Tires always wearing on outside edge

[Jeff999]

My car is a 2010 Toyota Yaris with 140k miles.

All four of my tires are balding on their outside edges. I rotate my tires at the Toyota recommended interval which is every 5k miles and keep the tires correctly inflated at 32 psi. I check my tires' inflation twice a month and add pressure if necessary.

I got a wheel alignment from a non-chain shop with a lot of good Yelp reviews 28k miles ago because my tires started wearing on their outside edges. But my tires have continued wearing on their outside edges.

My car shows none of the symptoms of misaligned wheels except uneven tire wearulling to one side, uneven, loose or vibrating steering wheel, squealing tires, etc. When looking at the tires from the front of the car it is very difficult to see any misalignment in either front tire. I have tried doing my own alignments with the string stretched along each of the car method to measure toe and using a digital angle measuring tool to measure camber. But right after I made toe adjustments with the tie rods I took my car in for an alignment and the technician said my toe measurements were way out of spec.

If I take my car to a shop for an alignment check they are most likely going to go ahead and do an alignment even if the measurements are just a little out of spec. Alignments are expensive. I had a lifetime alignment deal with Firestone Tire, but the chain stores have horrendous reputations. Even though I had regular alignments done at Firestone on my previous car the tires still wore very unevenly, so I believe they were either not doing the alignments or did not know what they were doing.

So is there a way to tell if a car's wheels are out of alignment if there are no symptoms besides tire wear? Ideally I would like to know if the wheels are misaligned before they start screwing up the tires. Is the only option to trust a shop with a lot of good reviews to only do an alignment if it's necessary? Thanks for any replies.

 

[71Chevyguy]

Sounds like bad alignment to me. All it takes is hitting one pothole and the alignment can be out again. I get lifetime alignments and take my cars back once in a while even if things seem fine. My current set of tires on one car have 70k miles on them and still wearing perfectly. Might also be time for struts or other components such as ball joints. Sounds like your car needs to be looked over properly to figure out what needs to be done. Doing alignments yourself isn't an option if you want proper tire wear. If you want your tires to wear properly, you have to pay for an alignment. If you aren't willing to spend any money on it, then there is really nothing to discuss and just keep replacing your tires as they get chewed up. The right way is usually the cheapest way to do things. Trying to pinch pennies is very expensive.

 

[Oillover]

Sounds like bad alignment to me. All it takes is hitting one pothole and the alignment can be out again. I get lifetime alignments and take my cars back once in a while even if things seem fine. My current set of tires on one car have 70k miles on them and still wearing perfectly. Might also be time for struts or other components such as ball joints. Sounds like your car needs to be looked over properly to figure out what needs to be done. Doing alignments yourself isn't an option if you want proper tire wear. If you want your tires to wear properly, you have to pay for an alignment. If you aren't willing to spend any money on it, then there is really nothing to discuss and just keep replacing your tires as they get chewed up. The right way is usually the cheapest way to do things. Trying to pinch pennies is very expensive.

+1

pennywise and pound foolish
At 140k miles, the suspension on ANY car needs replacement/rebuilding of many components (tie rods, control arm bushings, ball joints etc).
Failure to address these items will result in abnormal tire wear. No amount of wheel alignments can fix worn/broken parts.

I had a similar issue on a Toyota I owned. I'd have wheel vibrations when braking from high speed. Many claimed it was bad front brakes, but they were wrong.
Despite only having 60k miles, my inner control arm bushings were toast.

 

[Jetronic]

The yaris might not like your current tyres. That is, they can't deal with the lack of negative camber and camber gain. Either find a way to limit body roll, or add some negative camber. Which tyres are less sensitive to camber changes is tougher, but you will likely suffer less comfort from tyres that don't contribute as much to camber loss (and understeer).

 

[MParr]

Have your suspension parts been replaced at any point?
Have you replaced shocks or struts?

 

[The Critic]

Somewhat normal. This happens on the Prius vehicles as well even when the tires are well overinflated.

 

[MrPlow]

I've found that manufacturer PSI recommendations can be far off what is really needed, especially when dealing with non-stock tires. Maybe try bumping up the PSI a good bit?

My Toyota Sienna van says to use 35 PSI front and rear, but for a heavy vehicle and the small size of the tires, that's more of a snowstorm-deflate PSI than daily driving PSI. With General Altimax tires, which the model I have use soft sidewalls, I have to run 40 PSI.

