Yokohama Avid Ascend GT Wearing Badly

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gathermewool

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Location
New England
Vehicle: 14 Forester XT9/20/19 @ 72,874 miles (current mileage 78,058)
Tires: Yokohama Avid Ascend GT 225/55R18 (stock size) on 14 Forester XT
-----Initial Tread Depth (I did not verify): 12/32"
Vendor: Tire Rack
Installer/alignment: City Tire


Outside/Mid/Inside [VEHICLE] Inside/Mid/Outside in 32nd" tread depth (i.e., 7 = 7/32")

[9 / 10 / 10]
FRONT TIRES [10 / 9 / 9]
.

[7 / 9 / 9] REAR TIRES [9 / 8 / 7]

I rotated the tires back-to-front, front-to-back just now.

I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. I'm taking it in for a rear coil spring recall. I'm also going to have them take a look at the CV shafts and starter I mentioned in a previous thread.
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Vehicle: 14 Forester XT9/20/19 @ 72,874 miles (current mileage 78,058)
Tires: Yokohama Avid Ascend GT 225/55R18 (stock size) on 14 Forester XT
-----Initial Tread Depth (I did not verify): 12/32"
Vendor: Tire Rack
Installer/alignment: City Tire


Outside/Mid/Inside [VEHICLE] Inside/Mid/Outside in 32nd" tread depth (i.e., 7 = 7/32")

[9 / 10 / 10]
FRONT TIRES [10 / 9 / 9]
.

[7 / 9 / 9] REAR TIRES [9 / 8 / 7]

I rotated the tires back-to-front, front-to-back just now.

I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. I'm taking it in for a rear coil spring recall. I'm also going to have them take a look at the CV shafts and starter I mentioned in a previous thread.

Whoa...we have the same car...was this a Subaru recall??

Put the RT43s back on my FXT a couple of weekends ago and I have not been very happy with how they have felt. I'm hoping maybe they are just a little stiff because it is still fairly cold out, but maybe my plan to get a 3rd season out of them will have to be adjusted. I do a bit too much hard cornering on them and did notice edge wear when I put them back on, but they looked OK to me overall.
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool

I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. I'm taking it in for a rear coil spring recall. I'm also going to have them take a look at the CV shafts and starter I mentioned in a previous thread.


Excellent idea!
wink.gif


Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi
Put the RT43s back on my FXT a couple of weekends ago and I have not been very happy with how they have felt. I'm hoping maybe they are just a little stiff because it is still fairly cold.


These RT43 in the lower profile series, seem to be a tiny bit on the firm(er) side but, not objectionable to most. In the taller sidewall sizes, they're more compliant over broken pavement.
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
……… I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. …….


Have them dial out as much camber as they can.

Also, my experience says that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. They need to be within the inner half of the spec - except for the camber I just mentioned.

See if you can get the alignment printouts (before and after!). I am sure many of us can learn something from them.
 
Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi

Whoa...we have the same car...was this a Subaru recall??

Put the RT43s back on my FXT a couple of weekends ago and I have not been very happy with how they have felt. I'm hoping maybe they are just a little stiff because it is still fairly cold out, but maybe my plan to get a 3rd season out of them will have to be adjusted. I do a bit too much hard cornering on them and did notice edge wear when I put them back on, but they looked OK to me overall.


Apparently, it is a recall for our cars; however, the service guy mentioned that it's a long-term concern with embrittlement, for whatever that's worth. I called this morning to see how much they would charge for to R&R the two axles, figuring it would be too much and lead me to do the job myself. When he looked me up in his system he mentioned an open recall and could fit me in today to get the job done. THAT is what prompted me to have them also trouble-shoot the axles and starter, as well as to perform an alignment based on THIS thread!

/

RE: tires. We had such a mild winter that I never swapped over to my winter wheels/tires. I really, REALLY hope they find something like excessive toe-in. We haven't hit any pot holes since the tires were installed and wheels aligned last year...

Where did you notice the outside wear? Front, rear, both?

Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by gathermewool
……… I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. …….


