cliffhanger1392

Okay all, I am looking for a little feedback here......let's say the following happened to you....what would you do?

I bought a 2014 Chevy Tahoe, brand new, from McCarthy Chevrolet in Olathe, Kansas.

Let me start by stating the truck is still under warranty. We have taken the truck in a few times to Morse/McCarthy Chevrolet (Overland Park, KS) for a rotational, “thumping” noise in the front end. The technicians would remedy the situation by rotating the tires. This would stop the thumping for a month or so, but it would come back. Each time we took the truck back in, they would rotate the tires and it would stop.

This last time we took it in, the technician told me the alignment was off on the driver’s side, front and by rotating the tires each time, we had damaged three of the four tires. We?!?! There is no “WE” in this equation. YOUR technicians were performing the “repairs”…not me.

Now we are driving around with a constant thumping in the front and Morse McCarthy Chevrolet claims no fault in the deal and offers no recourse.

I then emailed/called the owner of the dealership. Big shock…no response of any type.

Am I way off base here? Shouldn’t the service department be to blame in this instance for failure to diagnose and repeatedly fixing the underlying alignment problem with a band-aid tire rotation fix?

What am I after? I’m after new tires! Tires are not cheap and I did nothing to ruin them. The technician’s failure to diagnose the problem is what caused the damage!

cleveland63b

they should've roadforced the tires from the start, its not uncommon to get crap tires that are brand new. How many miles do you have on the vehicle? From what you're explaining it sounds like you had a bad tire(s) from the start and instead of actually diagnosing they took the easy way out. Don't bother with the owner just call the customer care line or whatever they call it now through GM if the service manager won't do anything for you.

tech2

the alignment warranty is only 12 000 kilometers/12months. after that you will have to pay for warranty alignment. Suspension parts are warrantied; so if that is the problem the alignment after worn part replacement is covered. Your tires won't be covered. they will growl from now till replacement.


sounds like the front tires wore irregularly from misalignment. As tires were rotated into this position, they developed the same wear pattern. Yes, a good alignment technician would have spotted this early and saved the wear from occurring on the other tires but oil changes and tire rotations are done by apprentice technicians. No way you can prove that the suspension is out from the factory or from you hitting something...which is what they will say.
any change is ride height, towing, payloads can change the toe setting and attribute to this wear.


imo, you can't fault a shop/technician for not knowing what was wrong. No one knows everything in this trade. Sometimes, its about the vehicle going to the right technician.
I would speak to the service manager and let him know that you have been here multiple times for the concern. Be Polite, firm but not angry. Tell them you would like them to cover the cost of new tires. Maybe they will meet you halfway or sell them at cost.

in2pro

Might also consider a more aggressive rotation schedule to help even out the wear on the current tires...
consider every 6000 miles or so...

{tpc}

What is the "damage"? I would put a call into GM directly and see what they can do. FWIW I rotate my tires with every oil change. Of course mine is a much older truck, but you are correct, tires are not cheap, hence why I rotate them the way I do.

I would think if a bad part on the truck is covered under warranty and this part caused the tire issue, that the tires would at least in some part be covered by said warranty. Now if its strictly an alignment issue, I can see how they might not be covered. I mean say you hit a curb doing 50 and caught air...if that messes up the alignment and your tires are damaged as a result, I can't see how this would be covered.

All of that said, I am still trying to figure out how a rotational thumping would come as the result of a bad alignment, and how rotating the tires would make it go away.

in2pro

A Flat spot on the tire can cause a rotational thump if the brakes were locked up and the tire skidded for a fair distance, but with anti-lock brakes that is very near impossible to do.

Very cold weather can cause a flat spot but that should even out quickly.

The rear end of the truck sliding sideways in a hard braking situation where the rear is allowed to come around pretty substantially could cause a flat spot..

If you are driving on concrete highway surface to evaluate the thumping that could be self sabotaging as the expansion joints in the concrete roadway will generate that same tump....

Improperly torqued wheel lug nuts can cause the rotors to warp and possibly be felt as rotational thumping with light braking...

Over inflated tires in combination with a bad alignment (or a bad shock/strut, even wheel bearings) could cause cupping and scalloping of the edges of the tires and could possibly be felt as rotational thumping...

Those are some ideas me and the dog could brain storm out....