Does uneven wear always mean poor alignment?

[gofast182]

I'd like to make a distinction, I realize it will be lost on the average driver but it is possible to have uneven wear and the alignment not be "poor". For example I run a healthy amount of negative camber on my S2000 but it improves the way the car drives/corners but I go in knowing that a certain tire wear pattern can be a consequence of this (depending how much).

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: KitaCam

One alternative action I think you can take is flipping the front pair/inside-worn tires on their rims and cross-rotate them to run on the rear where there's less dynamic variation in camber. Just a thought.


Can't do that with asymmetric tires, though.


Originally Posted By: fdcg27

Don't let just anbody try to fix something that may not be broken.


That's exactly what I don't want to happen. No way would I take any of my vehicles for a free alignment check -- not just for the price anyway.

 

[Black_Thunder]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
The only independent suspension vehicles I have owned have been Ford car. They always kill the inside of the tires.

The Taurus would eat front tires alive unless they were rotated every 3K.

The focus seems to be hard on the whole front tire, not just the inside), but there is quite a bit more wear on the inside on the rear tires. The inside of my OE tires are worn to 32'' and the outsides are still at 4/32''. Just the cost of having a front driver.


I have heard and seen that those vehicles were hard on tires, but my 97 thunderbird with Independent suspension wears tires great.

I think a lot of it has to do with how heavy the springs are etc.

being that mine is a rear wheel drive vehicle the suspension hold up a lot better

 

[Garandman]

Originally Posted By: rationull
I am about to replace my tires (will update my previous post when it's all done) and I'm trying to figure out whether to go get the alignment checked in the near future. In the past I've had hit-or-miss results from alignment shops around here so I'd just as soon not have anyone touch it unless I've got reason to believe it needs it.//
I used to think so.

But when I took my Outback 3.0R in, they found the front lower control arms worn and a fairly new KYB rear shock had ruptured. I thought the right rear tire was out of balance: the problem was no shock!

For whatever reason I've found something as minor as backing into a curb can throw your alignment off. And bad alignment seems to be particularly exaggerated in bad weather driving.

 

[TheScaryOne]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
1) Uneven wear is ALWAYS alignment. It is NEVER tires.

That's just not true. You even mention tire pressure further down your list. Lack of rotation, bad suspension components and defective tires can cause uneven wear too. This chart is about big trucks, but it applies to cars and pickups all the same.

FWD vehicles that don't rotate usually have worn shoulders on the front, and worn centers on the back.

As other posters have said, you got good mileage out of your set. You could rotate more often (I do mine every 3k) and cross-rotate your tires for the most even wear. Use the RWD pattern for cross rotating AWD cars. If you have directional tires, you will have to have the front pair dismounted and flipped if you cross-rotate. I prefer asymmetric tire treads.

 

[Papa Bear]

Originally Posted By: TheScaryOne
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
1) Uneven wear is ALWAYS alignment. It is NEVER tires.


That's just not true.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: TheScaryOne
FWD vehicles that don't rotate usually have worn shoulders on the front, and worn centers on the back.

Following the manufacturer's inflation recommendations.

Increasing the front tires' pressure and decreasing the rear tires' pressure can reduce that wear pattern and also provide a bit of oversteer to most front-heavy understeering FWD automobiles.

 

[deanm11]

Believe it or not, bad toe (probably too much toe-in) can wear the insides. It doesn't seem to be common knowledge but I've seen it discussed enough to feel very confident about it. I have this problem (pretty darn sure, not fully confirmed) on my 2012 Impreza. I'm also at about 40k miles on the [censored] Yokohoma all-seasons. I've rotated every 7500 miles and the insides are all worn, I believe from the time they spent on the front. I can tell by eye that there is no significant negative camber. The wear snuck up on me, kind of as you describe- I didn't really notice it until near the end of the tire life.

 

[CapriRacer]

Please excuse my delay in responding to this post. I was in Florida for the 24 hours and decided to extend the stay a few days.

Originally Posted By: TheScaryOne
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
1) Uneven wear is ALWAYS alignment. It is NEVER tires.

That's just not true. You even mention tire pressure further down your list.........


I think we have a difference in our definition of "Uneven Wear" This thread is about the wear being different on the inside vs outside - and that is what I am using for a definition.

Put another way, center wear (more wear in the center than at the shoulders) and shoulder wear (more wear at the shoulders than the center, but the wear is the same on both shoulders) are not being included in the term "Uneven Wear".

Originally Posted By: TheScaryOne
..... Lack of rotation, bad suspension components and defective tires can cause uneven wear too. This chart is about big trucks, but it applies to cars and pickups all the same......


First, lack of rotation doesn't cause uneven wear. It doesn't even cause shoulder wear or center wear. What it does is give those type4s of wear a chance to become more severe. Whatever the cause of a tire wear condition is, rotating tires slows down the rate at which these conditions appear by putting a different wear pattern on top of what the previous pattern was.

Second, bad suspension components can be the CAUSE of a bad alignment, but it is still alignment causing the wear.

And last, the chart doesn't mention defective tires at all, so your statement about defective tires is not supported.

(Concession: I will concede that some defects in tires cause uneven wear - BUT - those are so very rare, that for practical purposes, you can ignore defective tires as a cause and be correct 99.9% of the time.)

Originally Posted By: TheScaryOne
......FWD vehicles that don't rotate usually have worn shoulders on the front, and worn centers on the back.......


Yeah, but that's not quite true either. There's a lot going on and tire wear isn't easily characterized unless we start with the condition and work backwards.

Put another way, we can have a vehicle that is perfectly "In Spec" and still get uneven wear. We can also have a vehicle "Out of Spec" and get even wear. My experience is that "USUALLY" FWD cars evenly wear tires, if the tires are regularly rotated, and if not, then the rears tend to develop irregular wear.

The problem with the previous statement is that there are a ton of examples of FWD vehicles that don't follow that - to the point where the term "usually" is hard to apply.

So, PapaBear. I'll bet that wasn't as entertaining as you expected.

 

[Papa Bear]

Drat !!

Common sense and wisdom spoil a good debate again ......

 

[FL-400S]

I was getting inside wear on my van tires, also dry cracking after only 3 years / 34k miles. BFG touring TA from Sams, no more for me. I got new Michelin defenders at sears. They did the free alignment check and the printout. 3 of 4 were out of spec, but just barely. Took printout to local alignment shop, told them I had inside wear, they said the readings would give me outside wear! He said it wasn't too far off and not to bother with alignment right now.

I have had "pulling" issues resolved by getting new tires. I'm probably a chronic under rotator, and definitely run them 5-7 high so I don't have to check as often or worry about them low.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
What it does is give those type4s of wear a chance to become more severe. Whatever the cause of a tire wear condition is, rotating tires slows down the rate at which these conditions appear by putting a different wear pattern on top of what the previous pattern was.

And it also makes tire wear nearly useless as a diagnostic tool for suspension and alignment problems.

I am a non-rotator, except for front-back rotation at fairly long intervals, and that I do myself.

This saves wear and tear on lug nuts and bolts, distorted discs, and the other side effects of rotating and allows me to monitor alignment and suspension condition by visual inspection and measurement of tire wear.