my front tires. Not sure if this was due to the crappy Continental 4x4 Contact's or the alignment. I put 10,000mi on my winter tires this winter and they seemed to do just fine... so I am puzzled.

There is certainly nothing to lose by doing a periodic alignment. If they give you a reasonable rate, go for it.

BTW, My Altima had the same feathering issue... due to a crappy alignment job from a non-Nissan shop. Got it aligned at the dealer, but by then the damage to the tires was done.

[Elton Noway]

I already got the feathering issue on my front tires. Not sure if this was due to the crappy Continental 4x4 Contact's or the alignment.

Man... I feel your pain. I consider myself to be pretty shrewd at negotiating car deals but when I happened to stumble across the exact Rogue I was looking for, I got excited and made a same day purchase to keep from losing it to another buyer. Although I negotiated down to the exact price I wanted... I completely forgot about the Continentals DOH!

At the Nissan dealers in the US they offer the Altima with your choice of either Continentals or Michelins. While they don't advertize that option with the Rogue, once the dealer agreed to my price all I had to do was say... "Now... just swap out the Continentals with Michelins and you got a deal." They would have done it because they already agreed to the price and wouldn't dump for a simple tire swap. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it at the time I was signing the papers.