Rotated my tires today...

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CapriRacer, you are right!
The car was aligned about 15k miles ago when it had powerflex LCA bushings on it. One of the bushings literally disintegrated and I just put some Meyle Heavy duty ones in their place (both sides). The car drove pretty well so I skipped the alignment.

Having said that, I think I'll wait for the current tires to blow completely away and then put some new front control arms and bushings on the car along with new tires and then have the car aligned. I'll probably be buried in this car so this is just a short episode in the 'ol girls life!
Cheers!
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Update to last year's post....

Rotated the GY Integrities on the Uplander again recently, they now have about 30k miles on them.

The wear is as I would expect, fronts worn a little more than rears but no "anomolies" are appearant. Visually the tires look good and running my hand around the face of them doesn't reveal any bumps, ridges or scalloping.
After this rotation however, the tires have developed quite a humming/growling noise. It began right after rotation so I am ruling out wheel bearing. The balance is still very good but the road noise is exponentially worse than before rotation.

I would like to get another year out of these tires before swapping out for new ones. Hope the road noise slowly diminishes as it is quite aggravating on some road surfaces.
(I would insert "praying hands" icon here if we had one)


Getting my original post back on track, I stopped at Tech Tire here in Leamington this morning and talked to one of the techs about my tire noise after the last rotation. He said "Does it sound like you are driving on old bias snow tires?" Yes, I said, exactly like old bias snows. He took me outside and examined the tires... thay are worn in a slight coarse ripple on the inside row of all the tires. He said that the alignment looks very good as the rest of the tread shows no signs of misalignment, just the inside tread.

The tech said that the wear on the inside tread is caused by weak/worn suspension components. He asked how old the Uplander was and I said August 2007 , 29k miles. He recommended I take it to the dealer and see if they would do anything about the weak shocks/struts. I thanked him very much and came home and made an appointment for Friday July 30 with the dealer to see what can be done.
I'll let you know what happens Frday afternoon ......
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Went to the dealer last Friday, they checked out the tires and the suspension and told me that there was nothing they could/would do for the inside tread wear (see post above).

The service manager said that there was inside tread wear causing the tires to whine but there was nothing wrong with the suspension. He said he wouldn't replace any tires or suspension patrs and he gave me a piece of paper with GM Canada Customer Service's #800 number on it. He also said that I was welcome to try another dealer if I wanted....
He said that since I changed my own oil and rotated my own tires that I didn't have a documented log of these being done.

Could the fact that I had run the tires above placard pressure (closer to the 44 than the 35 recommended) have caused the tires to begin that inside wear pattern ??
 
On our Escape the tires will "feather" on the inside and outside of the all the tires if I run above 30psi. I ran 35psi in them for a while and really wish I hadn't even the center tread is showing a increase in wear.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
On our Escape the tires will "feather" on the inside and outside of the all the tires if I run above 30psi. I ran 35psi in them for a while and really wish I hadn't even the center tread is showing a increase in wear.


Eric,

You're problem is the Escape. It has too much camber and even a little bit of toe causes wear problems.

Get as much of the camber out as you can and set the toe to nominal.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Went to the dealer last Friday, they checked out the tires and the suspension and told me that there was nothing they could/would do for the inside tread wear (see post above).

The service manager said that there was inside tread wear causing the tires to whine but there was nothing wrong with the suspension. He said he wouldn't replace any tires or suspension patrs and he gave me a piece of paper with GM Canada Customer Service's #800 number on it. He also said that I was welcome to try another dealer if I wanted....
He said that since I changed my own oil and rotated my own tires that I didn't have a documented log of these being done.

Could the fact that I had run the tires above placard pressure (closer to the 44 than the 35 recommended) have caused the tires to begin that inside wear pattern ??


I called the GM customer service number and they set up an appointment for me with another dealer for 9:30 this morning. The mechanic this morning put the van on the alignment rack and said that the rear solid beam axle needs a "shim" installed so they can correct a camber fault. They will then do a 4 wheel alignment (no cost to me, GM warranty repair). The alignment tech said that the abnormal inside rib tire wear was caused by the rear axle misalignment and that he had fixed quite a few of these vehicles (Pontiac Montana, Chev Uplander and Venture).

Now that the fault will be addressed, the only thing left to negotiate is the whining tires that the faulty axle created. Waiting for a call from GM Customer Service again.....
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Went to the dealer last Friday, they checked out the tires and the suspension and told me that there was nothing they could/would do for the inside tread wear (see post above).