Most tires can handle 44 PSI max so it wouldn't hurt much to try bumping it up as long as wet traction isn't hurt a bunch with over inflating.

 

[JimPghPA]

Watch the YouTube videos on how to replace the front end parts:








Notice that he used a PAINT MARKER to mark the inner tie-rod. Not a magic marker.

After you get it to have good parts ONLY use an alignment shop that has a Hunter Alignment machine. Those machines cost a heck of a lot. Like $ 30,000 These machines measure ALL the angles down to 1/100 of a degree. This is what is required to get a good alignment.

Shops that do not have this ability can not accurately align your vehicle, and are just wasting your time and money.

Expect to pay a lot for an alignment at a shop that has one of these machines. After all it is a major investment that they have to recover the cost of, plus the training of the tecks on how to use it, and there time, and building and business overhead. These places really are not ripping you off when they charge you over $100.00 for an alignment. In some areas dealers are the only shops that spend the money to have one of these machines.

 

[BISCUT]

IDK it's not science but I've found some vehicles are simply prone to this no matter what you do. I've found AWD to be especially harsh on the outer edges of tires. Found this in BMW 3 series and not as bad but present on my 17 Subaru OB. I do rotate tires religiously and it didn't help. I don't really get this phenomenon on the majority of the other vehicles I've owned over the decades.

 

[Spector]

I have had this problem on several cars, FWD. For me inflating the tires several PSI over the recommended amount solves the issue, especially in the front where al the eight is. Harsher ride, longer tire life, take your pick.

 

[gathermewool]

I have had this problem on several cars, FWD. For me inflating the tires several PSI over the recommended amount solves the issue, especially in the front where al the eight is. Harsher ride, longer tire life, take your pick.

You mean, harsher ride or shorter life, right?

 

[CapriRacer]

First, my experience is that anything over 1° camber is problematic and may lead to one sided wear.

Toe aggravates this situation.

And once you get one sided wear, you'll always have it - until you change tires. That is, any NEW wear pattern goes on top of what is already there.

So, for good tire wear, I recommend dialing out as much camber as you can. This might mean using a camber plate or an eccentric bolt (Extra cost!!) Then make sure the toe is right in the middle. Not close enough - right on spec!

You have to find an alignment tech who is willing to do this. Ask!! UPFRONT!! And get the printout to verify.

 

[Spector]

You mean, harsher ride or shorter life, right?

Higher pressure results in a harsher ride but I get a longer tire life, no wearing on the outside edges.

 

[Kuato]

Higher pressure results in a harsher ride but I get a longer tire life, no wearing on the outside edges.

Yup....higher pressure is the first thing I would have tried.

 

[Gene K]

Bearing clearance over specification will cause outside edge wear.

 

[Jeff999]

I took my car in for an alignment, and everything was fine. No readings were out of spec. The mechanic told me that the outside edge wear was caused by hard cornering. This makes sense because I do corner hard. I had never heard of hard cornering being a cause of outside tire edge wear, but it does make sense.

 

[supton]

Don’t forget, once a wear pattern starts, it will just continue.

I wonder if you should go up in tire width next time. Might cost some mpg but if you like to corner hard then maybe this will slow down wear.

 

[Dave9]

I took my car in for an alignment, and everything was fine. No readings were out of spec. The mechanic told me that the outside edge wear was caused by hard cornering. This makes sense because I do corner hard. I had never heard of hard cornering being a cause of outside tire edge wear, but it does make sense.

Of course it's a cause. The solution is you tell your alignment guy that you're a slalom driving fiend and need a little more negative camber, please. If that doesn't help enough, wider tires with lower sidewall ratio and larger rims, like all Yaris race cars have.

 

[krzyss]

Like this one?

Toyota GR Yaris - long-term review - Report No:4 2023 | Top Gear

We've treated our WRC-bred hot hatch to some tasty classic rims

www.topgear.com

Unavailable in the USA.

Krzyś

 

[930.engineering]

I took my car in for an alignment, and everything was fine. No readings were out of spec. The mechanic told me that the outside edge wear was caused by hard cornering. This makes sense because I do corner hard. I had never heard of hard cornering being a cause of outside tire edge wear, but it does make sense.

What they claim to be fine may actually be not. Post your alignment sheet printout and all relevant details including tires, pressures etc..
When you use to corner hard frequently camber is likely insufficient. Stock values are not intended for frequent spirited driving.
At 11 years on the road and 140k miles this suspension will be somewhat worn.