Extreme/uneven tyre wear

[Badger1bear]

imposable scenario....if you kept the wheel where you are accustomed to the thrust forces will just equalize and the truck will wander off course.

Not impossible at all, why ? because it happens thats why. If you was to let go of the wheel the truck will alter course because of the tyre being out of alignment. You get use to holding the wheel in a certain position and this keeps the vehicle straight but will scrub the tyre thats out of alignment.

Impossible ? thats spherical objects, its fact because it happens on the trucks we have

 

[711jrp]

must be those fairy-tail trucks that run on rainbows.......

 

[Badger1bear]

must be those fairy-tail trucks that run on rainbows.......

i bet you think the world is flat as well eh ?


The FACT is it happens, just because you have not seen it doesnt mean it doesnt happen, how can you argue the fact when someone is telling you from real life experience with trucks for many years that it happens ? I drive them, I repair them and I operate heavy plant. I am hands on in the real world and I can tell you that it happens

 

[Mick - Ford Focus]

its about 20 quid round our way heres one for scarbrough http://www.tirewarehouse.net/local/Wheel-Alignment/ME/Scarborough

Will Have No Tyres Left After Travelling To That One -

M

 

[the snooper]

Will Have No Tyres Left After Travelling To That One -

M

in the states

 

[doubleboost]

I wonder what Mr Acerman would think about it

 

[brightspark]

Will Have No Tyres Left After Travelling To That One -

M

what a crock o sh yte google is. geography wasnt my best subject shoulda typed in scarbrough north yorks

 

[711jrp]

^^^ and have no idea how suspension geometry works yet......It's not the tracking what causes what you are explaining, the tracking on it's own won't make it pull to the left or right, its something that is not equal on both sides like caster, camber, kpi, setback or pneumatic trail but not tracking on it's own,.

 

[Badger1bear]

^^^ and have no idea how suspension geometry works yet......It's not the tracking what causes what you are explaining, the tracking on it's own won't make it pull to the left or right, its something that is not equal on both sides like caster, camber, kpi, setback or pneumatic trail but not tracking on it's own,.

So.....when we have the trucks lazer aligned on the tracking and the problem goes away.....is that voodoo or black magic or is it possibly the rainbows that cures it ?

I do bow to your superior knowledge of our trucks without seeing them, obviously I and the lazer alignment fella are taking money on false pretences and we will tender our notice tomorrow

On the other hand seeing as I make serious money as the yard manager i think I will stay where I am if thats ok

 

[chevy2]

Based on only the outer edges gone then yeah as others said it could be tracking out,

but could also be lots of heavy cornering?
To determine which is the case, check the blocks of the treads for feathering/lifting, this is caused by continued driving on incorrect tracking and not heavy cornering,

but...without "actually" checking the vehicle we're all guessing a bit here.

 

[Bill Edwards]

its about 20 quid round our way heres one for scarbrough http://www.tirewarehouse.net/local/Wheel-Alignment/ME/Scarborough

Thanks, but I'm in Scarborough UK, not Maine, US...

 

[brightspark]

Thanks, but I'm in Scarborough UK, not Maine, US...

the forum must be running slow look at post 27

 

[Bill Edwards]

the forum must be running slow look at post 27

Ha, I clicked reply so I could reply before I forgot, as I knew what would happen if I read the latest posts firsts, especially going onto a second page!

 

[Country Joe]

Does seem a strange one, but I'd still get the tracking checked if I was you.

I had a front tyre (inner edge on driver's side) looking quite scrubbed out on a caddy van recently, but the tracking was "only just" out according to the tracking guy.
Seemed odd, as they were all newish (couple of months old) tyres, and I hadn't noticed any uneven wear up until a couple of weeks ago.

I've even thought about swapping it for one of the back ones to see if it's cured it, but I've been too lazy so far.

I might start wishing I had swapped them over when I come to put the next set on, and the same thing happens again!
But right now, I'm being an optimist, and I'll see where it takes me!

All the Best,
CJ

PS - As sod's law would have it, I went all the way over to ProTyre in Bristol, as I'd remembered the super-duper, all sining all dancing laser tracking thing they'd used before, which transformed the Golf i'd been driving at the time - but it was broken, nowhere in sight - and I don't think they were thinking of replacing it, either! Just my luck!

 

[Robotstar5]

PS - As sod's law would have it, I went all the way over to ProTyre in Bristol, as I'd remembered the super-duper, all sining all dancing laser tracking thing they'd used before, which transformed the Golf i'd been driving at the time - but it was broken, nowhere in sight - and I don't think they were thinking of replacing it, either! Just my luck!

