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My 2005 Elise has around 7,200 miles and I just had new rear tires (A048's) installed. The front tires had a fair amount of tread left, so I decided not to change them out at this time. The new rear tires were purchased from Tirerack and are the correct size with the "LTS" designation on the sidewall. I used an authorized installer that I've dealt with before that specializes in custom wheels and that has installed new tires on several Elises/Exiges in the recent past.
The installer jacked up one side of the car at a time, using a floor jack with a rubber pad at the lifting point marked by the blue sticker and indicated in the manual for tire changing. He only lifted the car enough to clear the ground, was very careful with the removal/reinstallation of each rear wheel. They did a nice job mounting/balancing each tire, both of which only required minimum wheel weights to balance. The wheels were torqued to the correct specification per the manual. The front tires are inflated to 24 psi cold and the rear tires have 27 psi cold.
This shop does not have an alignment rack, as wheels are their specialty. I had the car aligned last year at the dealer, where it only required a small adjustment to the front and none to the rear if I recall correctly. It was just at the dealer a week ago for other service, but I elected to buy the tires elsewhere. I've driven the car about 20 miles since installing the tires.
A few days ago I noticed that the passenger side of the car seems to be sitting up slightly higher at the rear of the car than the driver's side. I also noticed that the tread, which picks up concrete dust like crazy from the new driveway to my basement, shows no dust on the outside inch or so of the right rear tire. This would indicate to me that I have either a camber or toe problem of some sort, which I didn't remember having before changing tires. I've never curbed a wheel or had any major pothole strikes, but it is a Lotus so anything could go wrong.
I remember that sometimes on my old Elan the rear suspension would be raised after jacked the car up, but after a few miles it would normally settle down after a few miles. I would think that the suspension would have settled down on the Elise after 20 miles, but I've never jacked the car before and don't know if this is commonplace. The front appears to be equal from side to side, but the right rear might be 1/8" or so higher. It went down slightly after a 200 lb. friend sat in the passenger seat a few times.
See photos below to see the tread pattern. I'm not that well versed on the shims used for suspension alignment, but it seems that factory alignment is all over the map from what I've read here. I'm going to take it in for alignment this week, but wondered if anyone had advice. I can't imagine that anything the tire installer did could have damaged the chassis or rear suspension based on what I saw. Thanks in advance for your help.
![Elise rear 5-24-09 002 (2).jpg]()
![Elise left rear 5-24-09 004 (2).jpg]()
![Elise right rear 5-24-09 003 (2).jpg]()
The installer jacked up one side of the car at a time, using a floor jack with a rubber pad at the lifting point marked by the blue sticker and indicated in the manual for tire changing. He only lifted the car enough to clear the ground, was very careful with the removal/reinstallation of each rear wheel. They did a nice job mounting/balancing each tire, both of which only required minimum wheel weights to balance. The wheels were torqued to the correct specification per the manual. The front tires are inflated to 24 psi cold and the rear tires have 27 psi cold.
This shop does not have an alignment rack, as wheels are their specialty. I had the car aligned last year at the dealer, where it only required a small adjustment to the front and none to the rear if I recall correctly. It was just at the dealer a week ago for other service, but I elected to buy the tires elsewhere. I've driven the car about 20 miles since installing the tires.
A few days ago I noticed that the passenger side of the car seems to be sitting up slightly higher at the rear of the car than the driver's side. I also noticed that the tread, which picks up concrete dust like crazy from the new driveway to my basement, shows no dust on the outside inch or so of the right rear tire. This would indicate to me that I have either a camber or toe problem of some sort, which I didn't remember having before changing tires. I've never curbed a wheel or had any major pothole strikes, but it is a Lotus so anything could go wrong.
I remember that sometimes on my old Elan the rear suspension would be raised after jacked the car up, but after a few miles it would normally settle down after a few miles. I would think that the suspension would have settled down on the Elise after 20 miles, but I've never jacked the car before and don't know if this is commonplace. The front appears to be equal from side to side, but the right rear might be 1/8" or so higher. It went down slightly after a 200 lb. friend sat in the passenger seat a few times.
See photos below to see the tread pattern. I'm not that well versed on the shims used for suspension alignment, but it seems that factory alignment is all over the map from what I've read here. I'm going to take it in for alignment this week, but wondered if anyone had advice. I can't imagine that anything the tire installer did could have damaged the chassis or rear suspension based on what I saw. Thanks in advance for your help.