Have them dial out as much camber as they can.

Also, my experience says that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. They need to be within the inner half of the spec - except for the camber I just mentioned.

See if you can get the alignment printouts (before and after!). I am sure many of us can learn something from them.


I'm going to need a new...something in the rear to get rid of the usual, excessive negative camber usually seen in Subies.

Good point on the alignment before. I completely forgot to ask that they check it before aligning it.
 
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by gathermewool
……… I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. …….


Have them dial out as much camber as they can.

Also, my experience says that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. They need to be within the inner half of the spec - except for the camber I just mentioned.

See if you can get the alignment printouts (before and after!). I am sure many of us can learn something from them.


His tires are wearing on the outside edge, not the inside. Sounds like he has excessive positive toe in the rear of the vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by gathermewool
……… I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. …….


Have them dial out as much camber as they can.

Also, my experience says that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. They need to be within the inner half of the spec - except for the camber I just mentioned.

See if you can get the alignment printouts (before and after!). I am sure many of us can learn something from them.


His tires are wearing on the outside edge, not the inside. Sounds like he has excessive positive toe in the rear of the vehicle.


My guess, as well.
 
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
Originally Posted by gathermewool
……… I'm going to have the wheels aligned today by the dealer. …….


Have them dial out as much camber as they can.

Also, my experience says that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. They need to be within the inner half of the spec - except for the camber I just mentioned.

See if you can get the alignment printouts (before and after!). I am sure many of us can learn something from them.


His tires are wearing on the outside edge, not the inside. Sounds like he has excessive positive toe in the rear of the vehicle.


Opps! I totally got that backwards.

Nevertheless, getting camber out is not a bad idea. Potentially it might be a problem in the future.
 
Originally Posted by CleverUserName
Those are expensive tires.

When're you spend $800+ on a new set of quality tires, it's generally a good idea to include a 4-wheel alignment so this doesn't happen.



Yea, which is why I had it done by the installer after mount and balancing the tires.
cheers3.gif
 
Results of alignment. Now, I'm a Nuke and being closer to the good side of the green band is great, but I can't help but feel that they can do better than they did on rear toe.

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
....

RE: tires. We had such a mild winter that I never swapped over to my winter wheels/tires. I really, REALLY hope they find something like excessive toe-in. We haven't hit any pot holes since the tires were installed and wheels aligned last year...

Where did you notice the outside wear? Front, rear, both?

...

I did such a bad job marking my RT43s when I took them off last year that I am convinced I got a random rotation this spring...IIRC when I first noticed the outside wear it was more pronounced on the front tires. Took some care to mark the Hakkas coming off better even though they can only swap between front and back on each side.
The RT43s were a bad choice for me, I don't really need their all season capabilities so much given that I have snow tires and I didn't find them to be much fun in dry conditions...the price was right for them, though. I had GY Eagle Sport A/S tires for summer use before the RT43s and they were much more fun!
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Results of alignment. Now, I'm a Nuke and being closer to the good side of the green band is great, but I can't help but feel that they can do better than they did on rear toe.

[Linked Image]



The caster seems to be the only thing that is really out now. Caster translates into camber when the steering wheel is turned - not a biggy.

And it looks like the wear is explained by the Before readings. Good!
 
More caster = tighter straight ahead tracking. That's what the driver can feel/enjoy. But you have to be over 6 deg and pushing 7 deg to feel any of the tracking benefit. May have to do with what the design of each vehicle allows.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Rear toe is now less than half it was before. That should significantly increase rear tire life.



I sure as heck hope so. As cleverusername pointed out, these tires aren't cheap. I don't think the Forester is a tire-eater, like I sometimes read about certain minivans, for instance, but maybe it is.

We'll see. All I know is that I'll never get that 1-2/32" of excessive wear back and that's frustrating.

Speaking of which: I guess I'll be crossing City Tire off of my list of future installers. It appears as if they DID an alignment, but screwed it up royally. Either that or my wife hit something that only affected toe (and didn't cause damage to any components) and didn't tell me about it.
 
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