Need tire experts regarding tire wear pattern.

[ST2008]

Hi

I noticed, few days ago, one of the tires in my Civic (front, driver side) has excessive inner wear (photos). I did some search with google and it seems this wear was caused by excessive camber or a wrong toe. The car steers lightly left, and with little wandering, while I'm driving in the highway. I'm not so sure what cause this excessive wear and I need your expertise. thx

 

[horse123]

With wear that bad, if it's camber, you're going to very clearly be able to see the top of the tire in the front tilted in more towards the car.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Either very heavy negative camber or excessive toe out. Need alignment.

 

[clinebarger]

Toe-in will affect both front tires, Do you rotate on a regular basis? Honda Civics have too much negative REAR Camber from the factory.

 

[Kestas]

I have the same wear pattern on the front tires of my car, even though the camber is spot on. I guess I don't corner as much as the car manufacturer expects me to. I'm not going to mess with the camber. I'll just keep up on the four tire cross rotation I do.

 

[Elevguy]

It should pull to the least positive camber. You said it pulled left so that fits. Or the most positive caster. Been doing front ends for years

 

[ST2008]

Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Toe-in will affect both front tires, Do you rotate on a regular basis? Honda Civics have too much negative REAR Camber from the factory.


The other three tires have very uniform wear patterns. This is the reason why I'm suspecting the Camber.

What I find odd is the car pulls lightly left while I'm driving in the highway. But the wear pattern of the tire indicates the camber is excessively negative. So the car should pull right but not left. right?

 

[ST2008]

Originally Posted By: Elevguy
It should pull to the least positive camber. You said it pulled left so that fits. Or the most positive caster. Been doing front ends for years


My Civic is bone stock and the camber this car is not adjustable. Do you know what can cause excessive negative camber ?

 

[ST2008]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Either very heavy negative camber or excessive toe out. Need alignment.


I know It needs an alignment. But I want to gather as much as info I can and fix things that need to be fixed before going for an alignment. I had several bad experience before. This time, I want to find a mechanic know what he's talking about and not bullshitting things to me or trying to rip me off.

 

[Nick1994]

I doubt it just need an alignment. Something is either worn out, bent, or broken and needs to be replaced.

 

[CapriRacer]

First, it is my opinion that pretty much all vehicle alignment specs are too wide - by half. That is, for good tire wear, the alignment has to be within the inner half of the spec!

Second, not only is toe a big contributor to tire wear issues, it is a multiplier for other problems.

For example, if your car has excessive camber and a tiny bit of toe, you will probably not experience a tire wear problem - or put another way, the problem will be small enough you probably won't notice.

But take the same amount of excessive camber and add a lot of toe (and even within the spec!) and you can get massive amounts of odd tire wear!

And lastly, it is common for many vehicles to specify large amounts of camber - which makes for good handling. And this isn't a problem unless there is also a large amount of toe. I see where Honda Civics spec a large amount of camber, so it should not be a surprise to see tire wear as in the photo.

 

[Fsharp]

Originally Posted By: ST2008

My Civic is bone stock and the camber this car is not adjustable. Do you know what can cause excessive negative camber ?


I'm not familiar with Civics specifically, but most cars with McPherson struts you adjust camber at the two bolts connecting the bottom of the strut with the steering knuckle.

When you have it aligned make sure the struts, upper strut mounts, ball joints, tie rods, and tie rod ends are in good shape.

 

[ST2008]

My car has wishbone suspension and it's not adjustable with stock setup.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: ST2008
My car has wishbone suspension and it's not adjustable with stock setup.


But it can be adjusted with the addition of a camber plate or an eccentric bolt - and the alignment shop ought to tell you that up front, if they don't include that in the price of the alignment.

 

[ST2008]

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts. I probably find the culprit. The driver side has 3/4" drop. Probably, there are something wrong with the coilover.