can someone please tell me why my tires are wearing like this:









it's at stock ride height and still has stock springs and struts.

is there anything i can do or have done to fix it? i'd rather not have to buy new tires.
thanks guys!

Zach

 

Wow - When you look at your back tire from the back bumper on your knees .. does the top of the tire seem inward .. / \ like that ? Thats Toe

Altho - camber effects it like that ... stock strut/spring combo ? Not sure ..

 

yeah it does. that's what i figured the problem was, but how can i fix it?

 

DAM can u say ALIGNMENT

 

uhhh....yeah....aligned a month ago

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chemicalviper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow - When you look at your back tire from the back bumper on your knees .. does the top of the tire seem inward .. / \ like that ? Thats Toe

Altho - camber effects it like that ... stock strut/spring combo ? Not sure ..</TD></TR></TABLE>

/ \ would be negative camber if the top of the tire leans inward.

Toe would affect the front of the tire.

/ \ toe-in

\ / toe-out

Camber seems to be the problem here.

Get an alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zach W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">uhhh....yeah....aligned a month ago</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take it back!


http://www.metropark.com/safewaytire/tireware.html

 

so that's it? just align the back tires? i had it done a month ago, but i guess firestone succeeded at screwing me once again...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zach W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so that's it? just align the back tires? i had it done a month ago, but i guess firestone succeeded at screwing me once again...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would go to NTB next time. They give you a before and after printout.


https://www.stempfperformance.com/

Sell a cheap rear camber kit.


Misalignment Condition - Tire Wear Symptom

Incorrect Camber Setting - Premature smooth wear on either inside or outside shoulder.

Incorrect Toe Setting - Feathered wear across tread; raised tread block edges.

Incorrect Caster Setting - Excessive shoulder wear; tread blocks show "heel-toe" wear pattern.

Unequal Caster setting (either right or left side is out of specification) - Sharp pulling necessitates steering compensation and feathered wear.

Unequal Toe setting (either right or left side is out of specification) - Sharp pulling necessitates steering compensation and feathered wear.

Combination of two or more settings are out of specification. - Irregular tread wear with feathering and smooth spots.




This is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of all the possibilities; but if you learn to spot these symptoms early, you can get a lot more wear from your tires. Remember... tires take the brunt of many problems; just simply replacing the old ones is not a solution. Very soon afterward, your new tires will begin to reflect the same problems if you have not made the appropriate remedy.

Worn Parts

Very often a worn suspension part is the cause of an alignment problem. On older vehicles, worn springs can lower a vehicle's ride height, altering its geometry and creating misalignment (all alignment settings refer to ride height). Weak springs can also contribute to uneven or "cupped" tire wear. Another common problem is worn ball joints. The symptoms here are erratic handling, slow steering response and irregular tire wear. Finally, worn tie rods can allow the tire to wander left to right, effectively changing toe as the vehicle rolls down the road. Irregular feathering will develop on the tire tread when this is the problem. Again this is not an exhaustive listing, but if you stay alert to these common problems, it may help you schedule an early visit to your mechanic and save on tire wear.

 

i got the stupid lifetime alignment thing at firestone...seemed like a good deal at the time until i had to try to get them to actually do something on it. i hate to go somewhere else and spend money when i don't have to

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zach W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i got the stupid lifetime alignment thing at firestone...seemed like a good deal at the time until i had to try to get them to actually do something on it. i hate to go somewhere else and spend money when i don't have to</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't, unless they can't fix it. Demand a refund then.

 

Tell them you want a printout of the specs, before and after the alignment. If they can't do it or don't have the ability, then definitely go somewhere else. Alignments should be done on a laser machine like one from Hunter:

 

usually if your car is lowered without a camber kit, they can get everything into specs except for camber. Toe will eat tires faster than camber.....but camber will eventually get you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PhatAcuraIntegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">usually if your car is lowered without a camber kit, they can get everything into specs except for camber. Toe will eat tires faster than camber.....but camber will eventually get you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Look at the wear. It says "camber problem" to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PhatAcuraIntegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">usually if your car is lowered without a camber kit, </TD></TR></TABLE>

everything is stock bro.

thanks for the advice everyone. i'm gonna make an appointment to get it aligned saturday when im in town, and ill let ya know how it goes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Look at the wear. It says "camber problem" to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If the suspension is stock, then the only things that can cause that kind of wear problem is damaged suspension, or toe-in that is out-of-spec. Worn bushings or tie rod ends could also cause tire wear problems like that. If his camber is out-of-spec, then he definitely has damaged suspension pieces, since it's not adjustable from the factory.

 

WTF! Was the car in an accident? Maybe the chassis could be tweaked!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bill Hook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Look at the wear. It says "camber problem" to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's the biggest mistake one can make when looking at tire wear. his suspension is stock, so obviously, he doesn't have excessive negative camber.

a lot of Toe rips up tires much faster than camber does (as said above), and it will make it LOOK like you are running a large amount of negative camber because it wears the tire unevenly.

My integra was running -2 degrees camber up front for more than a year, and I didn't get uneven tire wear like that. it was slightly uneven, but nothing like in that picture, because toe was in spec.

he could have a damaged bushing or wheel bearing. that could cause excessive wear as well. the first step would be getting an alignment at a reputable place. They should be able to tell you everything about what your suspension is doing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zach W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so that's it? just align the back tires? i had it done a month ago, but i guess firestone succeeded at screwing me once again...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I feel your pain. Firestone has done nothing but screw me all the time. 3 out of 4 times they charged me for things they didn't do . I'm finished with them.

 

just next time get an alignment and have them printout the specs for you...then it will be A LOT easier to determine what the problem is.

 

the DC2 specs call for about -.6 camber in the rear, since the cars suspension is still stock, there is now way to adjust camber, other that putting washers behind the upper control arm bracket. you can only adjust toe. your rear toe is probably out of spec. if you have negative camber like the specs call for and toe out of spec, then it will eat up the tires. but the car should have some camber. you said that you had the alignment done a moth ago, but how long have you had your tire on the car. the wear pattern could have been put into the tires before the alignment was done. those tires look pretty old. you should always get an alignment after you get new tires.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zach W. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so that's it? just align the back tires? i had it done a month ago, but i guess firestone succeeded at screwing me once again...</TD></TR></TABLE>

wrong. once you wear a pettern into the tires, its hard to make them wear out normal. and it doesn't look like you put new tires on a month ago. just cause you align a car with old tires, doesn't mean that you tires will all of a sudden wear perfectly. with a teg, all you can due is set the toe and let it go. unless you buy a camber kit of some sort.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If the suspension is stock, then the only things that can cause that kind of wear problem is damaged suspension, or toe-in that is out-of-spec. Worn bushings or tie rod ends could also cause tire wear problems like that. If his camber is out-of-spec, then he definitely has damaged suspension pieces, since it's not adjustable from the factory.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know, it didn't make sense that his camber should be off. I think worn parts would be a good guess. It seems both tires are wearing pretty evenly, which makes it unlikely that damaged suspension is the culprit, since it would be hard to damage both sides to the same extent.

 

Thats toe wear.

 

thanks for the replys guys...it was toe wear. over a degree out. i got it aligned saturday and got a print out of the specs....yeah, it was bad. i got it fixed, but i will still probably have to get new tires, so if anyone wants do donate, PM me and ill give you my paypal account

thanks again!

Zach