My tires are ruined
10-18-2010, 05:11 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My tires are ruined I am fairly new to the forum and this is my fist post.
Thanks for any help
Back in April and about 7k miles ago I had a shop do a 4 wheel alignment and rotate the tires. Today I had the tires rotated again along with a couple of other things done and the mechanic, who I trust shows me the front tires. The inside of both front tires is extremely worn. They are wore on the shoulder of the tires. Also the front tires are almost down to the wear markers and the back tires look like new. Their is only 20k on the tires total. The tires are Kumo Ecsta LX Platnium's.
The problem is when I had the tires rotated back in April the shop rotated the tires as you would a normal vehicle. So I have two different size tires on the front of my vehicle and two different size tires on the rear of my vehicle. The rear tires are fine no problems. It is only the fronts that are messed up.
After that long drawn out explanation my question is, would haveing two different sized tires on the front of the vehicle cause them to wear on the insides so rapidly and also cause the overall tread to wear down at an accelerated rate.
Thanks for any help
Back in April and about 7k miles ago I had a shop do a 4 wheel alignment and rotate the tires. Today I had the tires rotated again along with a couple of other things done and the mechanic, who I trust shows me the front tires. The inside of both front tires is extremely worn. They are wore on the shoulder of the tires. Also the front tires are almost down to the wear markers and the back tires look like new. Their is only 20k on the tires total. The tires are Kumo Ecsta LX Platnium's.
The problem is when I had the tires rotated back in April the shop rotated the tires as you would a normal vehicle. So I have two different size tires on the front of my vehicle and two different size tires on the rear of my vehicle. The rear tires are fine no problems. It is only the fronts that are messed up.
After that long drawn out explanation my question is, would haveing two different sized tires on the front of the vehicle cause them to wear on the insides so rapidly and also cause the overall tread to wear down at an accelerated rate.
10-18-2010, 05:14 PM
#2
TECH Resident
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 803
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
you have a gxp? what car? and sometimes when you get an alignment, there are some things that cannot be adjusted without adding a cam kit or slotting the struts. if your camber was out, that will cause wear, if you have a heavy foot, that will cause wear, or if you have loose parts that again will cause wear lol did you not get a printout of your alignment specs?
10-18-2010, 05:45 PM
#3
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah sorry, I have a 07 Grand Prix GXP 50k miles. I got an alignment print out. Everything was within spec. A cam bolt kit had been previously installed when I first had the car aligned and the tires put on 20k ago. I again had an alignment done and the tires rotated 7k miles ago. My question is more directed towards them messing up the tire rotation. Would having the tires placed in the wrong location cause the unusual wear issue on the front of the vehicle.
10-18-2010, 06:07 PM
#4
TECH Fanatic
You aren't supposed to get the tires rotated on a GXP because the wider wheels are supposed to be on the front only. The front wheels are 8 inches wide and the rears are 7 inches wide. Tire size should be 255/45-18 and 225/50-18
If for some reason the tires you have aren't directional, then you could have them taken from the left to the right side of the car, but never front to back like a normal car. If the tires are directional and you've been running them the wrong direction... well...
If for some reason the tires you have aren't directional, then you could have them taken from the left to the right side of the car, but never front to back like a normal car. If the tires are directional and you've been running them the wrong direction... well...
Last edited by Brangeta; 10-18-2010 at 06:15 PM.
10-18-2010, 06:13 PM
#5
TECH Fanatic
Also, the alignment would cause the camber, caster, toe-in/out and everything to be correct (or in this case, messed up) and cause the tires to wear like that. The wheels would have looked like there was a lot of weight in the car to wear like that. This is a little dramatic, but you should have been able to notice the wheels leaning like this:
10-18-2010, 06:15 PM
#6
Launching!
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a couple of questions for you.
1. Do you mean that you had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front?
2. Because the front wheels and tires are wider, why would you rotate them?
There is nothing that can be screwed up with a tire rotation that will lead to premature wear.
1. Do you mean that you had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front?
2. Because the front wheels and tires are wider, why would you rotate them?
There is nothing that can be screwed up with a tire rotation that will lead to premature wear.
