Crazy New Camry Tire Wear

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: SumpChump
I'm going to have the alignment checked and also get back to you guys with the tread depth numbers.


The tread depth numbers aren't nearly as important as the alignment numbers.

My experience is that the published alignment specs are too wide - by half. In other words, the alignment has to be within the the inner half of the spec for there to be good tire wear.

EXCEPT: Any camber over 1° is problematic even if that is within the spec - and that should be dialed out as much as possible.

 

[supton]

The OEM Energies(?) on our Camry were about at the wear bars after 30kmiles; got our free set of tires from the dealer. Primacies this time, MXV4's. 40kmiles later they too are about done. They might pull 50k had I done the last couple rotations but for some reason elected to stop and now the rears have more tread than the fronts.

Not sure if I'll try Defenders next or not. Whatever has better snow performance I guess.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: supton
got our free set of tires from the dealer.


Tell me more about these "free" tires.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: supton
got our free set of tires from the dealer.


Tell me more about these "free" tires.

Bought the car new, part of their promo (might be all Toyota's, or perhaps just this dealer) was first set of tires free. Since the first 25k(?) of maintance was also included, it was free. Sorta. Apart from that whole buying and paying new thing.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: supton
got our free set of tires from the dealer.


Tell me more about these "free" tires.

Bought the car new, part of their promo (might be all Toyota's, or perhaps just this dealer) was first set of tires free. Since the first 25k(?) of maintance was also included, it was free. Sorta. Apart from that whole buying and paying new thing.


Dealer by dealer...some have the "free tires for life" promo, some don't.

 

[tchguy]

If you have had the car for less than 12 months, complain to the dealer and they should re-align it free.

My 2007 Camry Hybrid was out of spec on 3 of 4 wheels, and the toe on the rear was out of spec when I had my TCH re-aligned after about 6 months. My main complaint was the car tended to wander way too much on the freeway. It tracked much better after the alignment. I replaced the EL 400's after only 25,000 miles as they were between 4/32 and 5/32 and the rainy season (San Diego winter!) was coming.

I have 75,000 miles on the current Yokohama Avid Touring S tires now (T rated) and am at 5/32 all around. Really nice tire in the summer and rain.

 

[5788]

When I took my 2012 Camry in for the 5,000 mile tire rotation, the service advisor was checking the 4 wheel alignment on every Camry coming through the door.
Mine received a free 4 wheel alignment under warranty to the tune of almost $300.00.
There might have been a TSB or secret recall on the alignment.
Might be a good idea to check the NHTSA web site for this and/or call your Toyota dealer and see what they will do for you.

 

[ChrisW]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
Camber vs tire wear depends on the car, the tires and driving style. Different combinations of the above will require different amounts of camber for even wear.

Toe, however, can cause really screwy wear if it's off. And too much toe in or out can drastically magnify camber wear as well.

With good toe, it's surprising how much camber you can run and still get even tire wear, especially if you aren't a grandma in corners. Heck, I've seen cars with sticky performance tires that are driven hard, have 2 - 3+ degrees of camber, slight toe out and still show outside edge wear like there's not enough camber.


I think some of the older Alfa Romeo which had on the order of more than 4 degrees of negative camber but set at zero or close to zero toe wore tires evenly.

Some cars are terrible when it comes to dynamic toe, that is, how much the toe changes when the vehicle is in motion (compression/rebound) and of course that's all relative to that toe will change as the vehicle is in motion to accommodate the necessary handling/angles for that given motion. When I had a 98 Audi A6 in the family, I even recall from the Bentley manual that there is a procedure to adjust dynamic toe, and the tie rod end could be adjusted up/down in the knuckle to adjust the angle relative to the ground and the angle of the control arms.

I see too many newer vehicles come through the shop with what I'd consider to be aggressive toe settings from the factory. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, etc heavy inside shoulder wear and the rest of the tread is good. It stinks knowing that if/when I buy a new car I'm going to be taking it straight to my alignment guy and have it checked and adjusted.

 

[IndyIan]

Also the acceptable toe and camber settings change with each other. So if you are at the limit of toe out, probably the camber should be close to the negative limit. If the axle is at the limit of toe in, then the closer the tire is to 0 camber the better. Have lots of toe in and negative camber will eat tires on a street car.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: ChrisW
Originally Posted By: rslifkin
Camber vs tire wear depends on the car, the tires and driving style. Different combinations of the above will require different amounts of camber for even wear.

Toe, however, can cause really screwy wear if it's off. And too much toe in or out can drastically magnify camber wear as well.

With good toe, it's surprising how much camber you can run and still get even tire wear, especially if you aren't a grandma in corners. Heck, I've seen cars with sticky performance tires that are driven hard, have 2 - 3+ degrees of camber, slight toe out and still show outside edge wear like there's not enough camber.


I think some of the older Alfa Romeo which had on the order of more than 4 degrees of negative camber but set at zero or close to zero toe wore tires evenly.

Some cars are terrible when it comes to dynamic toe, that is, how much the toe changes when the vehicle is in motion (compression/rebound) and of course that's all relative to that toe will change as the vehicle is in motion to accommodate the necessary handling/angles for that given motion. When I had a 98 Audi A6 in the family, I even recall from the Bentley manual that there is a procedure to adjust dynamic toe, and the tie rod end could be adjusted up/down in the knuckle to adjust the angle relative to the ground and the angle of the control arms.

I see too many newer vehicles come through the shop with what I'd consider to be aggressive toe settings from the factory. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, etc heavy inside shoulder wear and the rest of the tread is good. It stinks knowing that if/when I buy a new car I'm going to be taking it straight to my alignment guy and have it checked and adjusted.


I had my focus aligned to the inner edge of the spec. While mine was in spec, it was on the outer edge of the spec and would burn the RR tire off pretty quickly.

I notice a lot of newer SUVs and such with agressive camber. Half of the Pilots, CR-Vs and Odyssey vans out there are riding on the sidewall with any sort of load. The other one I noticed is the Santa Fe.

I am going to dial out the rest of the camber on the focus now that the toe is set.