I took a car to a place in Birmingham with one of those laser tracking machines, only problem was the bloke who could operate it had left

 

[dannyp]

if your car is eating tyers check all the suspention bushes if they are good bang it on a laser alignment rig.

i have know the wheel alignment of a car to trash just one wheel, a good welt from a pothole or curb can knock things out not just the track it has been know to tweek the camber on some cars by bending a link, on others a bush can degrade so everything looks allrigth at first glance but then you realise it's going duck footed on one side because a bush has collapsed ( and that will trash just the one tyer ) just rebushed the entire back end of the old mans mk5 golf as it was repeatedly killing the nearside rear

 

[AndyStobbs]

I'm looking at a '93 Mercedes 310D van which has very extreme tyre wear on the front nearside tyre. The tyre is very good but is showing more tread on the inside than the middle and a serious loss of tread at the extreme outer.
The other tyre is slightly more worn on the outer but not by much, and doesn't have the extreme wear on the shoulder.

The kingpin was replaced in January, a little before that that side leaf spring was replaced. The wheel bearing doesn't have an excessive amount of play, nor do the steering joints. The spring doesn't appear to be broken, the axle doesn't appear to be in the wrong place (forwards/backwards). The camber doesn't appear to be wrong by eye (no gauges to hand). The vehicle appears slightly higher to that side, but not by much and is probably the leaf spring (or an uneven load, or where it is parked as the ground may not be 100% level).

Any thoughts?

Stupid question, but when driven, is it like being on safari with a feeling of driving on/in ruts? I find poor tracking always feels weird when driven.
Also some tracking people deliberately set the front wheels to crab right, in an effort to make the vehicle pull straight against the slope of the road, which is totally wrong ofcourse, but does happen.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

On my old van (which had been kerbed a couple of times and hit some hefty potholes) the steering always pulled to the left even on roads with adverse camber. The tyre wear was also uneven so when I took it in to have the tyres replaced I got them to check the tracking which they did. Afterwards the van still pulled to the left so my question is could it have been that the tracking was correct ie the toein was set up but the steering was not centralised, so the power steering was offset so in effect they were fighting each other?

I don't have a great understanding of power steering systems so this is only a query not a theory!

Plus it's for information only now as I have replaced the van.

 

[norlander]

As a biker I'm no expert on shopping trolleys but when I take mu van in for its CT (MOT) they usually say the tracking needs adjusting, but my local mech told me some time back the uneven tyre wear is caused by the tight n twisty roads to and from our village, so I guess those who mentioned heavy foot in roundabouts have a point?.
Also, when I do have the tracking done, its only guaranteed for 3 months-if it goes out after that you pay again, there are some right rough roads around here and quite a few businesses do not have kerbdowns so you have to bump up kerbs to go in and out-dunno if thats relevant?.
I had the tracking done and the van still pulled left after new tyres so I replaced the front shox and the tracking was done again, seems ok now.

Other things to throw in the pot:

1. when stuff wears out /goes out of adjustment, it often does it in small increments and the regular driver may make subconcious corrections-its only noticed when somebody else drives the vehicle or it gets really bad-Mr Badger1bear has said that already I think.

2. On two occasions on bikes I have had a bad tyre from new- come out the mould a tad wonky-on a bike you notice it straightaway-but on a four wheeler? -dunno- its very rare though- twice in 48 years of riding.

3 on the pulling left or right thing, on bikes I test on a flat piece of road first- then check to see if a brake is binding before checking steering head/wheelbearings/wheel alignment etc-brake binding might be applicable to 4wheels, and one gent has mentioned bushes in suspension

 

[hareng]

Cant remember ever owning a car that has never pulled or veered to one side by laser track methods. Best tracking methods is rolling the actual car on paper where you will see any scrubbing. Lasers are used when stationary with no stresses on all the bushings and steering rack.

Seen how much movement there is on all cars rubbers, best thing you can do is junk and replace with the likes of Powerflex poly bushes. Last car used to get 6k on front Michelin Pilots at which insides bald and tracking ok. Fit poly bushes all round then 4 wheel 'camber' set and track got 22k far out stripping the install cost. I only know of two of these suspension specialists within 100 mile rad the one I went to was in Cradley Heath.
You can adjust camber on most cars though your better tyre fitter will say impossible.

Vans had a clout could be easy tracking fix or not.