Alright, I went in to get my tires rotated on saturday (I'd do it myself, but--1. I don't have a jack, except for the one in the trunk/don't have room and 2. I have lifetime tire service at Les Schwab). My front tires have been wearing like **** lately, and I can feel the alignment--its bad. They get the car up on the lift and then tell me they can't rotate the tires because the front's are too worn. The wierd thing is, the middle of the tread is fine, but the outside inch or so is down to the undertread...something really screwed up with my alignment. So I have them throw on some tires and head to my parents house to trade them cars temporarily so I don't wear out my new tires or screw up my front end driving with my alignment so out of whack. Now I'm stuck with my old ranger. I like the truck well enough. It has decent power for a 4-banger, and doesn't sound like one at all. And it's got a 5M/T, which is the one thing I would change about my Max. I get my Max alligned tomorrow. Driving the ranger around for two days after I've become so used to the Maxima, I've really noticed what a great car the Maxima is. There's just no comparison. Everything is more clean and smooth and precise, from the body panels down to the door-closings(but then, the Ranger IS a ford, so the doors are a given)

Actually, there is a point to this thread. Since I have started to notice an alignment problem (about two weeks ago), it has gotten progressively, almost exponentially, worse. At first, it was no big deal, so I figured I'd wait a few weeks for and get new tires at the same time. But it started getting worse, and I still had to drive it (my only car). After a while, when I would steer, I started hearing metal-stress noises from somewhere up front. I'm hoping this will disappear with a proper alignment, but I have a terrible fear I have somehow seriously screwed up my front end. I just put new CV joints on a little under a year ago, and had new shocks since then. I don't want to have to buy CV joints again!!! Perhaps the sound is just a dry or worn bushing or something? If anyone has any idea what this sound means, please tell me. If it's something that needs service, I want to get that done ASAP.

I'd wait for the results of the alignment. Let the shop know about the sound you are hearing, and see if they can diagnose it for you.

The guy at Les Schwab said it was likely the strut tower bushings. That would make sense--that was my first guess--but my coilovers are not even a year old. Unless Les Schwab reuses strut tower bushings (and if they do, I want my money back for the install!).

Regardless, the noise has stopped since the alignment was done yesterday. So it was probably stressing metal due to being terribly out of toe.

upper front strut bearings would make that noise, but they way you are discribing the wear on your tires is odd. Camber being off would make the tires wear more on one side(inside or outside of the tire), but not both. Sounds like you have your tires under-inflated. Tires would wear on the Maxima very quickly if they were not pumped to the gills. If your steering wheel is not straight when your car is actually driving in a straight line, then that usually means your toe is off(usually too much toe-in on one side).

Updates please

Yeah that's what it was. Both fronts were out of toe really bad, pointing inward.

And for a short while--a few days(I know I know)--I had severely underinflated tires up front. But only for about three days. (although, at the time I delivered pizza daily in the car so it could have had significant effect still.)

The outside edge of the tread is what was the most worn. The inside edge was bd, but not nearly so bad as the outside.

Since I had the alignment done, the car has regained its agile reflexes and I haven't heard the metal stress noises anymore. The guy at the tire center said that a tie rod on the right side was very slightly bent, preventing a perfect alignment. There was definitely something seriously wrong with my front end, but damned if I know how it happened. Maybe it's the fact that the roads in my parent's neighborhood (where the car has lived for the entirity life until last month) haven't been paved for 12 years. That's twelve years of potholes. And 11 years of driving through them regularly for my poor Maxima.

By the way, does $76 dollars seem steep for a four-wheel alignment to any of you? It sure does to me.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:By the way, does $76 dollars seem steep for a four-wheel alignment to any of you? It sure does to me.

My dealership charges $89.15 for a 4 wheel alignment, so 76 isn't bad.