Wheel removal causing wheel alignment problems?

[Ice Halo]

I have a Mk5 Golf GTI and I just got a punctured left front tyre- took it to the shop to get it repaired yesterday. They took off the wheel, and put the spare on as the puncture was too close to the sidewall and needed to be replaced (they didn't have my size/brand tyre in stock).

With the spare on, the steering wheel wasn't centred, and the car had a strong tendency to steer to the right ie. alignment seemed way off (when it was fine prior to having the wheel taken off).

I have since replaced both the tyres on the front axle, but the steering problem remains. Prior to having the wheel taken off, the car tracked straight and true (had an alignment done only 5 months ago, car tracking dead straight prior to taking it into the shop and wear was even on all the tyres).

This is the second time something like this has happened- when I had a rear wheel puncture over a year ago a different tyre shop took the wheel off and replaced it, and I also had alignment issues post.

Why is this happening? Surely taking off a wheel shouldn't affect the wheel alignment?

Are the mechanics deliberately fiddling with the alignment without telling me or using excessive force taking off the wheel?

Am puzzled, and its costing me alot to get a wheel alingment every time a wheel gets taken off!!!

Thinking a bit more, the car has been serviced multiple times in between the tyre replacements, and presumably the wheels are removed to check the brakes? SO it seems only the tyre shops are causing the problem...

[Umai Naa!!]

Honestly, the only way you'll know what's going on is if you have the alignment checked.

This will highlight where the issue lies.

I can understand why it would pull to one side with miss-matched tyres (wear-wise), as the rolling diameters will be different. The only other thing I can think of is there is a huge variance in tyre pressures which has gone un-checked.

FWIW, cars aren't meant to track dead-straight. The alignment specifications take into account the camber in the road, meaning on a perfectly flat road, the car will have a tendency to list to the left. This is also a safety feature to help prevent you from veering into oncoming traffic if you fell asleep at the wheel, for example.

[Ice Halo]

Thanks, I'm fairly pedantic regarding tire pressures and have all 4 within 0.5 PSI at all times (check weekly with my own calibrated digital pump). I have my wheel alignment done by a shop that specialises in high end luxury cars/race cars, and on normal roads yes, the car should track left given the camber.

However, what's happening is the opposite, the car is tracking right heavily, and only had a problem after the wheel was taken off. No problems up until the point I drove into the shop. Even with both tyres now replaced and the spare off, the wheel alignment is off.

The alignment was definitely off when just the rear wheel was removed as per what the wheel alignment shop told me (can't remember but I think the corner where the wheel was taken off, the toe was out).


Surely wheel removal shouldn't affect alignment?

[Umai Naa!!]

In a nutshell, no.

But I do wonder if the tyre shop(s) in question is(are) being careless with their methods of jacking up the car.