The service manager said that there was inside tread wear causing the tires to whine but there was nothing wrong with the suspension. He said he wouldn't replace any tires or suspension patrs and he gave me a piece of paper with GM Canada Customer Service's #800 number on it. He also said that I was welcome to try another dealer if I wanted....
He said that since I changed my own oil and rotated my own tires that I didn't have a documented log of these being done.

Could the fact that I had run the tires above placard pressure (closer to the 44 than the 35 recommended) have caused the tires to begin that inside wear pattern ??


I called the GM customer service number and they set up an appointment for me with another dealer for 9:30 this morning. The mechanic this morning put the van on the alignment rack and said that the rear solid beam axle needs a "shim" installed so they can correct a camber fault. They will then do a 4 wheel alignment (no cost to me, GM warranty repair). The alignment tech said that the abnormal inside rib tire wear was caused by the rear axle misalignment and that he had fixed quite a few of these vehicles (Pontiac Montana, Chev Uplander and Venture).

Now that the fault will be addressed, the only thing left to negotiate is the whining tires that the faulty axle created. Waiting for a call from GM Customer Service again.....




The one thing that bothers me about this situation is the fact that the tire tech told me the fault was "worn/weak suspension" and NOT alignment .......

Anyway, the GM Customer Service guy called a few minutes ago, I told him about my concern for the whining tires. He said: "Let's get the shim installed and the alignment done. I will keep this file open and we'll see how the tires perform in the upcoming weeks after the repairs".
Sounds reasonable ??..... any suggestions?
 
Misalignment can do all sorts of strange things. Unfortunately the damage was probably already done to the tires.

I'm VERY surprised GM was willing to perform an alignment and shim the rear, on their dime. Alignment IS a normal wear issue and is rarely covered outside of the 1/12k mile window.

Consider yourself lucky if I were you.
 
The rear axle is a solid beam axle. I never hit anything to bend it and it should have been "straight" out of the factory.

The alignment tech told me that he fixed a lot of Ventures, Montanas and Uplanders for this problem. How many other companies can build a solid beam axle for years and not make them straight ??..... the thought boggles my mind.
(Of course, how many 3.1 V-6's could they build for years with bad LIM gaskets ??)
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
The rear axle is a solid beam axle. I never hit anything to bend it and it should have been "straight" out of the factory.

The alignment tech told me that he fixed a lot of Ventures, Montanas and Uplanders for this problem. How many other companies can build a solid beam axle for years and not make them straight ??..... the thought boggles my mind.
(Of course, how many 3.1 V-6's could they build for years with bad LIM gaskets ??)



A solid beam axle...or torsion beam?? does not guarantee that it will stay in alignment. Millions of Camrys, Corollas and Priuses have the same "non-adjustable" rear setup and shimming the rear to correct alignment issues is extremely common. Just look on Priuschat or some of the Toyota forums and you will see what I mean.

You are correct that your type of suspension setup should, in theory, stay in alignment for the life of the vehicle, but that isn't usually what happens.
 
The shim came in and I had my appointment at the dealer this afternoon.
The alignment tech worked on the van for 2 hrs getting the shim installed in the "optimum" position and getting the 4 wheel alignment as good as possible. The service advisor gave me the bill at the end and it was $0.00.

Came home and called the GM customer Service guy and told him that the alignment was done, but I had concerns about the noise from the tires. He said that GM did not warranty tires and offered to send me a coupon for a free L.O.F. (lube, oil, filter). The van has 30k miles on it and 8/32 left on the tires (G.Y. Integrity), they aren't half gone yet.
I hope they quieten down as they wear now or I may have to replace early.

So, I got a free rear wheel shim install and 4 wheel alignment.. and a free L.O.F. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick I guess.

We'll see how the tires do now with a good alignment and doubling up on the rotations.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
......... He said that GM did not warranty tires........


This is the second time I've heard that in 24 hours - and it is truly amazing how few people know that GM does indeed warrant tires - both in the US and Canada! They have provided a Bumper to Bumper warranty for 3 years / 36K miles since 1996 and it includes tires. If there is a tire problem, GM will replace the tires FREE OF CHARGE - except for road hazards!

Uneven wear? Covered!

Vibration? Covered!

Worn out? Covered!

But a warning: This changes in 2011 (the Model Year, that is). MY2011 GM vehicles will have 100% coverage for only the first 12 months / 12K miles, then prorated by mileage to 36K.
 
I buy at Discount Tire. Free rotations so I never have to do it myself. Check it out. .
 
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