Buick Rendezvous Eating Up Tires

[Nick1994]

My mom has an 03' Buick Rendezvous AWD. Rear tires wear great but has been eating the front tires alive for the past 20-30k miles, I haven't really addressed it but I'm starting to look into it. There's no use putting new tires on it, we just have used tires put on it eats them up so fast (it's a beater).

The thing is, it doesn't wear one side or the other, it wears completely across the tires. When the tires go basically completely bald, it in a way erases the tread, you can't see any siping or anything. I think if we were to put new tires on it they'd be completely bald in 7-10k miles I'd guess. Next time I see her I'll take a picture of the tires and post it on here. I don't really feel any play in the wheels when rocking them back and forth with it up on jack stands, but the tie rod end boots are really torn to pieces, it's never had front end work done or an alignment. Should I just put some new tie rod ends on it and take it for an alignment?

 

[barkingspider]

I would check alignment first

 

[spasm3]

How many miles are on it, and have you have it aligned more that once since it started eating tires?
If not its possible the alignment was done wrong.

 

[901Memphis]

Does she drive it like a Nascar?

 

[chrome]

As been pointed already, verify the alignment first. Especially front toe, as the wrong toe setting will chew through tires very quickly.

 

[user52165]

"the tie rod end boots are really torn to pieces, it's never had front end work done or an alignment"

And what else has never been done?

And you wonder why it eats tires??

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: user52165
"the tie rod end boots are really torn to pieces, it's never had front end work done or an alignment"

And what else has never been done?

And you wonder why it eats tires??

This how many miles on the Vehicle?

 

[Nick1994]

It's got 139k miles. Never had an alignment. I was just wondering what could cause wearing completely across the tire since I've never seen that before, only on the edges. The car is a beater and has basically only had oil changes its whole life.

I just did the brakes this week and just now noticed the tie rod end boots were all torn up.

 

[Rolla07]

Get the alignment/front end looked at. Shocks also good? I know its not likely shocks based on wear..but you might have a few things working against you here..maybe have an Indy mechanic give it an inspection (full underneath inspection) would likely be a good investment.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's got 139k miles. Never had an alignment. I was just wondering what could cause wearing completely across the tire since I've never seen that before, only on the edges. The car is a beater and has basically only had oil changes its whole life.

I just did the brakes this week and just now noticed the tie rod end boots were all torn up.


Seriously? You have a vehicle with 139,000 miles on it, it's never had an alignment, the tie rod end boots are "all torn up", and you have to ask why it's having tire wear issues?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's got 139k miles. Never had an alignment. I was just wondering what could cause wearing completely across the tire since I've never seen that before, only on the edges. The car is a beater and has basically only had oil changes its whole life.

I just did the brakes this week and just now noticed the tie rod end boots were all torn up.


Seriously? You have a vehicle with 139,000 miles on it, it's never had an alignment, the tie rod end boots are "all torn up", and you have to ask why it's having tire wear issues?
Reread that last comment I made. The car is a total turd, if it can limp down the road for a couple more years then good. That's all we're asking for it.

I was wondering what specifically could cause tire wear across the entire tire. I've never seen a tire wear across the whole thing. Just on the edges I've seen tires wear. My question is what can cause it to wear across the whole tire. If tie rods can do that then great, it'll get new tie rods and an alignment. I just don't know.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I was wondering what specifically could cause tire wear across the entire tire.


Toe-out could do that. The tires pull evenly to each side so the driver doesn't notice it, but are constantly scrubbing sideways as it rolls down the road.

 

[Joel_MD]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I was wondering what specifically could cause tire wear across the entire tire. I've never seen a tire wear across the whole thing. Just on the edges I've seen tires wear. My question is what can cause it to wear across the whole tire. If tie rods can do that then great, it'll get new tie rods and an alignment. I just don't know.

Toe-in or toe-out of your front tires can cause them to wear very quickly. You can get a front-end alignment for maybe $80.

 

[supton]

Wouldn't toe leave feathering?

 

[Warstud]

An alignment is the last step you should take. My guess is you have multiple issues causing even tire wear. Take the vehicle down and have the tires balanced and filled to the right amount of air. You also need to check all the steering and suspension parts for wear. After everything checks out okay and worn parts are replaced etc. Then you get an alignment.

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
An alignment is the last step you should take. My guess is you have multiple issues causing even tire wear. Take the vehicle down and have the tires balanced and filled to the right amount of air. You also need to check all the steering and suspension parts for wear. After everything checks out okay and worn parts are replaced etc. Then you get an alignment.


Tire balance wouldn't really cause the OP's issues and would be evident from highway vibrations.

Tire pressure is important, but over- or under-inflated tires generally wouldn't cause even wear. Pressure that's off will cause increased center or edge wear.

You're correct that the front suspension needs to be inspected before it's aligned, but any good-quality shop will check for loose parts as part of the alignment. You can't properly align a car with play in the suspension parts.

My plan of attack would be to get a combo suspension check/alignment. I would actually check the suspension myself, but I don't know if the OP is capable of doing that. Fix the tie rod issues either with new boots (if it's feasible to do that on this vehicle and the tie rod ends are still tight) or new tie rod ends. Get it aligned and go from there.

 

[SHOZ]

Get some tires with a high tread wear number. But beware the traction issues. Maybe GM will issue a recall on it.