inside of front tires bald
inside of front tires bald I've been having problems with getting the front end aligned in spec. Not too long ago I put new hub assemblies in the front and put new tie rod ends on both sides. I also dropped the K member to make sure the alignment dowels were in where they were supposed to be. Had it aligned and they said they ran out of adjustment on the driver side tie rod for the "steer ahead". Not sure exactly what that is but the car is eating up the front tires on the inside bad. One is almost down to the cord. It is lowered on Strano's/Bilstein's. Are there inner tie rods with a longer threaded section I could put on? Any other ideas? The passenger side has about 3/4" thread showing on the inner tie rod and the driver side is all the way in- can't see any threads.
First off, find a new alignment shop. They have no clue what they are doing. Can you get some pictures of that you have? stock k-member/arms or aftermarket? There are alot of other factors that can cause this issue. It sounds as if they started adjusting the control arms to correct camber/caster and lost control somewhere and now don't know how to get it back in to adjustable range. Something is bad wrong if the tie rods are all the way in and it is still toe'd out causing inner tire wear that bad
Sure what would you like pics of? Yes I figured I probably needed to try a different alignment place, as one guy said they don't have the tools to adjust the a arms but that they didn't need to be moved. Front end is stock besides springs and shocks.
get some pics of the tie rods on either side, and where the control arm bolts are located attaching them to the k-member. And maybe just a general overview shot of the suspension on each side to see how everything looks together
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,367
Likes: 144
From: Woodstock, GA
Is your steering wheel actually still straight? If it is, I can only imagine that the shop removed it to make it straight after being confused about how to adjust the toe in. I could be wrong but if that's the case, wouldn't the turning radius be much different from one side to the other?
It's scary to think that there are shops in business out there like that. Find a shop that knows what they're doing.
It's scary to think that there are shops in business out there like that. Find a shop that knows what they're doing.
Launching!
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 291
Likes: 2
From: Richmond, ON, Canada
what that shop said doesn't make any sense.
It sounds like they tried to make adjustments in the wrong order...The toe is adjusted last on these cars. It is possible to run out of toe adjustment if the camber bolts are moved all the way "in" ("in" being towards the engine). i doubt that's the case since having the camber bolts all the in would result in positive camber, causing a lean on the outside edge of the tire...which you don't have. Eventhough the tie rods aren't that deep the adjustment needed is of very fine granularity...by the 16th of an inch.
If you take a birds eye view of your car, think of a toe out as your front tires forming a "V" when looking from the rear. kinda creates a dragging effect on the inside of the tires...which is what is causing your wear.
It sounds like they tried to make adjustments in the wrong order...The toe is adjusted last on these cars. It is possible to run out of toe adjustment if the camber bolts are moved all the way "in" ("in" being towards the engine). i doubt that's the case since having the camber bolts all the in would result in positive camber, causing a lean on the outside edge of the tire...which you don't have. Eventhough the tie rods aren't that deep the adjustment needed is of very fine granularity...by the 16th of an inch.
If you take a birds eye view of your car, think of a toe out as your front tires forming a "V" when looking from the rear. kinda creates a dragging effect on the inside of the tires...which is what is causing your wear.
Sorry I didn't get any more pics. I took a few last night before you responded. I'll take some more when I get a chance. Also found out that apparently imageshack isn't free anymore lol. The steering wheel is straight. I'm pretty sure the people there wouldn't know how to take the steering wheel on and off. The guy there told me that he "got it as close as he could" and that there should be no adverse affect on wear. So much for that- these tires have about 15,000 miles on them.
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I made an appointment with a different place on the 6th. Supposed to be the best in town. He doesn't use a machine to do alignments- he does them the old school way. We'll see what he finds out.
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Wow, that looks way off. Assuming nothing is bent in the suspension, the tie rods should have equal threads showing side to side. The person who aligned the car should not be allowed to work on people's cars. Good decision bringing the car to a different shop.
What I get a kick out of is the number of times I hear people say that the alignment shop told them there isn't any way to adjust camber or caster on these cars. This is completely incorrect. The lower control arms have inward and outward adjustment which can affect toe rod adjustment as well. As stated above, assuming nothing in the suspension is damaged or bent, the correct combination of these adjustments should have everything well within spec. Something is far out of adjustment for that toe road to be all the way in and still be eating tires like that.
What he said. This is what I am curious to see as well
As you can see there is a good bit of adjustment for the LCA bolts
As you can see there is a good bit of adjustment for the LCA bolts
Sorry I'll try and get pics tonight after I get the kids to bed. I made the mistake of offering to put lowering springs in my bro-in-law's car. Didn't think he would drive 5 hours here for me to do it lol.
Yep, this is exactly what I was looking for, and what I expected to see. What they have effectively done is narrow your track width by bringing the arms in. This is why the toe rods are run in so far and still not enough. Your camber and caster angles must be pretty crazy also. Definitely take it to a shop that has more knowledge of these cars. Look in my sig for a link to find a reputable shop near you.
I just realized you are in Ocala. It is a little bit of a drive, but we deal with Weaver's here in Seffner. He does all of our stuff so he knows his way around these cars and will get it dialed in for you. Also if you are in the area, feel free to stop by and I'll show you around the shop if you'd like