Gents:

I'm going to finally replace my Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires (205/60R16 92H) that have 65,230 miles on them. I had them put on at 54,761 miles and ordered them from TireRack.com.

These tires, at least to me, performed great for my type of driving, which is mostly highway (65% highway, 35% city). When new, they did awesome in the rain. However, now that wear indicators are becoming increasingly noticeable, they are not doing so hot in wet conditions. When using a penny, you can just about see the top of Lincoln's head, so tread depth isn't all that great.

So, at any rate, I'm sold on the Serenity tires and will be buying the newest version, which is the Serenity plus.

Soooo, my big question is this: Should I spring for the alignment when I have them dropped shipped to my local Sears Automotive Center?? The tires appear to be wearing pretty evenly, but there is slight evidence that the right hand side tires appear to show more uniform wear.

What say you guys??

 

My normal habit is to get an alignment when I buy new tires. About 1/2 the time the shop says it's OK and they didn't need to change it. So it's either wasted money, or peace-of-mind. Some shops will charge less if they don't have to make any adjustments - just measure.

I also ask for the printout of the suspension angles before & after adjusting. That way I get a sense of whether I should do alignment more or less often.

But I'm in Ohio, land of potholes. All the roads in California are perfectly smooth, right??

 

I was hoping you would answer, Jim. As for the alignment, I think I'll just go ahead and get 'er done. I'm saving a chunk of change going through Tire Rack, so that'll go toward the alignment. Total should be about $600 with the alignment. Tires are about $450 and the alignment is $150.

As for the roads, yeah, they're okay, but I live in the central valley, so we have our share of roads that looked like they have been bombed with 500lb bombs. Lol. Oh, and don't get me started on Cali politics!!

 

Brake check will do a alignment check for free.
If you decide to get it aligned, they have a lifetime alignment plan, its like $20 more which is pretty nice.

 

Alignment is a must..

 

The Serenity Plus tire is backordered at Tire Rack. I put in an order and will hopefully get the tires by the middle of the month. I need them ASAP and may have to order from a warehouse that is further away, which will ad $50 to the shipping.