New tires & rims pull to the right

I just put winter tires and steel rims on my 2001 Accord coupe. I've
noticed the car seems to want to pull to the right now, and didn't before.
The tires were on a different car last winter, is it possible the camber/toe
was different enough on the old car that it's causing this one to track to
the right? If that's the case, it should eventually even out as the tires
wear to match this car's setup, right?

 

try swapping the tires to the opposite side,see what happens.

 

Ditto.

 

Well they are a directional tire, so if that solves the problem should I
have them both remounted the other way around? Or would that just mean that
it's a tire wear thing that will eventually go away?

 

In that case, try swapping them front-back. If the alignment was off
only front or rear on the original car, only one set should be worn, and
at the very least, it should CHANGE the degree to which it affects your
steering now.

 

Directional doesn't matter. Swap them left to right anyway for testing,
but be careful on wet roads.

This sort of problem does not just "go away".

 

Hi,
Providing they are not directional.

 

Tegger wrote:
<inappropriate top-posting added, just to be a git>

Of course, you could always take your car by a tire shop and have them
give the tires a look - most should do it for free, and they'll know at
a glance if there are any strange wear patterns. If the tires are good,
you'll probably need to have the alignment done, and most larger tire
shops can do this as well.

 

no. get the alignment checked by someone that knows what they're doing.
that's not as common as you may suppose. if it still pulls, rotate
the tires. if that affects it, keep rotating until you find a combo
that works. or replace them.

 

a directional WINTER tire? I didn't know there was such an animal.

why would a winter tire need to be directional? What benefit?
It doesn't make sense.

 

http://www.toyocanada.com/products/ObserveG02plus.asp

OBSERVE G-02 plus - Ultimate Traction Winter Radial for passenegr vehicles

* Designed with an aggressive unidirectional tread pattern for
superior performance in extreme snow and ice conditions, the Toyo
OBSERVE G-02 plus winter tire technology was specifically built to
handle Canada's most brutal winters.

 

that's not much of a "directional" tread pattern.
Barely "directional".

 

Thanks for the replies.. I did, now that I think about it, have 2 tie rods
replaced on the previous car, so it's possible the alignment was off while
these tires were mounted. I'll see about taking the Accord somewhere to get
the alignment checked or at least try swapping the wheels around. I'd hate
to have to replace them; they're still in good shape with lots of tread and
they're great in the snow.

They are a directional winter tire, they're Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi's:

www.canadiandriver.com/winter/tires/hakka_rsi.htm

 

I'm glad I'm in FLORIDA. B-)
I wore shorts today,BTW,rode my bicycle,a nice day.
a cold front coming in,I'll have to close the patio door.

 

Heh heh, rub it in why dontcha?? You don't know what you're missing..
snowbanks you can't see over when pulling out into traffic, 2" of ice on the
car in the morning, having to walk to school barefoot in 2 ft of snow,
uphill... oh wait, that's another story...

 

Well,I USED to live up North,until 1986,grew up in Buffalo.
I spent MANY a morn waiting in snow for the school bus.
I don't miss snow at all.
I keep some pix on my PC of last year's deep lake-effect snow in Western
NY.

 

70's in Austin and forecast similar temps for the next seven days...

JT

(Who used to hail from the northeast)

 

IIRC, Buffaloono really got hamered last year..

JT

 

Rochester area got it even worse.
I have pix of rotary snowplows drving thru passages 2x as high as the plow.

 

I love snow!

....in pictures, on teevee etc.

<G>

JT