Steering pulls, even after wheel alignment check

Logic would indicate that the tyres have different levels of rolling resistance. Whether this is due to the wear incurred before the tyres were swapped, or a manufacturing flaw in one of the tyres is debateable at this stage.

Have you actually checked that the tyres sre identical. With the same markings etc? If they are you might find it difficult to persuade Fast-Fit that the fault is with the tyres.

Maybe a few hundred miles on the tyres in their 'swapped' position would help resolve which it is.

In either case it still suggests their is a problem with the steering. Swapping the tyres should have resulted in the steering pulling to the right instead.

If both rear tyres are the same, I'd suggest temporarily putting them on the front just to see what effect it had on the steering. Mike.

the new tyres should have gone on the back, nice to know that fast-fit ignore this advice, gives you confidence that they know what they are doing.

If the problem changes when swapping apparently identical tyres then you need to check whether the tyres are assymetric or directional and fitted appropriately and that they are inflated correctly and on identical wheels.

It is highly unlikely even with cheapy tyres that one has a fault that would make it drag more than the other.

Get the new ones on the back where they should be anyway and see what occurs.

Yes they are both Cooper 79T Sportmaster GLE 165/70R13

Sorry I don't understand... how would more miles help? Not sure at what point I realised there was a real problem but I'm guessing it was within

I assumed it was the tracking so didn't think to try swapping the tyres until about 150 miles later once the tracking had been checked (and toe-out corrected) and the problem persisted.

Yes I did check the tyre pressures both after the original fitting and then regularly afterwards. Not sure whether it's symmetric or asymmetric, but lets just say if you take both wheels off and rest them against the wall they look they same. ;)

Clearly (in my mind at least) there must be a difference in the tyres otherwise swapping them would have no effect, regardless of the car setup. To me this means one of them must be dodgy, but I'd be happier if someone can say why that's not the case.

ok, here's what I've done:

Front-Right moved to Rear-Right, Front-Left moved to Rear-Left, Rear-Right moved to Front-Right, Spare fitted as Front-Left, Rear-Left relegated to Spare.

The reason for fitting the spare is because once the rears were off I noticed the left-hand had very uneven tread wear. It was also a different brand to the right side, whereas the spare was the exact same tyre and with roughly the same tread remaining as the right side.

So now I have two matching new tyres at the rear and two matching old tyres at the front. It is no longer pulling to the left, at least not any more than could be put down to my imagination. Hurrah.

Handling seems ok but final judgement must wait until our current glorious weather gives way to the Great British Summer.

Could the uneven wear on the rear tyre have caused the steering pull with new front tyres?

Also is the wheel alignment check still valid now I've removed the uneven tyre and swapped the others around?

Thanks for the answers so far btw. Esp. the advice re fitting new to rear which prompted me to do some research... enlightening indeed.

The tracking is totally separate to the fitting of the wheels and unless you hit kerbs will stay the same for a very long time, eventually altering a little as things wear out.

Yes, a dodgy rear tyre can make the handling odd, but wouldn't usually make it pull one way which is cured when the front wheels are swapped.

If the tyres have any direction markers or 'outside' on them then make sure they are on the right sides.

Other than that just drive it.

Years ago I had an old Cortina come in for front brakes, when I put the front wheels back on I inadvertently swapped them side to side, although there was no visible differences the car then pulled hard to the left. I swapped them over and the problem disappeared, I could see no reason, so maybe it was just 'one of those things' in your case too !!

Mrcheerful

Because tyres 'run in' according to which corner they're fitted to. Swapping wheels on an axle reverses the tyres 'run in' direction, and alters their wear pattern. After the tyres 'run in' again, their behaviour may change from how they behaved when first fitted.

Still sounds like your problem is not purely down to the tyres though. Mike.

If it always pulls to the same side, I'd be suspecting a sticky brake caliper.

A shot in the dark, but how about checking the circumference of the tyres?

Andy.