DanInOttawa

So have a problem where front inside shoulders are wearing more than the outside, looked closer at both front tires and see that the inside has not worn evenly, i.e. it looks out of round in that on one part of the tire it's worn a lot (no shoulder lugs visible) and on the other portion there's a lot more of the lug visible. The two photos are of the same tire, just rolled along a bit. Both are like that, and some other tires I had on temporarily (2 months) have started to wear in the same way.

Before I get an alignment and make sure the toe and camber are ok I checked all the front suspension and steering, ball joints and tie rod ends are good, the LCA bushings are older and starting to crack, passenger side are a bit loose ... since the boot on the driver BJ is cracked I'm going to replace both LCAs but I wanted to see what people's thoughts were on the weird elliptical wear pattern, sign of struts gone?

rvn2svn

Looks like toe wear to me. Yes worn struts can cause a very weird "worn out / not worn / worn out pattern." If the excessive wear is just in one section of the tire it may have a broken belt or cord in that area. I'd replace your worn out components like your planning and get it aligned

95accordCE6

Camber out of spec combined with excessive toe in the first pic, feathering caused by weak struts in both pics. And yes it's a good idea to replace the torn/cracked bushings

slowcivic2k

Feathering is the result of poor tire rotation and excessive load on the tires, resulting in the tread blocks deforming. Reversing tire direction will generally correct this if done as a part of normal maintenance.

Excessive toe will show up on both tires, either inside, or outside, as the angles neutralize during straight-ahead driving.

The top tire looks as if the tread on both inside and outside is worn out, indicating under-inflation. The bottom shows typical lack of rotation.

Those tires look as if there were put on at separate times given the wear difference between them.

You going to need to tell me how old the tires are (FR710's by the looks of it), and what kind of car you drive, plus anything suspension related that has been done (or not done) to the car.

rvn2svn

The pictures are the same tire just a different section of the tread.

slowcivic2k

Pics of the other tire please.

DanInOttawa

The tires were bought used but were virtually new (guy wrecked his ride w winter tires on it and sold these separate to his insurance settlement).

They have less than 20,000 miles on them since then, with only half that for the two pictured on the front (most recently). Inflation has been monitored carefully, and they've been rotated every 10k miles.

Here are the other two, and you can see that while not as pronounced as the other side, there is still that weird hi/lo wear pattern on the inside edge.

The last photo is of the back tires, which are wearing more evenly.

Thanks for your help.

slowcivic2k

If the toe is reasonably close, the steering axis changing the tire position during steering is to blame.

I see a lot of cars with this type of wear, and, sadly, in some cases I end up adjusting the camber so that the SAI-induced change in camber does not wear the tire.

SAI (steering axis inclination): The position inward (or outward lol) of the upper ball joint mounting location relative to the lower ball joint. As the tire is steered, camber will be changed as the steering angle changes, while will produce inner tire wear. It is, for the most point, unavoidable unless you want to sacrifice handling in the front for tire wear. You cannot have max grip and tire wear at the same time, you have to sacrifice.

Your wear is slight, but noticeable. Have the alignment checked, and report back with the angles. The degree of wear on the inside suggests camber out of spec, but this could be the way you are using the tire.