Unusual Tire Wear Pattern

[grasscutter]

General Altimax RT43 tires. 215-70-15. GM front wheel drive car.

Tires wear on both inner and outer edges of front tires as if they were under inflated.

Car drives straight as an arrow. No pull either way.

Alignment shop says try 40PSI to increase the center bulge of the tire.

I've been doing that as they suggested, but still have increased wear on outer edges.

Suggestions? Try different brand of tire?

 

[Kira]

Do you accelerate through corners?

 

[Cujet]

Can you post the alignment measurements from the shop? Not the specs, but the actual results? Although unlikely as it seems you've had a proper alignment, there is an alignment situation where this can happen. Too much positive camber, and/or hard cornering with no negative/zero camber coupled with toe out. It can drive just fine, but chew up tires.

Also if the rim is on the wider side for some inexpensive tires, extra load can be placed on the edges. You can see this with some 'urban' cars...

Sadly, there are cheap tires where the manufacturer cuts corners anywhere they can, and sometimes the result is strange tire wear. Guessing this is not the case here.

I did a quick search to see if these tires were prone to uneven wear. It seems not. They seem to be long lasting. I only found a few cases. A Subaru.

 

[KGMtech]

If your town has a lot of off camber roads, twisty stuff with not much straight sections, then you might be SOL.

 

[CapriRacer]

Steer tires tend to wear in the shoulders and drive tires tend to wear in the center.

So FWD cars tend to wear tires evenly. HOWEVER, if you spend a lot of your driving turning corners, you'll tend to get shoulder wear on the fronts.

My suggestion would be to rotate tires and drive more gently around corners.

 

[grasscutter]

Do you accelerate through corners?

I drive the car pretty easy and slow. People are always pushing me down the street.

Can you post the alignment measurements from the shop? Not the specs, but the actual results? Although unlikely as it seems you've had a proper alignment, there is an alignment situation where this can happen. Too much positive camber, and/or hard cornering with no negative/zero camber coupled with toe out. It can drive just fine, but chew up tires.

Also if the rim is on the wider side for some inexpensive tires, extra load can be placed on the edges. You can see this with some 'urban' cars...

Sadly, there are cheap tires where the manufacturer cuts corners anywhere they can, and sometimes the result is strange tire wear. Guessing this is not the case here.

I did a quick search to see if these tires were prone to uneven wear. It seems not. They seem to be long lasting. I only found a few cases. A Subaru.

I go to an old school frame and wheel shop for large commercial big rigs.

They don't use those computerized alignment machines with the printouts.

They draw a chalkline through the center of the tire and they use those turn table plates under the tires.

The car has a toe adjustment but no camber adjustment.

I luv the design because I can unbolt the spindle or lower control arm and take them completely out of the car without affecting the alignment as long as I don't change the tie rod settings.

 

[Rand]

is this top secret.. can we get the actual car, and maybe a pic of a tire?

 

[grasscutter]

The car is a GM K-body.

I think what I'm going to do is get the alignment checked next week and start looking for some new tires.

They'll tell me what parts I need to get the car in alignment. I be part gardener and part mechanic.

Super easy car to work on for chassis and suspension

If I call on Monday I might get the car in by Friday. They be super busy all the time with those Peterbilts.

 

[CapriRacer]

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