Can bad brakes (rear drums) effect tire wear?

[buster]

About 8 months ago I put 4 new tires on my car. The car came with Michelin Mx4 tires. I rotated them every 12-20k miles. I average 50k miles per year. Never had any problems. I switched to Dunlop and went 10k miles before my first rotation. The tires were wearing unevenly makeing it seem like my car was out of alignment. Justtires cut me a deal and gave me two new ones saying I should rotate them more often. So I did start rotating at 6k and the problem is back. This whole time my rear drums were also shot and I have been puttin it off to have them replaced (just did this we). So could it be the brakes that were shuttering in the rear end be causing uneven wear or is it the tire being not to compatible with my car?? I'm thinking of trying a different brand.

[ April 09, 2003, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[OneQuartLow]

No, brakes won't cause it unless you're babying them and thus entering corners too fast.

I've taken to rotating at minimum with every oil change, checking/adjusting toe at the same time.

What do you mean by uneven wear? Which tires? It usually is alignment. If just front edges you may be able to adjust it yourself in 15min.

Also check inflation.

 

[buster]

Hi, the front tires are chopped and feathered. Those were the words they used. All I know is that my car pulls to the right and I get a vibration in the wheel. NTB and Justtires both said the alignment is fine. So for some reason these tires are not wearing evenly. I check the pressure all the time.

 

[sprintman]

buster a hint. Never get an alignment from a tyre dealer, always go to a suspension specialist. Tyre dealers havn't a clue about wheel alighning properly. A local dealer here started taking vehicles to a suspension specialist after using their alighner to see how far out their aligner was. It was a joke. 12mths later the dealers aligner still way out.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

yea thats true. they just know how to do it, but if they run into a problem or have to deal with a camber kit they dont know diddly squat.

 

[OneQuartLow]

quote:

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Originally posted by sprintman:
buster a hint. Never get an alignment from a tyre dealer, ...

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Couldn't have said it better.

The line employees at most tire shops are on par with oil changers. Beware. On occassion you can push and get a senior tech but better to find a shop that knows what they're doing.

How many miles on the vehicle? If it's pulling and wearing badly, but not showing static alignment problems, it could be a bad rod end or other component that only tweaks under load.

David

 

[buster]

Never thought of that. 117k miles on it. Tire wear is high on these particular tires. I'm going to take it to the dealer. Thanks

 

[sprintman]

Dealer?? If you think worn suspension parts (bushings, tie rods etc) go to a suspension specialist. Dealers dont have a clue.

 

[Shannow]

haha,
went to a local tyre shop to stop the scrubbing on my HZ wagon.

Picked the car up, and asked how the alignment went.

"Within specification" they told me.

OK, so what did they do to stop the scrubbing ?

"Nothing, it's within specification".

OK but look at the tyres.

"Well it's within specs".

So I made a trammel bar and a camber gauge.

And don't worry about $50 to tell me "it's in spec"

 

[Rick]

Can one actualy create a tool, so we can actualy adjust our own alignments?

 

[Shannow]

A Trammel bar can be made pretty easily to set up the toe in/out, sort of like a great big "G-Clamp" - just make sure that your rims have minimal run-out.

Camber guage can be made to contact the rims top and bottom, then use a spirit level to find vertical.

Caster is a pain, but you can buy equipment for that.

Need to understand your trigonometry a little, and be prepared to have a couple of goes at it.

Also, I borrow one of those temperature sensing guns from work, drive on the highway, and see the temperature profile of the tyre.

Never have, and never will try a 4 wheel alignment.