born2lose

iTrader: (1)

My tires are wearing unevenly on all four at original height after lowering it, I thought it would have corrected it but it's still the same.

I have new tires on a different set of wheels to put on but want to get a wheel alignment before I throw them on.

My 00 gsr is lowered with about two finger gap in between each wheel well. I only have coilovers. Is it worth the alignment? Looking at how my tires are worn, what should be off?

I basically don't want to be lied to by the tech. Just wanted to do homework before going in.

Pictures show only the rear, the fronts are same but with more tread. Tires are michelin pilot exalto pe2.

born2lose

iTrader: (1)

Couldn't attach two pictures so here is the other.

Chriskemp

Im guessing its your toe or camber, again I'm just guessing. An alignment should fix it but, anyways nice shocks!

speedjunkie_g35

The toe is off. Def get an alignment. Firestone has lifetime alignments and it's worth every penny when you mess with your suspension a lot.

Tyson

dude, those tires needed to be changed like 10k miles ago.

yes its uneven but its not CRAZY uneven. most would say it wore pretty evenly considering the zero depth of tread youre showing.

yes, your toe is probably a little off, but you should be happy with the amount of wear on those tires.

and its always recommended to get an alignment with a new set of tires.

slowcivic2k

It is advised to have the alignment checked, and done only when needed.

Those tires definitely spent some time up front, given the center wear of the RR tire. That center wear is either from lots of overinflation, or excessive tire speed not going anywhere (IE single tire burnout)

Both tires exhibit excessive toe-in. As the tire rolls, it scrubs the rubber off as it rolls, producing a fading of the tread.

I would estimate the front toe is out quite a bit, probably from a suspension drop in which the alignment was not checked and corrected.

Lowering the car will increase negative camber on all wheels, and should be adjusted for if your wheel clearance permits it. Lowering also causes the tires to toe inwards, which is much more pronounced in the front. This is caused by the steering linkage remaining the same length when dropped, requiring the tires to toe-in naturally. With a basic drop this can be fixed simply by adjusting the front toe.

Excessive drops may require a tie rod relocation, or relocation of the steering rack upwards to correct. Not correcting this difference will result in bump steer which can be quite significant, not to mention operating the tie rod joint at an angle that is less than ideal.

If you choose not to correct the camber, expect some outer tire wear, but the fading (toe-in) will be gone completely. How you use your tires dictate how they wear.

born2lose

iTrader: (1)

i think it is just toe. camber would make the wear more closer to the sidewalls. i worried about it being bushings that needs replacement. thanks!

when i lowered it, i never had wheel alignment and since i have new tires now, now would be a good time.

lol, i know the tires needs to be replaced but the fronts have a lot more tread left and i didnt want to replace just two. i am happy with these tires, that is why i havent replace them.

before i lowered the vehicle, the tires wearing was just as how you see it in the picture. after lowering it, i thought it may correct the tire wear but it didnt.

now that i thought of it, lowering only affects the camber, right? well in my case it didnt affect anything. keep in mind, there is two finger gap in between the rear wheel wells and a little bit more spacing in the fronts.

i have read lowering a vehicle affects only the camber and not toe. from my experience it affects the inner camber. raising the vehicle would affect the outer

slowcivic2k

You are misinformed, I previously stated why the toe will be affected. By changing tie rod angle, you force the front wheels to toe in during a suspension drop.

Your tire wear, minus the burnout or overinflation part, is consistent with my experience with aligning lowered vehicles.

Tyson

OP, most of what you have replied is completely false. whatever information you think youre reading is wrong or your interpretation is wrong.


whenever you change the height of the car, lowering springs, you MUST get an alignment. not even just advised or recommended.

its the toe that affects tire wear considerably.

ride height affects camber.
camber affects toe.
toe affects tire wear.

however what you have is just normal wear and nothing to freak out about other than worrying about hydroplaning over puddle since you waited so long.

born2lose

iTrader: (1)

The red is the road. The slanted rectangles are tires and the filled circles are where they meet the road.

If I have them properly labeled. My current problem is #2?

I always thought lowering a vehicle only gets #3 as a problem.

TunerN00b

Let's try and keep this simple, and that hand drawn diagram isn't.

The car has a toe curve at both ends. The car has a camber curve at both ends. Thus, lowering the car changes the camber and toe at both ends. This is pure physics (kinematics, really), and not debatable.

You lowered the car. Camber isn't an issue. Incorrect toe kills tires. You failed to fix the toe with an alignment. Go get the toe fixed.

TracerAcer2.2L

No, you have toe-in. Did you not read slowcivic2k's post? It says everything you need to know

born2lose

iTrader: (1)

I appreciate all the response but most of you think my uneven tire wear is due to my vehicle being lowered. I'll rewrite my first sentence in my original post.

My tires were wearing unevenly on all four at the original height so I decided to lower it and thought it would counter or correct my problem but it didn't. The tires continue to wear the same and I noticed no change.

kevin091988

Id agree with the ones saying your toe is off. Also, the first picture looks like the tire was over inflated as well as the toe being off.. Just my thoughts.

slowcivic2k

Once a tire has an established wear problem, it will continue to wear that way for the rest of its life, even after an alignment. businesses used to shave tires flat again to restore the tire's squareness, but the distortion in the belts will produce the same result in the end. This is why people don't shave tires any longer.

You have an excessive toe in problem. Correct it. You may also have a camber problem, correct it. Done.

As to why your alignment was off in the first place, someone did something to the car, like replacing a tie rod without an alignment, or tried to align the car by hand measurements. Believe me, it is more common than you think.

born2lose

iTrader: (1)

Thanks again for the responses. So the tech that will do my alignment just needs to correct the toe and camber by adjusting; nothing should need to be replaced, correct?

slowcivic2k

Depends. If he just throws it up on the rack and says "I can adjust that", then sure, you will need no parts. But if is smart enough to see a large variance as a problem without an explanation, said technician will check total steering angle, wheelbase differential or setback, and frame angle to determine the location of the problem. I choose to do the latter.

TunerN00b

No. Just the toe.

Based on your description of what aftermarket parts the car has, if the tech tells you he adjusted the camber, ask for a refund. It isn't adjustable.

daxr

Too much toe-in, pretty simple. A simple alignment should fix it. If you want to be a little safer, have the toe set with the weight of a driver in the seat. Most places will set it unloaded, and a vehicle (especially a lowered vehicle with no-stock springs) can see a pretty good change in toe between loaded and unloaded.

Usually I set a car unloaded and take a print-out, then hop in and double check that the readings are still ok with a driver in the seat. Mostly they are, but sometimes it does change enough to need some more fiddling. I learned that after a come-back or two with worn-out tires on rigs that were set to spec and measured fine on the recheck, but then changed a bunch with some weight in the car.