Tire Wear

[juan.manjarres]

Hey guys I was checking out my tire wear and noticed something unusual. I snapped some pictures and wanted to gain your input on to what might be causing this.

Current setup is bilstein sport shocks/ h&r sport spring, m3 spindles. I aligned the car and the camber is set to 2.3-2.6 and toe is set to 0.

[juan.manjarres]

More info guys, both front tires are experiencing this.

[teen ti]

the camber explains why the one side is wearing faster than the other but the little tears are beyond me

[juan.manjarres]

Yeah well the camber should wear the inside faster but at the same time my toe is set to 0 so it should not. E wearing like this. Could worn tie rod ends cause this?

[teen ti]

I've got my toe set at 0 and the inside still wears a bit faster but I'm on an almost stock '99 sport suspension, so maybe that could be a difference. Aside from that the worn tie rods could be the issue, i can't think if anything else off the top of my head that would really cause such an interesting wear pattern. sorry i can't be of any more help

[juan.manjarres]

Yes interesting enough the tires have a serious case of cupping and within the cupping marks are where the odd pieces are contained. I do know that there is play when I try and move the tire side to side but no play moving it up and down which makes me believe that the tie rod ends are worn.

[teen ti]

thats quite odd, and to the best of my knowledge cupping comes as a result of a poor link in the mating of the tire/wheel and suspension, i.e. bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs, struts

[Bobtail_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by teen ti

thats quite odd, and to the best of my knowledge cupping comes as a result of a poor link in the mating of the tire/wheel and suspension, i.e. bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs, struts

Some brands of tires are known for cupping due to just the nature, make, etc of the tire. Some Fuzion tires are known for this which is what I have and I have a stock suspension (Active). I rotate my tires with each oil change to help combat this. Not saying that is the issue here but the little tear marks could just be issues with the tires themselves.

[ti cali ed]

I'm not sure if I buy the 'some tires are known for cupping'. Cupping is the result of the tire being pulled the wrong direction across the pavment. How can I exsplain the issue? When you make a corner the inside track is smaller than the outside track. This will cause the inside tire to need to be pulled sideways to go around the corner. You notice this most on big trucks truning very sharp. To correct for this we design cars with three directions of adjustment, camber, caster, and toe. Whatever you do in some situations it's not going to be perfect. The factory does a pretty good job with telling us what works best. However as we put wider tires on and change the ride height what works best changes slightly. What Bobtail might be trying to say is with wider tires there becomes a point where there isn't an good fix. Now for fixing it, first check for breakage and wear. Wheel bearing and lower ball joints can change your camber and cause this. The next step is to start checking the camber and track of the car when the wheels are turned. If the cupping is that bad there should be a point when looking at the wheels turning something looks wrong. Keep in mind most cars need a little toe in.

[mohaughn]

Looks like excessive camber for the street as that is normal camber wear. Assuming the worn side is the inside.. As for the little marks. Looks like you drove over something and ripped the tire. If you have play side to side, your actual toe while driving could be changing, so you need to figure out where the play is, get that correct and then re-align the car.

You will definitely get inside tire wear with high amounts of camber. It is worse with excessive toe, but camber still causes it. And since you have play, I wouldn't trust any alignment that says you have zero toe until the play is resolved.

[Bobtail_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by ti cali ed

I'm not sure if I buy the 'some tires are known for cupping'. Cupping is the result of the tire being pulled the wrong direction across the pavment. How can I exsplain the issue? When you make a corner the inside track is smaller than the outside track. This will cause the inside tire to need to be pulled sideways to go around the corner. You notice this most on big trucks truning very sharp. To correct for this we design cars with three directions of adjustment, camber, caster, and toe. Whatever you do in some situations it's not going to be perfect. The factory does a pretty good job with telling us what works best. However as we put wider tires on and change the ride height what works best changes slightly. What Bobtail might be trying to say is with wider tires there becomes a point where there isn't an good fix. Now for fixing it, first check for breakage and wear. Wheel bearing and lower ball joints can change your camber and cause this. The next step is to start checking the camber and track of the car when the wheels are turned. If the cupping is that bad there should be a point when looking at the wheels turning something looks wrong. Keep in mind most cars need a little toe in.

My father in law manages his own GRC (formaly WhiteTire) store. Naturally that is where i get my tires. Got to love a good discount! I have had a chance to meet reps etc and speaking with all of them plus the guys at the shop the cupping is a known issue. Yes 98% of the time there is something else causing that but on some tires it can happen just cause of the tire. Im going buy not only what they tell me but from experience. This is not my first set of Fuzions and not the only car i have them on.

[juan.manjarres]

Come to think of it I was testing if my cd changer would skip when I was adjusting the angle of the mount by running the car through pot holes at about 35-40 mph... I think that might be the culprit of those marks.

[teen ti]

you were purposely running over potholes as 35-40....... i can't imagine thats good for your car

[juan.manjarres]

I was but I did it only a couple of times and I wouldn't do it flat out in the pothole. I was also trying to see where a rubbing noise was coming from under the car.

[teen ti]

ok, thats understandable enough