Mark A. Rogalski

iTrader: (1)

Hello All,

My left front wheel has a terrible wear problem. The outer edge is down through the cords. When the steering wheel is straight the camber appears to be perfect. When the steering wheel is turned to the left (left turns) it creates an excessive outward lean on that outer edge of the tire. I suspect this is the problem but have no idea what part would cause this. Any help or other ideas would be much appreciated.

It could be something other than turns causing this edge wear. I just have no idea. This started 2 years ago after I had the entire front suspension replaced with all new OEM parts. See the below list.

A few other details:
1) When the steering wheel is straight, both fronts wheels appear to be fine, no lean. They are perpendicular to the road surface (using a level to measure which is pretty close).
2) When the steering wheel it turned to the right (right turns), the lean is minimal on both front wheels. This is probably the normal lean.
3) The right side tire doesn not have the intense outer edge wear problem.

NEW OEM ITEMS INSTALLED:
Front Uppper & Lower Control Arms
Front Spindles
Front Struts and Springs (Koni struts & SLP springs)
Front Brake Rotors and Pads
Front Upper Strut Mount/Bracket (Including that rubber piece)
Front Sway Bar end links


I know some lean is normal, but this seems very excessive.
No idea how to fix. I noticed the Passenger wheel does not lean nearly this much.




With the steering wheel straight, both front wheels (using a bubble level) appear to be OK
and perpendicular to the road surface.





To me, it looks like the center and inner tire are wearing fine and like all previous sets of tires before
the suspension replacement.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

Has it had an alignment recently?

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

What he said ... I see a tremendous number of parts replaced. But I don't see a reason for it nor a listing of a post refurb alignment and the alignment specs.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

To much toe-in on the drivers side is my guesstimate.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

An aligment + a SAI number would tell more. Sure looks like an alignment problem.

Mark A. Rogalski

iTrader: (1)

Thanks everyone. Yes, it had two back to back alignments after the suspension was changed 2 years ago. The car was 10 years old and I wanted all new rubber bushings (AZ heat issue). After I left the shop it pulled slightly so I took it to my trusted alignment shop who "nails it" every time. It drove perfect and still does.

A few months after the suspension change I noticed the outer edge starting to wear badly. I haven't hit a curb, a pothole, nothing. The car is driven about 6K miles a year.

Obviously I need to get it in the shop again to get it fixed. I'm trying to see if there is some obvious major issue.

NOTICE: When inspecting the car after the suspension work I noticed the lower control arm/crossmember bolts on the driver side were in a much different location. The were both moved inward about 1.25" from the previous setting. See below. The car drove fine and still does, but this is huge movement for some reason.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

I bet the alignment is off. Maybe the target plates where not on right, or something.
Get another, ask for a print out before & after.

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Something wrong with that. I am set up with a little bit
of camber (top in) that gets more aggressive (not less)
with the wheels turned.

But the wheel that matters most is the other side, that's
the one you'll body-roll onto.

That much movement doesn't look like a good thing. It
may be that after shifting the location the numbers can
be made to come out right while pointed forward, but
at the extremes it's become different. Like, caster
becomes camber when you crank it, sorta.

Might be good to go back to square one, by the book,
and then push from there to some tweaked alignment
(I like a bit more camber, more caster, zero toe). I am
thinking you may be in a "two wrongs make a right
printout, double wrong performance" kind of situation.

SS SLP2

iTrader: (8)

wrencher is rite on

.".......a SAI number would tell more,"
caster,camber and toe could be close to specs and the SAI be off which would show up in tight turns, if so my first guess would be that the spindle
is bent
as the saying goes " show me the carfax " er- er after align print out
my .02'
Johnny
PS: I think wear is from toe settings, toe out will cause 2-4 x more wear on inside of left tire than right, toe in will wear 2-4 x more on out side if right, than left side, too much camber will wear out side of tires, not enough will wear inside,SAI will cause a slide effect ,rather than rolling around a turn and could scuff outside

HoLLo

iTrader: (17)

Definitely get another alignment done if it's been awhile. Have you checked out tie-rod ends?

Mark A. Rogalski

iTrader: (1)

Thanks All.

Toe-in is something I didn't consider and could be the culprit. That makes sense because the front end vibrates fiecely over 45MPH when the roads are wet. If I'm on the expressway and it starts to rain I have to exit. I can't keep up with traffic.

Whe roads are dry - Front end vibrates when hard braking over 65MPH. This is not rotors. They were new. It doesn't vibrate at slower speeds which would indicate warped rotors.

I plan on dropping a new set of tires on the car and alignment. I will replace the tie rod ends as well. I just wanted to gain some insight here to intelligently talk to the shop about the problem. I think I'm good for now. Thanks again everyone.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Wouldn't too much toe show up on both front tires, though?

Just having the issue on one side and looking at the caster bolt position makes me think the tech forgot to tighten the caster bolt after the alignment.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I went through the same thing once, but mine was on the inside edge of the tire and it was from to much toe-out on the drivers side.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

20+ years of working on cars nothing surprises me if it could happen.
I have had weird issues like that before.
It's usually not as simple as one thing out of spec though.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

What is your currently alignment readings? This factory recommends a positive camber setting, probably to force noobs to understeer to prevent oversteer when they drive like an idiot on the street. I know with the positive camber, my outside tire wear was horrible.

How about you just go get the alignment set and see how it works? Get -.5 camber with an even toe. Your tires should have really good wear after that.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Simply, the fact that the control arm has been sliding around is the issue. When that happens, your caster and toe go completely bonkers, and what's worse--they become dynamic and move around-- a lot.

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

^ That's what threw a flag in my head as well. I'm wondering if something on that side is coming loose, or what... Not staying tight. If the toe-in is off on one side, wouldn't it cause a scrubbing pattern on the other side? Or not necessarily? Upper Ball joint possibly? Dog bone bushings? Gotta be something on that side.

When did all this start? -Maybe I missed it. When did yo buy the car? Been wrecked?

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Believe it or not, it's also to promote better fuel mileage. By having the weight of the front end resting on a lesser amount of the tread, it creates a bit less rolling resistance.