Ok I had my 83' 300td aligned and tires balanced. My 84'300td recently got new tires that were mounted and balanced. The 84' was in an accident and the passenger side front rim was chewed up pretty bad, among other body damage that leaves the car not drivable. I wanted to swap the tires from the 84' to the 83'. I got a rim off eBay and had the damaged rims tire mounted and balanced. I then swapped the tires from one to the other. The alignment is now off pretty bad on the 83'. The car pulls to the left. Could this be from me mounting them improperly?

Different wheels/tires should not affect alignment. A tire with a slipped belt may cause pulling in one direction, and a bent wheel could affect how smoothly the car drives. Try moving the tires from front to back and see if that has any effect on how the car tracks.

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Fred Hoelzle

You may also have mounted a "left" tire on the right side. If the treadwear on the '84 was significantly different, the tires may be pulling one way. For example excessive inboard wear (or outboard) may make the '84's tires cone shaped.

If the front/rear swap doesn't help, then examine the wear pattern, or have the shop that mounted the tires make some wear measurements across the face of the tire.

If you're re-using the tire off the rim that was bent, it may also have been damaged. Are there any out-of-balance symptoms?

I mounted them myself. The tires from the 84' are relatively new. I also matched there position. Front driver right from the 84' went to front driver right of the 83'. I'm going to bring it in to the shop the did the alignments. Could I have messed something up when I mounted them?

It's possible one of the other wheels is imperceptibly bent or damaged from the accident. The test would be to put the original tires back on the 83 and see if it still pulls.....

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