Should an alignment follow lower control arm replacement?

[yuri1419]

Hi all,

3 months and 3,600 miles ago, my long time trusted mechanic replaced the lower control arms on my 2000 V70XC. Now I'm finding that my front tires are showing signs of alignment issues- a lot of excess wear on the outside of the driver front.

Should an alignment have been done following the lower control arm replacement?

[JRL]

Err... yep!

[yuri1419]

Figured, though too late to save me from running through a pair of tires and causing unneeded stress during the 1900 mile road trip vacation. Thankfully I realized the wear and found an available mechanic at a tiny gas station somewhere east of Wall, SD who could rotate them on the spot. Still worn, but less scary when on the back.

Is the general rule that an alignment should follow replacing any front end parts, or are there exceptions?

[JRL]

Not really unless your mechanic is THAT good and can either mark the place where it was before or has a gauge