10-18-2010, 06:18 PM
#7
TECH Fanatic
Trending Topics
10-18-2010, 06:18 PM
#8
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 1,392
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, the alignment would cause the camber, caster, toe-in/out and everything to be correct (or in this case, messed up) and cause the tires to wear like that. The wheels would have looked like there was a lot of weight in the car to wear like that. This is a little dramatic, but you should have been able to notice the wheels leaning like this:
I finally found time to install the revised rear springs and added four camber kits (one per wheel). Very simple to do. I'll eventually head to an alignment shop to get them dialed in correctly.
10-18-2010, 06:22 PM
#10
Launching!
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
10-18-2010, 06:26 PM
#11
TECH Fanatic
Sorry for 4 posts in one topic, but I keep thinking of more to say. 
The front wheels/tires for the front are 8 inches wide. The rears are 7 inches wide. The front wheels are a lot more angled than the rear wheels. The rears on most cars are almost straight up and down, and the fronts have a bit of visible negative camber.
Although I'm not a tire or alignment person by any means, using the factory/proper/stock alignment for a GXP with 7's on the front and 8's on the rear would likely cause the front wheels to be a little over angled and the rears to be a little under angled because of the difference in widths of the wheels.
I would say that is what happened. The reason the rear ones don't show any excessive wear is because they have been running basically straight up and down, while the fronts have been running at too much of an angle.
I think that's right...
The front wheels/tires for the front are 8 inches wide. The rears are 7 inches wide. The front wheels are a lot more angled than the rear wheels. The rears on most cars are almost straight up and down, and the fronts have a bit of visible negative camber.
Although I'm not a tire or alignment person by any means, using the factory/proper/stock alignment for a GXP with 7's on the front and 8's on the rear would likely cause the front wheels to be a little over angled and the rears to be a little under angled because of the difference in widths of the wheels.
I would say that is what happened. The reason the rear ones don't show any excessive wear is because they have been running basically straight up and down, while the fronts have been running at too much of an angle.
I think that's right...
10-18-2010, 06:29 PM
#12
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To clarify the tires are asymetrical not directional, which means they can be rotated side to side and not front to rear. Which is one of the reasons why I got the tires.
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
10-18-2010, 06:42 PM
#16
Launching!
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To clarify the tires are asymetrical not directional, which means they can be rotated side to side and not front to rear. Which is one of the reasons why I got the tires.
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
Another question is if you ended up with one front wheel and one rear wheel up front, where did the person learn to Rotate tires? If done correctly, and assuming they aren't directional, fronts will go to rear and rears to front with the nondrive wheels switching sides.
10-18-2010, 06:44 PM
#17
TECH Fanatic
To clarify the tires are asymetrical not directional, which means they can be rotated side to side and not front to rear. Which is one of the reasons why I got the tires.
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
LuSe4, Yes had one rear wheel/ tire and one front wheel/ tire on the front.
Outside of alignment issues, would the tires being placed this way cause the wear issues
Driver side front wheel and tire: 18x_ and 2__/_0-18
Passenger side front wheel and tire: 18x_ and 2__/_0-18
Driver side rear wheel and tire: 18x_ and 2__/_0-18
Passenger side rear wheel and tire: 18x_ and 2__/_0-18
I looked up those tires and... they look directional to me.
Also, I found this review from someone with an Acura TL (a front wheel drive car vaguely similar in size to our cars):
Rotated tires, saw some uneven wear on the inside of front tires. Had all four wheels alignment checked. All came out ok..these tires only have 13,500 miles and my wide thought there was some fan going out in the car. It is the tires, these are TERRIBLE for noise. Looking at new tires and these are not going to be considered.....
10-18-2010, 06:52 PM
#20
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NJ
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just read quickly and I wanted to write something to make it seem like I learned something in skewl. We have diff sized fronts and backs adn the "rotation" pattern is different then the generic 4x whatever size. Could be a rookie mistake there. Also if the specs brought up on the machine were incorrect, you're screwed. Some cars actually call for +/- camber (which would cause shouldeer wear). I drive like an a-hole too often and I dont get any wear with stock alignment. I appologize if I am not helpful, its been a long day and I will reread in the AM.