Hi All,

I got under the car today and was shocked to see that my front tires have excessive inner wear. They have less than 4k on them and I haven't even rotated them, yet.

I have lifetime alignment at Firestone and just had it done around a month ago. They didn't mention anything.

Alignment is set to 0 toe and -1.5 camber.

I rebuilt the ball joints while the car was down. They still felt good. I just replaced the boots and re-packed them. My other bushings felt okay.

What could be the issue?

Stock sized tires. Cooper RS3-S.

Normal driving, no events. Just spirited daily.

I haven't checked my tie rod ends. Could that be an issue?

Thanks in advance.

Brady

 

Pics would help determine what may be going on if you have some.

 

Here you go. Thanks!

Driver's side isn't as bad, but it's wearing, too.

Car has about 84k on it. Stock suspension aside from a Whiteline steering precision kit.

 

Toe is out. for what ever reason.

 

Couple more things,

How many total miles on the car?
What wheel position is this tire in, and how many are showing this wear pattern?
Why was the car down?

 

I mentioned up top, but I'll repeat.

Around 84k total. Less mileage on the shocks and springs. They have around 40k, I think. This tire is front passenger. Driver is also wearing, but not as bad.

Nothing suspension relate. I bought it with a blown motor and had to rebuild everything. Then it was down for about 2 months while I did some things. Nothing suspension related.

 

Per our guys here,

This sort of one-sided tire wear points to something mechanical as the primary cause. Inboard shoulder of both tires on the same (front) axle is usually toe and/or negative camber related. Looks like this tire is almost to the wear bar on the very inside shoulder, which says the issue is pretty major, not minor.

I wouldn't expect this sort of rapid inboard shoulder wear from -1.5 degrees camber and zero toe. Could be bushings and/or ball joints despite what his inspection found. Could be the alignment isn't quite right or has changed. While the shop didn't mention anything during the alignment, he should look at the print out that shows before and after to see if they changed anything. And since it's a lifetime alignment he should have it checked again.

 

Could it be tie rod ends?

 

Perfect explanation. Yes tie rods can cause an issue like this as they control toe.

 

/\/\ true but there will be other issues if it is the steering rod ends, like wobble on off throttle maybe even at static speed. gotta rule out balance first on that tho...

My vote is toe is way off. Just run taut string across the hub centers from front to rear. That will show you quickly if toe is off. if string touches at all four points, not toe issue.

my 02

 

Been a while, man! Haven't heard back from you lately.

I'll go in and have my alignment checked in the morning. My last readout was okay. I'll try to find it.

I think I'm doing a clutch job on a friend's WRX in trade for a Whiteline RCK. Picked up a pair of inners for cheap online, too.

 

Getting the alignment checked. I'll update shortly.

 

Okay, so I'm a little confused. The first time I had it aligned, I asked for -1.5 camber up front, 0 toe. They had no problems. I always tell them the same amount when I go in and I guess I haven't paid much attention.

So, I actually looked. The first alignment, they got it right. Every alignment since, I've had -.8 camber and pretty close to zero toe. -.06 and .03.

They didn't even make any changes today. Toe was fine and the tech said my tie rod ends were okay. Not sure how much I trust Firestone on this.

I was under the assumption that camber was adjustable up front. Am I incorrect on that? Do I need aftermarket camber bolts up front?

Brady

 

Alright, reading in the FSM that the top bolt pretty much goes one way or the other. Either 1 degree or 2. I'll check and see about flipping them for a little more camber.

 

u said the first alignment they got it right. what did the printout say?
this time u went in and its only -.8 up front, what happened?
when u did the ball joints was this before or after the initial "supposedly -1.5 up front and 0 toe" ?

-1.5 wont cause that wear, -2 on my car doesnt even do that even with autox.
the toe is pretty good from what u wrote.

im thinking something might be loose.