Camber and tire wear question
 

If I'm concerned about tire wear and prolonging the life of my tires. Would it be in my interest to zero out the rear camber? Would that cause safety issues?

Toe is going to affect tire wear more than camber. Most modern cars with sporty intentions are designed for negative camber in the rear. You could dial it out, but in turn you will be sacrificing corner traction. The payoff will most likely not be worth it, unless you take your corners like you're driving a 1980's Suburban, then it might be worth it to dial your camber closer to 0. Or trade in your Z ;)

But from the posts I've read on here and personal experience, you can expect 15-20k between (non-stock) tires depending on your driving habits and the tread rating. It can be pricey, but you're also not driving a Camry lol.

:iagree: Toe is your tire enemy... I tried less camber and was back at the alignment shop the same day. Run absolute zero toe, not in the middle of the spec range, and you'll be fine. A hint of toe in rear is good, 1/32" ea. side.

About a month ago I got my stock tires replaced with Conti DWS. Now the Wheel is turned a few degrees right when going perfectly straight. A local tire business told me that the new tires couldn't have caused it and that my factory alignment had to been off and the stock tires hid it. Should I get an alignment or is the tire place BSing me? Also, my car has never been curbed or anything that would throw the alignment off.

New tires don't change the alignment settings.

Was the steering wheel off center right after you put on the new tires and it changed after a month? If this didn't happen immediately, that means something has caused the alignment to change - like hitting pot holes, run over subject, curb etc...

Unevenly worn tires and/or large tire pressure differences between tires would change the way to car drive for obvious reasons.

BTW: You DO NOT want to have zero toe on the rear. Your car will become very unstable at high speed. You can probably set it at the minimum 'toe in' based on the factory spec.

Were the old tires worn unevenly.

The steering wheel orientation changed suddenly after the new tires. The old tires were evenly worn. I've never curbed nor hit a pothole with this car and I've had it since 0 miles. Tire pressure before and after was always at 35 psi and I checked it weekly.

Is it possible that the tire placed messed something up when they jacked my car up? They did not use a lift.

Stock tires hid the fact that your alignment was off enough to change the position of your steering wheel? Unless you notice major pull one way or the other with the new tires, I call bs. A tire might wear in enough to pull in one direction or the other, but the only thing that is going to change your steering wheel position, excluding suspension damage, are the tie rods/ball joints.

If you plan on keeping your Z for more than a year, find a shop that offers lifetime alignment and see what they say. I take our cars in about every quarter just to be safe; a properly-equipped shop can pick up on minute imperfections long before you will notice them yourself.

Yes. It is possible that they jacked up the car on the wrong spots and damaged something in the process, but going back to your question whether new tires would effect the alignment, the answer is 'no'.

It is probably a good idea to get an alignment with new tires anyway, especially if your steering wheel is off center.