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Uneven Tire Wear


FLASHMSTRC

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I bought my '05 LGT on 6/20/07. The car came with 4 brand new Sumitomo tires. It is now just over 4 months later, about 7,000 miles and my rear passenger tire is completely bald on the outside.

 

I know the easy answer would be an alignment, but I just thought it was wierd that 1 tire out of 4 is wearing unevenly and to be completely bald after 7,000 miles on one side seems strange.

 

All tires have been properly inflated as I monitor that regularly. Anybody have any other ideas other than an alignment?

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Most likely an alignment. If the bald tire has a cupping or wavy wear pattern, it could indicate a blown shock, but if it's just worn smooth, then it's most likely an alignment (toe adjustment).

 

That, or you have open differential real-wheel drive and like to do burn-outs. :)

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Well I definitely don't do burn-outs...but with my inexperience in all-wheel drive I just wasn't sure if a tire could wear like that with the other 3 wearing normal.

 

Is a toe adjustment different from a 4-wheel alignment?

 

It doesn't really matter what-wheel-drive. Imagine driving straight down a road, but one rear tire is angled a degree or two off of the straight ahead path... it will scrub while the others are happily rolling straight. Over time, that scrubbing tire will wear more quickly than the others.

 

It wouldn't necessarily take much to make one wheel out of alignment--a smack on a curb, a big pothole, etc.

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I had a 05 Outback wagon and the tires lasted 16K then bald. The dealer had to take it to a specialist to pull the front tire forward some to align it. But after that I thought it was fixed then on packed ice it was like I was riding on marbles. The car was everywhere. I traded it for a 06. Both purchased new by the way. And same thing 16K dealer again puts new tires on and aligns. Now at 32K those new tires have the rear passenger tires completely wore out. The dealer and the specialist say that when you put 150+ pounds on the back it toes in 3/8th inch. So, this they say is wearing out my tires. I am still waiting for the Subaru Factory rep to get back with my dealer and give his response to my issue. I think I will be buying the next tires though. The design on the Subaru is allowing weight to scrub the tires prematurely. :eek:
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I bought a 05 Outback tires wore out 16K, the dealer replaced them. When the car was on packed snow it was like riding on marbles. Something is up with the suspension on these Outbacks. After 15K saw the same thing happening to the tires so I traded to a 06 Outback thinking that it would fix this issue. On the 06 after 16k the tires were wore out. The dealer replaced them and now that I am at 32K the new tires on the passenger right side rear is worn out. The Specialist wheel alignment pulled the frame forward on the 05. They say all is in specks on the 06. So they tell me that when you put weight on the back, 150+ pounds or more, it increases the toe-in 3/8th . This they tell me is why the tires are not lasting. :eek:
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When I went to my dealer he worked with me and coordinated it with the factory rep. They off set the cost the next time a asked them to do something about it. All four tires and I think is was around $109 I paid. The tires listed at $240+ each.
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I bought a 05 Outback tires wore out 16K, the dealer replaced them. When the car was on packed snow it was like riding on marbles. Something is up with the suspension on these Outbacks. After 15K saw the same thing happening to the tires so I traded to a 06 Outback thinking that it would fix this issue. On the 06 after 16k the tires were wore out. The dealer replaced them and now that I am at 32K the new tires on the passenger right side rear is worn out. The Specialist wheel alignment pulled the frame forward on the 05. They say all is in specks on the 06. So they tell me that when you put weight on the back, 150+ pounds or more, it increases the toe-in 3/8th . This they tell me is why the tires are not lasting. :eek:

 

I know of some guys who will put 200lbs of sand bags in the driver's area to mimic their weight or sit in the car when they get their alignments done.

 

If you're using your car to haul stuff a lot, you might consider tuning your alignment accordingly. Maybe a compromise between your typical loaded and unloaded weight.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So call me a dumb @$$ which is how I feel right now. I replacec the tire wearing unevenly and realized I was running a 205/50/17 tire while running 3 other 215/45/17. I'm hoping that was the reason for the uneven tire wear.

 

Probably will still get an alignment to be safe...I feel so dumb!

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Sounds like a safe assumption. Hopefully it didn't cause uneven rear or center diff wear...

 

And the real dumbass was whoever put that tire on there. I can imagine myself just assuming that no one would ever do something so stupid and not thinking to check.

 

Andy

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  • 4 weeks later...
I had the same problem on my Jetta. The answer was that one day i was showing off, the 2nd day I had my license i took a curve at 60 and curve was to sharp i curbed the front rim and bent the tie rod and control arm and etc to the front and hit the back allitle. The rims where so badly rashed they didn't look like rims not tire tire damage. Well I drove with my stearing wheel looking like i was making a turn and the car was going straight. Took it to the dealer cost 4 grand to fix. 5000 miles later rear tire was unevenly balding found out the rear had damage to so i got rid of the car.
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  • 1 month later...

So I finally got around to getting a 4 wheel alignment. The back rear (tire wearing unevenly) could not be put into alignment.

 

Guy told me the bolt to adjust the alignment wouldn't tighten during the adjustment.

 

He said I need to replace the rear toe adjustment sleeve? Anybody heard of this term or know what I can do?

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No clue what it'd cost.

 

But if you are worried that the first shop is running you a line of BS, just go to another one and don't tell them anything.

 

In the long run, if your rear toe is really f'ed up, it'll cost more in tires than it will to fix the problem now.

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Dealership's diagnosis of the problem was that somebody loosened the bolt too far when doing an alignment and they are never supposed to be taken off...in the process the washer was bent as was the bolt when the person tried to put it back on....

 

Sound right?

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