Front tire wear opinions.

Status
Not open for further replies.

pbm

Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
10,206
Location
New York
My daughter's 2008 Elantra has been wearing front tires on the inner edge for a quite a while even after getting an alignment.
I'm thinking it needs some new parts but I don't want to throw a lot of money at it because I've already replaced struts and end links
and it is becoming a beater (different color hood and fender to the rest of the car)....What is most likely worn?....Balls Joints?... control arms?
It only has 127K and has been well maintained so I'm willing to spend a bit but NY is tough on vehicles....Opinions welcome. Thanks

PS: I realize that the shop should tell me what was needed before doing an alignment but they didn't.
 
Tire pressures have always been at or above the recommended? Ive seen inexpensive tires wear much faster than decent ones as well. The only way to really see whats off is to take a looka t the alignment printout and make sure its all within spec.
 
Did you put on new tires or rotate the tires after the alignment? If not, the tires will continue to wear on the inside, as once they have worn, they will not correct themselves.
 
a good shop checks for worn parts BEFORE wasting $$ on an alignment. printouts are good thats not an option on older equipment. prollly look for a good shop with up to date equipment!
 
I'd also look for a different alignment shop. Wearing on the inside edge of both tires is usually because of excessive toe-in.
 
Looking at the parts on Rockauto, Hyundai used a design VERY similar to Honda's of that era, including a bushing that looks almost exactly like a Honda 'Compliance Bushing' On a Honda/Acura car of that vintage, they generally only last around 100k before they get weak and cause the problem you describe. Static alignment will be fine, but they deflect more under load (especially acceleration) and will chew the inside edge of the tire.
 
You may/may not have worn suspension parts and only need a 4 wheel alignment. Was the front end aligned after the strut replacement?

Your daughter's front alignment is experiencing too much negative camber, causing the tires to lean-in at the top.
 
Last edited:
I started this thread because I installed 4 snow tires in January and they are showing inside wear on the fronts with only about 5K miles. I now realize that I also started a thread back in January (asking about camber bolts) when I noticed the same wear on her 'All Season tires'.

When I took the car to a shop that gave 'printouts' a few years ago (I've had 2 done since this one)....it showed SAI in the front to be off.

The specified range is 12.9* - 13.9*….both sides read 14.1 before....the front right was corrected to 13.9*….but the front left remained at 14.1 even after the alignment.
All other readings, including 'toe' were within specs. both before and after the alignment. (spec. range is -0.10* - 0.10*....the right was 0.00* before and 0.01* after...the left was -0.10* before and 0.00* after.

I think I'm going to find the best alignment shop I can and find out what's causing this....because tires ain't cheap.

I'd really like to know if it's ball joints. control arms, bushing etc....so I could change them out in advance. Thanks
 
Too much negative camber. Could of course be due to worn front suspension, especially saggy springs and bushings.
 
Well, you can tug in & out on tires from(12:00 & 6:00) position which will clunky if you have bad ball joints.
And tug in & out from the(9:00 & 3:00) position which will clunk if the tie rods are bad...I might have those in reverse but you know what I mean. And you might need a helper.
 
Last edited:
13MY old. Are rubber bushings involved?

After gathering your intel and deciding to replace some parts, does it make sense to refresh the struts at that time?

Does it make noise?
 
Originally Posted by Kira
13MY old. Are rubber bushings involved?

After gathering your intel and deciding to replace some parts, does it make sense to refresh the struts at that time?

Does it make noise?




When the weather warms up I'm going to get under it and check those things mentioned.
Thanks guys.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top