Overclocker

Hello All,

I just got to installing the rotors from the first brake group buy when I noticed a disturbing trend, all 4 of my tires had uneven ware on the inside. I have 17” SSR wheels with 245/45 Kuhmo tires which I use 3 seasons of the year that I put on 4th of July 2001. They are directional tires and I have only rotated them once switching fronts for backs. The car is a ’92 with about 47k miles and has all original suspension. The front end was aligned earlier this year after a minor fender bender.

I think that’s all the facts, if you would like more just let me know. I am most curious as to why this has happened and how to keep it from continuing.

Thanks in advance,

Wolff

EDIT: I first posted 245/40s, but I checked it and I have 245/45s which is what I now have listed in the post.

I'll load some pics tonigh after I'm done with work.

pcmw

Well....lets start with the obvious.

The car is NOT aligned correctly.

So why is this? Did you align the car with the wheels on it or the stocks? Did the shop that aligned your car use a cheesy computer and guess, or are they a reputable shop that made sure it was correct? When you rotated front to back...was there a wear issue then? By any chance did you add weight to the car that could have pushed the camber out?

What is the offset and width of your wheels? Do they fit correctly?

MW

lex400sc

Camber kit!

NAZTY97

I have 18 x 8.5's on 225/40/18's and I ate the insides of mine down to the thread and the outsides were well over 50% left,.. there was no indication of misalignment, no pulling, or vibration.

Not sure what tha deal is,... just $600 for some new Nitto's.

Overclocker

Thanks for the qick replies, you guys ar the best.

pcmw,

I got the front end only aligned with the stock wheels and stock profile Blizzack tires. Could the change from the stock 16" wheels and tires with an alignment to 17" without an alignment cause this? I assume the shop did a good job when they aligned it, they have a very good reputation.

lex400sc,

When you say caber kit, is there so such an animal for our car? Would you have a link?

Lastly, a friend suggested it might be the stock 10 year old suspension sagging. If it is sagging would that cause the uneven ware on the inside of all 4 tires? The car drives fine and tracks fine, but if it’s the suspension I’m thinking it might be time for a set of Tein Flex.

pcmw

You don't need a camber kit till you lower the car drastically. Every car comes with a few degrees of adjustment. Your 17" wheels cause a minor but definite change in your cars geometry unless they are identical width and offset to your stocks. This is based on the idea of a circular or arc type movement that the car makes when the tire goes up and down. That arc...if widened (wheels farther out) or shortened (wheels tucked in) will change the geometry of your suspension causing the wheel to sit oon the ground at an angle. That angle is called camber. That camber of your wheels causes more pressure to be exerted on the inside tread of the tire and hence causing our issue.

So...what an alignment shop does is turns the cam bolt in the suspension to PULL the lower arm holding your wheels toward the center of the car. Hence bringing the wheel back to straight up and down. A camber kit usually puts an adjustment in the UPPER arm to PUSH the top of the wheel out. This can cause other issues like rubbing. Camber kits work for some situations. For yours...just get it re-aligned and show the guy the wear. Take it back and they may do it for half price.

MW

PERRYinLA

The GS forum has a huge thread going on discussing excessive inner wear on their tires, and some concluded the best solution was to align the wheels every 3,000 miles!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=23235

That would only make economic sense if you bought the "lifetime alignment" package, otherwise you'd lose more in alignment costs than you'd save in tire wear!

As for my case, after 35,000 miles, my Goodyears are shot on the inside, but since it won't start raining for another 2 months, I'm still using them. All 4 tires are slick and treadless on the inside edges, the rears slightly worse than the fronts. Rotating them did no good, since no matter how you rotate them, the inner part remains inside. I've never had the wheels aligned.

pcmw

Wow...that sucks.

You could always unmount the tires and swap left to right.

MW

PERRYinLA

Thanks for the sympathy, but it doesn't suck- I'm happy!

<-- see?

I mean, I got 35K miles out of a set of tires, and I never had to pay for a remount, balancing or alignment! Unless you are running sticky (i.e.: fast-wearing) expensive tires you are likely to lose money on such services just to get some more life out of them. But as they say, it's all in the details- your mileage may vary. For the numbers NAZTY97 is quoting (above), it looks like an alignment or left/right swap would have been worth it midway through the tire's life.

That's what cracks me up when you read that GS thread- they're talking about alignments as if they are free or something!

Once the rains start in November, I'll toss these Goodyears that have served me well and put on a set of slightly-used all-weather Dunlops SP5000's I bought on eBay a year ago (4 for $160, and the guy even delivered!). They are 245-50s rather than the stock 225-55's, so I'm looking forward to the slightly wider look they'll have.

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

are those "lifetime" alignment deals really worth it? i know that firestone has them for around $200, but they limit you to one every 3 or 6 months i forget. But when i talk to other guys in the alignment field, they say that "it's all a bunch of BS" I would love to get this lifetime alignment deal, but don't actually know if they're really going to align my car or not. anyone with any info??

PERRYinLA

TXSTYLE, who has several posts in the GS thread I referred to (above), has a "lifetime" alignment deal and swears by them, since he uses "expensive rubber".

$200 sounds a bit high- I think you can get a cheaper deal on lifetime alignment if you get it when you first buy the tires. Or go to other places like WalMart or CostCo. I'll bet some places will negotiate the price - they're sort of like those extended warranties Circuit City sells. But if they torque those bolts tight and you don't hit any huge, chassis-bending potholes, I don't see why alignments shouldn't last the life of your tires.

I don't use expensive rubber, so a $200 lifetime alignment deal wouldn't be a deal at all- that $200 will buy me 2 tires!

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

true perry, that's a good one. 200 will buy you new tires. But i'll be getting 19's in soon and i'm still thinking about whether or not to get those lifetime warranty deals or not. I mean, how am i supposed to know they do it correctly? besides, the firestone place i went to said the max they can align on their machine is 18's. i think that's a bunch of BS.

Overclocker

What do you guys think about my 10 year old suspention? Could it be sagging at all 4 corners and cause the ware on the inside of each tire? Does anybody else have the original suspension still on their car?

Ok, now for the pic.

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

stock suspension? overclocker, that might be an alignment issue. not sure.

black sc

camber kit? what do you need a camber kit for? suspension can be adjusted front and back get a alignment and tell them to adjust the camber within specs as best they can.