Uneven Tyre Wear

[Bristol S60]

Hi,

I had my tyres changed last time just after the 24k mile service and they were worn on the inside of the tread (both the same). I had to replace the tyres then as they were illegal and was also charged £50 by the stealer to have a full 4 wheel alignment check done. Apparently both front tyres had toe in which caused them to wear on the insides.

This was done in October, and I have done 14k miles since then on the new tyres. Now havng again checked them, these new ones are now wearing on the inside too. Does this always happen on the S60?

It's a MY'05 D5SE if that helps. I've not had any other car before do this, so am a bit confused and annoyed that I will have to have a 4 wheel alignment check every 6 months or so.

I'm doing mostly motorway mileage so no off-roading so there's no reason I can see for the tyres to wear in this way.

Any thoughts from anyone?

Cheers

James

[Bristol S60]

Sorry - just been reading through the other topics, could this symptom be caused by the bushes and are these replaceable under warranty?

The car moves and wanders all over the place, but I put that down to 17" wheels?

[blues60]

Unless you have done a lot of miles I find it hard to believe a car as young as yours would have worn out the bushes. Might be worth checking them but I doubt it. Mine went at 60K.
I have been told that the S60 does scrub the inside but it should not be severe. How badly worn are the edges?

[Bristol S60]

Hi Mate

Thanks for the reply - the car has done 39k miles now - mostly motorway. The insides are now getting illegal whereas the rest of the tyre has a good 3.5 mm tread left - exactly the same as before.

I've booked it in to see the stealer Friday and he said if the tracking/toe in is out then it will cost another £50 to put right. I paid that last time, and refuse to pay £50 every 12k miles. Also the cost of premature wear on tyres and this isn't cheap!! I've asked them to check the suspension and bushes, but I worry whether or not anything will be done.

James

[mhon72]

Welcome to the forum.
The S60 does seem to need its tracking/alingment checked more than previous cars I've owned. The state of our roads and traffic calming measures seem to be a very good cause.
I always keep an eye on the wear pattern of the tyres and would get the tracking checked whenever you put new tyres on it.
Unfortunately, your dealer will charge each time as they count this as an adjustment and not a warranty item (unless a suspension part is replaced which would require them to set the tracking up.)
Are you from Bristol?
If so, go to Protyre in Lawrence Hill to get your new treads. I'd recommend the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 at under £100 each fitted. Much better than the Pirelli P6000s you have probably got now. Whilst there, they can check your tracking on their fancy jig for free, if it needs tweaking they'll charge about £23 to adjust each axle.

[Bristol S60]

Thanks,

Yes I know protyre, I used tyhem for 2 tryes for the missus's RX8 last year. They were very good.

I changed the standard P6000 last time to Contiental Contact Sport 2. It made a huge difference to the ride and noise, but still had the tramlining issue and this problem with the inner wear.

The problem is that just having the tracking looked at is fine and I always have that done on replacing new tyres, but this problem is symptomatis of toe-in, so needs to have a full four wheel alignment inc camber and toe. This will cost a lot more than just tracking. I can just about stomach £20 quid each time, but not £50 on top of £100 a corner for each tyre and every 14k miles.

Nice car though!

James

[mhon72]

Just dug out my old vehicle alingment reports. Seems my T5 suffers with toe-out, explains why my tyres use to wear on the outside shoulders more quickly.
If you are suffering excessive toe-in it might explain why your car tramlines, more toe-out gives more straight line stability but can dull the steering response.
What tyre pressures are you using? For normal use 29psi is recommended but I found this was too low, the tyre looked underinflated and seemed to wear quicker on the edges. Running 34psi seems to help.
Is your driving mainly on the motorway? Unless you live at the end of a dirt track I can't see how your alignment can be thrown out in such a short space of time. My advice would be to tweak your tyre pressures and to take it easy over those speed bumps, especially those square ones.
Which dealer do you use? "£50 wheel alignment" sounds like MRG in Chippenham. They're normally pretty good as far as main dealers go.

First thing to say is that the place where you had the alignment done by not have measured it properly or they might have messed it up. This is even the case if they are a main dealer using one of the old fashioned machines, or a dealer who has not had the machine calibrated for eons.

Dealers are not usually the best places to go for wheel alignment measurement, best place is a tried & tested tyre shop with a hunter 4-wheel laser alignment machine.

Re. your tyre wear problem, if it is worn only on inside edge then unlikely to be a pressure problem because underinflation would lead to wear on both outer and inner edges and overinflation wear in the centre.

Depending on the nature of the wear it may not solely be a toe problem, but may be a camber problem. Often with a toe in problem you would expect some sort of wear across part of the tyre but if the wheels are, lets say, toe'd dead ahead and the rears are ok too then if the camber is... now let me try and get this right... too negative... then the inner part of the tyre contacts the road more.

If you have a camber problem then I THINK it is adjustable, a bit, at the front. Is your car pretty new? Believe me, it may well have come out the factory with the wheels misaligned, it does happen....

Pete

[Bristol S60]

Thanks again for the replies.

I'm not sure it is a pressure problem, as I would have thought it would have worn across the tyre, not just one edge.

The dealer is MRG in Chippenham, and it is going back there on Friday for them to have a look at it. They said that if the toe is out and they adjust then they will have to charge £50 to have a look at it. I've told them no way - a car doesn't lose it's settings like this unless it is being abused with speed off road.

I live on a main road, and travel mostly on the motorways so it doesn't go on dirt tracks.

Any thoughts/suggestions on any mechanical potential issues that coulkd be causing this? I am thinking that the toe-in problem is the symptom of another problem and solving the toe in will not resolve the issue.

PS they are also changing the wheel nuts as they are rusty: "Oh that's a common problem sir!"

James

No, the toe does not go out in just a few days like that but can do over time due to wear etc.

But as I suggested above:

a) The toe was not set properly last time, so it is not a case of "having it done again" but "having it done properly this time"
b) If never adjusted before, the alignment has been out since the day the car left the factory and the last time you had it measured they messed it up so didn't pick it up.

Or:
c) Some numpties have been working on the steering, eg changed a balljoint, and did not screw the track rods back in the right amount when they did it.

Or!:

It isn't the toe setting at all and it doesn't matter how many £50s they take off you but it won't fix it.

Someone else - was it blues60 - mentioned suspension bushes, get your wheel camber and front castor measured too and see if they are in spec if not and not adjustable consider worn / badly fitted suspension or steering components.

BTW it is generally recommended to get the tracking checked every 6 months or so but what you have experienced is unusual in terms of the wheel alignment must be badly out, or there is another fault. If I had one, I'd bet my mortgage on the fact that the last place to adjust the wheel alignment ballsed it up.

And try and find a local good tyre specialist with a machine made by Hunter to do 4 wheel alignment, they will not be more expensive than main dealer, you can just turn up and wait, they will likely have a more modern machine and more experience using it. I don't know where you live but Micheldever tyres near andover are a good place, but so good you may have to book: http://www.micheldever.co.uk/
Pete