'21 Tahoe Z71 alignment - anyone else?

[ahhshoot]

Hi all,

New member/first time post here. I did a forum search and didn't find much so I'm assuming this is not a prevalent issue however I wanted to post this anyway if nothing other than for documentation.

My wife recently purchased a 2021 Z71 Tahoe with all the bells and whistles-panoramic sunroof, I mean it's loaded. And even though I am more of a Ford guy myself, this thing is way nicer than the new expeditions she was looking at and is overall a really sweet ride.

However, I noticed recently that she is getting excessive wear on the outer two front tires. For the record, she bought the truck with 4,000 miles on it and previous owner or dealer presumably had Nitto Ridge Grappler 275/65/r20 tires installed (I am guessing these tires do not come on the truck stock but I'm not 100% certain on that).

Anyway, it drives great, it does feel like the wheel is 'touchy' as in, a small input yields quite a significant reaction. However, it tracks straight as an arrow and rides excellent. Though the tire wear is indicating an alignment issue. We are taking it back to dealer to have alignment checked and adjusted if need be next week, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm no mechanic but if I had to guess I would assume the Nitto Ridge grapplers overall profile differs from whatever came on the truck initially, and an alignment should have been done to compensate for this, and that may be why we are getting the symptoms we are now-that is just a WAG though-has anyone else had alignment issues with the 21 and up trucks or is this simply more likely a product of the tires being changed sans alignment compensation?

 

[Blueinterceptor]

Is this a factory sized tire?
20” or 22” rim?

I went back and reread the thread. That’s not a factory sized tire. Either they don’t know how to align it or it’s off.
more likely they didn’t realign with the new tire. There is something about not realigning until after 4K on the clock in a tsb?

 

[wsteele]

The way you describe the steering, I probably would take it down to a shop I trusted and ask them to check the caster adjustment.

 

[VAguy68]

I coincidently bought my Z71 with 4k miles on it and had the exact same thing happen to my front (stock size) tires. I'm thinking the factory alignment was off. Got it aligned and haven't had an issue since.

 

[ahhshoot]

I coincidently bought my Z71 with 4k miles on it and had the exact same thing happen to my front (stock size) tires. I'm thinking the factory alignment was off. Got it aligned and haven't had an issue since.

Your truck looks identical to ours! Same color and all. We really like it so far. Aside from the alignment thing (which may or may not have just been a result of the tire change) and the auto start/stop (which we turn off every time we drive it LOL), it is a massive improvement over our 2015 Tahoe LT. The 10 speed helps the 5.3 tremendously, my biggest complaint about our 2015 was the anemic power especially regarding acceleration. This new one isn't a dragster by any means, but it's no longer annoying to drive.

Being a Ford guy at heart I really wanted to like the Expedition Limited with Stealth package we checked out, and while the Expy had tons of power and felt nimble to drive, the fit and finish was nowhere near the Tahoe, and the interior even on the upper trims felt much less 'premium' than the Tahoe's. Plus, the Tahoe looks way cooler.

 

[Quark]

Take it to the shop. I always have my new GMs aligned, my guy puts them in the center of spec he says they are all out the same. Once aligned steering is better along with less tire wear.

 

[R32driver]

Does it have a lift or leveling kit? 275/65r20 ridge grappler is listed as a 34.1" tire so I'd imagine you'd have some rubbing if at stock height. I almost bought that same tire but went with stock size 275/60r20 to avoid any chances of rubbing

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The factory doesn’t align them. They build them to spec and everything “should” be correct when the truck leaves the factory.

“Should” not “always is”.

 

[cdgtahoe]

My Yukon was out of alignment. Tire on drivers front had feathered edge.

 

[tahoerst22]

I coincidently bought my Z71 with 4k miles on it and had the exact same thing happen to my front (stock size) tires. I'm thinking the factory alignment was off. Got it aligned and haven't had an issue since.

i have a 22 rst , 500 miles on it . steering wheel not straight. checked alignment and it was way out

 

[CriticalThinker]

I am on my fifth Tahoe (had a 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016 and took delivery of my 2021 Z71 on January 6th). Every Tahoe I've had required frequent alignment checks. I now buy a "lifetime alignment" from Firestone and have the alignment checked every time I have the oil changed. And yes, the first time I had the alignment checked on my new 2021 it was out of spec and had to be adjusted.

 

[21TahoeDisappoint]

I had this on my 2021 Tahoe. Scalloping on the outer edges of front tire. Took to the dealer and they claimed it was due to improper tire pressure. We all know that low pressure causes wear on both inside and outside edge. Over pressure causes wear in the center of the tread. Despite the fact that the alignment was wrong from the factory, the dealer would not do a realignment. Quality control really lacking at GM.

While I liked the Tahoe, I dumped it after the lifter issue. There were other issues as well. Very disappointed in how GM has (not)addressed the lifter issue appropriately.

 

[robgreg75]

I noticed mine are wearing the outer edge of the front tires like it is toed out. I have 17K on mine so was going to rotate them to even it out. I align my own cars so i need to check it and see how the alignment is I just never paid attention to it since my 2010 I never had an alignment issue even with my wife jumping a curb in it.

 

[wsteele]

I noticed mine are wearing the outer edge of the front tires like it is toed out. I have 17K on mine so was going to rotate them to even it out. I align my own cars so i need to check it and see how the alignment is I just never paid attention to it since my 2010 I never had an alignment issue even with my wife jumping a curb in it.

Sounds more like positive camber than toe. You can see if the camber is negative/positive pretty easily, a straight edge that is just the length of the wheel diameter, a level and a flat piece of concrete to park the truck on will tell you a lot.

