Does uneven wear always mean poor alignment?

[rationull]

I am about to replace my tires (will update my previous post when it's all done) and I'm trying to figure out whether to go get the alignment checked in the near future. In the past I've had hit-or-miss results from alignment shops around here so I'd just as soon not have anyone touch it unless I've got reason to believe it needs it.

The situation is that all my tires are worn mostly at the inside edge. I think it's the front wheels doing most of it because the fronts are worn a bit more than the rears now, with about 5k miles since the last rotation. I tend to run a few PSI over sticker pressure (sticker is 33 front, 32 rear and I tend to run 33/34 or 34/35) so I wouldn't expect edge wear from under inflation.

I would suspect an alignment is in order except that as stated in a previous post, these are OEM summer tires with a 280 tread wear rating and they've worn REALLY well over ~40k miles since the car (2011 WRX) was new. If there was an alignment problem I would've expected them to wear sooner -- indeed I did expect the tires to wear out sooner. I don't drive like a madman or anything, lots of highway miles, but I do like to push it in the corners a bit. I would think hard cornering would affect the outer edge more than the inner edge, though.

The tires (Dunlop SP Sport 01) are also asymmetric so the tread shape is a little different on the inside vs the outside but they're pretty close, so I'm not sure that would matter.


Any advice? Pre-emptive alignment check or monitor wear on the new tires for a while first?

 

[lubedude13]

Wear on one side and not on the other is alignment issue

 

[GutsyGecko]

Hard cornering wears the inside edge due to camber. Perfectly normal. Your alignment is fine.

 

[jorton]

Out of spec alignment wears tires in such a way that causes loud road noise and poor grip on straight sections of wet roads.

 

[mclasser]

Uneven tire wear can be attributed to poor alignment, suspension/steering issues or faulty tires.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Alignment could be fine, the manufacturer could just build (and spec) the car with a lot of negative camber.

That, unfortunately, is the case with my Focus.

 

[Brybo86]

free alignment check at sears, call to verify first in your area

 

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

I run the same dunlops they came on my car from the factory. I noticed my tires were cupping in the front had the alignment checked 2 times by the dealer and was within spec.

I think some tires just wear oddly. Most cars now a days just have toe in and toe out adjustments. So you can check yours with a simple measuring tape and see if your off. For some cars if camber or caster is off you bent something.

Jeff

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Negative camber improves handling in the corners. Positive camber is garbage.

Rotate your tires more often and corner less aggressively.

Check the alignment...but its probably right.

 

[gathermewool]

Your Camber is negative, offering better handling at the cost of inside wear. 40k miles on stock summers in your WRX is a thing to be proud of. Carry on.

Aggressive cornering Adds POSITIVE Camber, hence the need to start off negative. If the OP is NOT driving aggressively and is worried about the wear, then he should reduce the amount of negative Camber. Shoot for - 0.5 degree or less.

FWIW, I ran - 1 degree in my STI (essentially max I could get with stock camber bolts; only front Camber is adjustable) and wear was only slightly higher on the inside edge after a couple of summers and around 20k miles on the stock Dunlops.

 

[CapriRacer]

1) Uneven wear is ALWAYS alignment. It is NEVER tires.

The alignment might be "In Spec", but if the spec is bad, then you might get uneven wear. Many vehicle manufacturers specify high camber angles and wide tolerances - and those lead to tire wear problems.

2) Some tires are more susceptible to alignment issues than others. But it is the alignment that causes the wear, the tire determines how much affect it is going to have.

3) Inflation pressure has very little affect on uneven wear - except to say that underinflated tires wear more in the shoulders and more rapidly. Wear on one side is NOT inflation pressure.

4) Driving style CAN affect uneven wear, as hard cornering changes the camber and causes more wear - AND - some cars aren't set up for hard cornering and those will drag one of the front tires around the corner. (It's called Akerman.)

Some cars are set up for hard cornering - and you'd think that driving them gently would have the same affect as driving hard would on a car not set up for hard cornering - but you'd be wrong. I suspect this is the result of the fact that turning the steering wheel a little doesn't result in much toe difference between Akerman and non-Akerman.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
1) Uneven wear is ALWAYS alignment. It is NEVER tires.

The alignment might be "In Spec", but if the spec is bad, then you might get uneven wear. Many vehicle manufacturers specify high camber angles and wide tolerances - and those lead to tire wear problems.

2) Some tires are more susceptible to alignment issues than others. But it is the alignment that causes the wear, the tire determines how much affect it is going to have.

