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What’s balding my rear tires?

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Old 06-20-24, 09:37 PM
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edmundprieto98
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Default What’s balding my rear tires?

What could be causing my rear tires to bald mostly on the outer edges? Also when I drive on rough roads (specially potholes) the rear end of my car feels like it loses traction and it “trips/bounce” to the right. Took it to a shop and they found that the left lower camber arm was bent so I had them replaced with aftermarket adjustable ones but the problem persists. Could my struts be the culprit? What kind of tread wear is this?

Left tire:


Right tire:


Last edited by edmundprieto98; 06-20-24 at 09:58 PM.
Old 06-20-24, 10:00 PM
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dwoods801
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Certainly the first direction you’ll want to go is to a good alignment shop that can verify the castor/camber/toe angle are all in factor specs. If you’r tires are both toes in or out that could cause unusual tire wear, having the castor angle off could cause the tires to wear in unusual pattern also, and these situations could also cause the rear end to be squirrelly.
Also off the top of my head, the first photo you posted could be caused by an under inflated tire.
Definitely get the alignment checked when you replace this set of tires. You want to get the alignment checked with a new set of tires installed, so you know the alignment isn’t getting thrown off a set of tires that are worn out in an uneven pattern, and also you don’t want to do any driving on a new set of tires, if the alignment is outta spec.
Make sure the alignment shop goes over the specs with you before they start making any adjustments. You want to find out why the tires have worn like this. It’s likely you have some worn out bushings or some suspension components that are bent. And if that’s the case, you want to make sure any issues like this are specifically addressed. You don’t want them to just make some quick adjustments to get it in spec while it’s on the rack. You want to make sure the suspension is going to work properly when it’s cycling up and down or through a turn. Certainly it’s best to replace a bent control arm right away, and not after it’s ruined another set of expensive tires.
Old 06-20-24, 10:07 PM
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dwoods801
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Certainly the first direction you’ll want to go is to a good alignment shop that can verify the castor/camber/toe angle are all in factor specs. If your tires are set with with the toe pointed in or out that could cause unusual tire wear. Or having the castor angle off could cause the tires to wear in unusual pattern. Either of these situations could also cause the rear end to be squirrelly.
Off the top of my head, the first photo you posted could possibly be caused by an under inflated tire.
Definitely get the alignment checked when you replace this set of tires. You want to get the alignment checked with a new set of tires installed, so you know the alignment isn’t getting thrown off by a set of tires that aren’t worn evenly. And you don’t want to hurt your new set of tires, driving on them while the alignment is off.
Make sure the alignment shop goes over the specs with you before they start making any adjustments. You want to find out why the tires have worn like this. It’s likely you have some worn out bushings or some suspension components that are bent. And if that’s the case, you want to make sure and address these possibilities. You don’t want them to just make some quick adjustments to get it in spec while it’s on the rack. You want to make sure the suspension is going to work properly while it’s cycling up and down or going through a turn. Certainly it’s best to replace a bent control arm right away, and not after it’s ruined another set of expensive tires.
Old 06-20-24, 11:22 PM
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edmundprieto98
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Originally Posted by dwoods801
Certainly the first direction you’ll want to go is to a good alignment shop that can verify the castor/camber/toe angle are all in factor specs. If your tires are set with with the toe pointed in or out that could cause unusual tire wear. Or having the castor angle off could cause the tires to wear in unusual pattern. Either of these situations could also cause the rear end to be squirrelly.
Off the top of my head, the first photo you posted could possibly be caused by an under inflated tire.
Definitely get the alignment checked when you replace this set of tires. You want to get the alignment checked with a new set of tires installed, so you know the alignment isn’t getting thrown off by a set of tires that aren’t worn evenly. And you don’t want to hurt your new set of tires, driving on them while the alignment is off.
Make sure the alignment shop goes over the specs with you before they start making any adjustments. You want to find out why the tires have worn like this. It’s likely you have some worn out bushings or some suspension components that are bent. And if that’s the case, you want to make sure and address these possibilities. You don’t want them to just make some quick adjustments to get it in spec while it’s on the rack. You want to make sure the suspension is going to work properly while it’s cycling up and down or going through a turn. Certainly it’s best to replace a bent control arm right away, and not after it’s ruined another set of expensive tires.
Btw it only took about 1000 miles for my rear tires to go out like this. Alignment was corrected about 4 months ago around the time I replaced my camber arms. But yeah, I think you’re right it could be caused by worn bushings. The left tire also loses air pressure after every 2-3 weeks and I don’t know if it’s a side effect or the cause of the problem. I rarely drive my SC nowadays so I’m not sure. Could the shocks cause this kind of wear pattern?
Old 06-20-24, 11:34 PM
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dwoods801
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If the shocks are worn out and the csr is bouncing down the road, then that could definetly cause unusual tire wear. Its hard to be specific with what could be causimg this. Because of all the variables. Example, if the bushings are totally shot, it might have been easy for the tech to put things back in spec when doing an alignment, unfortunatly the suspemsion might not be firm and tight so whem your going down the road, wheel might be wobbling all over the place causing strange tire wear. And it might not feel sloppy, unless your driving hard.
If you have just some weak shocks or maybe some bushings that have gotten reql hard but still look complete, they might not cause any issues if your just putting around. However you take the same car and push it hard on a track and its going to be all ovrr the place and whole chunks will be missing from the tread.
Its just hard to know becauae of the possibliies. Anything that you know is bad, should be addressed. Things like bad shocks will need to be replaced if you ever want to make it nice.
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