 

[rowrow83]

Hi all,

New member/first time post here. I did a forum search and didn't find much so I'm assuming this is not a prevalent issue however I wanted to post this anyway if nothing other than for documentation.

My wife recently purchased a 2021 Z71 Tahoe with all the bells and whistles-panoramic sunroof, I mean it's loaded. And even though I am more of a Ford guy myself, this thing is way nicer than the new expeditions she was looking at and is overall a really sweet ride.

However, I noticed recently that she is getting excessive wear on the outer two front tires. For the record, she bought the truck with 4,000 miles on it and previous owner or dealer presumably had Nitto Ridge Grappler 275/65/r20 tires installed (I am guessing these tires do not come on the truck stock but I'm not 100% certain on that).

Anyway, it drives great, it does feel like the wheel is 'touchy' as in, a small input yields quite a significant reaction. However, it tracks straight as an arrow and rides excellent. Though the tire wear is indicating an alignment issue. We are taking it back to dealer to have alignment checked and adjusted if need be next week, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm no mechanic but if I had to guess I would assume the Nitto Ridge grapplers overall profile differs from whatever came on the truck initially, and an alignment should have been done to compensate for this, and that may be why we are getting the symptoms we are now-that is just a WAG though-has anyone else had alignment issues with the 21 and up trucks or is this simply more likely a product of the tires being changed sans alignment compensation?

Hi all,

New member/first time post here. I did a forum search and didn't find much so I'm assuming this is not a prevalent issue however I wanted to post this anyway if nothing other than for documentation.

My wife recently purchased a 2021 Z71 Tahoe with all the bells and whistles-panoramic sunroof, I mean it's loaded. And even though I am more of a Ford guy myself, this thing is way nicer than the new expeditions she was looking at and is overall a really sweet ride.

However, I noticed recently that she is getting excessive wear on the outer two front tires. For the record, she bought the truck with 4,000 miles on it and previous owner or dealer presumably had Nitto Ridge Grappler 275/65/r20 tires installed (I am guessing these tires do not come on the truck stock but I'm not 100% certain on that).

Anyway, it drives great, it does feel like the wheel is 'touchy' as in, a small input yields quite a significant reaction. However, it tracks straight as an arrow and rides excellent. Though the tire wear is indicating an alignment issue. We are taking it back to dealer to have alignment checked and adjusted if need be next week, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm no mechanic but if I had to guess I would assume the Nitto Ridge grapplers overall profile differs from whatever came on the truck initially, and an alignment should have been done to compensate for this, and that may be why we are getting the symptoms we are now-that is just a WAG though-has anyone else had alignment issues with the 21 and up trucks or is this simply more likely a product of the tires being changed sans alignment compensation?

Did getting alignment fix this issue?

 

[rowrow83]

I am on my fifth Tahoe (had a 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016 and took delivery of my 2021 Z71 on January 6th). Every Tahoe I've had required frequent alignment checks. I now buy a "lifetime alignment" from Firestone and have the alignment checked every time I have the oil changed. And yes, the first time I had the alignment checked on my new 2021 it was out of spec and had to be adjusted.

Do you know why they need frequent alignments? Seems as though this is an issue with mine, needing alignments more than normal and by more than normal, I've had at least 4 alignments since November 2021. My 2021 Z71 Tahoe seems to be out of spec often. I notice when I have to over compensate the steering wheel on a turn that I'm needing an alignment, so I take it in. They don't know why, no check engine light is on no codes are being given, no visual damage therefore no explanation.

 

[robgreg75]

Do you know why they need frequent alignments? Seems as though this is an issue with mine, needing alignments more than normal and by more than normal, I've had at least 4 alignments since November 2021. My 2021 Z71 Tahoe seems to be out of spec often. I notice when I have to over compensate the steering wheel on a turn that I'm needing an alignment, so I take it in. They don't know why, no check engine light is on no codes are being given, no visual damage therefore no explanation.

My 2010 has 268K miles now and it has never needed an alignment, the current set of tires went on at 201K so they are wearing pretty good with rotations every so often. My wife even jumped it over a median (broke a rim and the sway bar links) and it has been totaled with another wheel broken and still seems all good.

 

[CriticalThinker]

Do you know why they need frequent alignments? Seems as though this is an issue with mine, needing alignments more than normal and by more than normal, I've had at least 4 alignments since November 2021. My 2021 Z71 Tahoe seems to be out of spec often. I notice when I have to over compensate the steering wheel on a turn that I'm needing an alignment, so I take it in. They don't know why, no check engine light is on no codes are being given, no visual damage therefore no explanation.

My belief is that it is my driving habits and the roads in my state. I'm in Oklahoma and we have extreme heat in the summers (100 degrees, plus) and pretty cold winters with lots of ice (which means a lot of sand and salt) so a lot of the roads here are constantly in need of maintenance, especially in some of the more rural areas. On top of that, I drive pretty aggressively.

 

[Quark]

According to my alignment guy and I trust him most all GM trucks and suvs are at the edge of spec on one of the axis I forget which. After 30,000 miles my Hoe was aligned and it tracks much better and I don't forsee it changing unless I bang a curb in a parking lot or hit a crater either would have to be teeth jarring. She's a tough ol' gal.

 

[rowrow83]

Just ran into someone with a 2022 z71 tahoe, she traded her 2021 in because it was doing what ours is currently doing. It feels very loose in the suspension. No mechanic has been able to figure it out but they can feel the fish tail it does, no matter the speed or road conditions.