3) Inflation pressure has very little affect on uneven wear - except to say that underinflated tires wear more in the shoulders and more rapidly. Wear on one side is NOT inflation pressure.

4) Driving style CAN affect uneven wear, as hard cornering changes the camber and causes more wear - AND - some cars aren't set up for hard cornering and those will drag one of the front tires around the corner. (It's called Akerman.)

Some cars are set up for hard cornering - and you'd think that driving them gently would have the same affect as driving hard would on a car not set up for hard cornering - but you'd be wrong. I suspect this is the result of the fact that turning the steering wheel a little doesn't result in much toe difference between Akerman and non-Akerman.


Thank you for this...I've been thinking of this, having recently upsized rims from 15 to 17" and tires from OEM-style/spec tread/construction to more performance tires...and find that I'm running smoother (with shoulder to shoulder road contact) with 40psi vs the 35psi I had been running (VS 29psi doorjam spec)...and had the alignment checked before the change over just to make sure THAT was okay...

 

[KitaCam]

And while we're at it, discussing uneven tire wear and alignment...

....I experienced unusual treadwear pattern on OEM-type tires on the OEM 15" rims before upsizing...unusual as it is something I never experienced before...

ALL the tires wore nearly perfectly evenly shoulder to shoulder (well a bit more on-center as I wished to "firm-up" the Camry's ride)....

But...

BOTH DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT TIRES, (the two that that were on that corner more than the other two for the 15k they were on the car), wore a bit more (about 2/32 difference), than the other corners.

I attribute THAT to a bit of torque steer, where the left front corner works "harder" pushing the car to the right...could be wrong, but that's my guess...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The only independent suspension vehicles I have owned have been Ford car. They always kill the inside of the tires.

The Taurus would eat front tires alive unless they were rotated every 3K.

The focus seems to be hard on the whole front tire, not just the inside), but there is quite a bit more wear on the inside on the rear tires. The inside of my OE tires are worn to 32'' and the outsides are still at 4/32''. Just the cost of having a front driver.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: rationull
Pre-emptive alignment check or monitor wear on the new tires for a while first?


Misalignment is the normal cause of uneven wear.

Additional causes are bent wheels, improper inflation, out of balance tires, suspension defects - usually worn parts, bent frame/unibody, and almost never a bad tire. In the old days an out-of-round tire showed up from time to time but that's pretty much ancient history.

Here's the cheat sheet to reading the tires:

Read Tire Wear

 

[rationull]

OK, so what I take away from this is that the wear probably is caused by alignment, but it doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem.

I think I will wait a while and see how this develops. I'm totally happy with the life I got out of these tires combined with the vehicle's performance, so if this is just the way they wear it's fine with me (for now at least).

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: rationull
The situation is that all my tires are worn mostly at the inside edge. I think it's the front wheels doing most of it because the fronts are worn a bit more than the rears now, with about 5k miles since the last rotation.


One alternative action I think you can take is flipping the front pair/inside-worn tires on their rims and cross-rotate them to run on the rear where there's less dynamic variation in camber. Just a thought.

 

[Silverado12]

I have personally seen a bad tire that wore unevenly and made the car pull. So don't rule out a bad tire.

 

[fdcg27]

Your alignemnt is probably fine based upon the miles you got out of these tires.
The inside edge wear is probably the result of static negative camber. Take a look at how the struts are angled.
I don't think you have anything to worry about.
If you really do want to have alignment checked, find a shop in your area that has a decent rack and a tech who knows how to use it. Well worth the money over a cheap or free check.
Don't let just anbody try to fix something that may not be broken.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
In the past I've had hit-or-miss results from alignment shops
Find an alignment shop that provides the customer with the print out of the before and after readings along with the manufacturers specs. Tell the shop manager beforehand that you require your car aligned to the center of the specs, not just within spec--not good enough. The max limit of the spec in one direction on the left, and the max in the other direction on the right is "within spec" and a terrible alignment job.

The forums for your car might have info about the alignment settings that work out best for your model. There are some cases where going to the extreme on the spec, still within spec but at the limit, works better than the center of the spec, again the same on both wheels. As an example, I put camber adjusters into my Volvo and ordered a 1° negative camber. It reduced the tire wear on the outer edge. My Tundra feels great with the caster set at the max allowable, and camber and toe set at the mid points. The shop will have no real beef to set at the max allowable, still within spec, if that's what you require.

Get a 4-wheel alignment. If the rears are adjustable, you want them set right. If the rear isn't adjustable, you want the direction of thrust of the rears determined, and the fronts aligned to that.