Advans: Is there any way to prevent uneven tire wear?

[Takashi]

I've had my stock tires for over a year now, and have been lucky to rack up almost 23k miles on them. Obviously, this is my daily driver and I drive pretty conservatively (no track events yet).

Just to give some background, I lowered the car on Hotchkis springs (which drops the car a little under 1.5") at around 12k miles. I didn't get an alignment after that, and I have rotated the tires front to back on a normal basis (5k miles or so). I also flipped the tires about one thousand miles ago.

However, the inside tread bar is the only area of the tire that shows enough wear to warrant switching to new tires. By my estimate, the rest of the tire area would be able to go another few thousand miles. Obviously I am getting a good amount of negative camber, which I understand is good for handling...

So my questions are:
1. Would an alignment have helped prevent this type of wear, or is it inherent in our cars? Luckily, all the wear seems pretty consistent, so I don't think any one location is drastically mis-aligned.
2. When people talk about how they wore out their tires in 8k miles, does that typically mean that they wore out the inside tire area to a point where the tires weren't driveable, or does anyone experience even tire wear?

Thanks for any help!
--greg--

[trannb]

Alignment wouldn't have done much for you really. You've gotten more than anyone else I know.

8k miles is normally all wear on the inside of the tire, or both outer edges of the tire if the tires were flipped at some point.

[earlyapex]

An alignment is always a to-do when you lower the car or change the suspension at all.

That would have helped alot. You probably have too much toe which is what is hard on tires, not camber.

[NRG]

If you camber your wheels, yes they are most likely to rub on the inner side especially if you have more than -2 camber.. Most people who lower their cars with just springs will get a kit to adjust the camber back to 0 but since you like it cambered, then you almost have no choice.

[earlyapex]

If you camber your wheels, yes they are most likely to rub on the inner side especially if you have more than -2 camber.. Most people who lower their cars with just springs will get a kit to adjust the camber back to 0 but since you like it cambered, then you almost have no choice.

wha?

I am running -2.7 and no rubbing. What would they rub on?

[hagakure]

If you camber your wheels, yes they are most likely to rub on the inner side especially if you have more than -2 camber.. Most people who lower their cars with just springs will get a kit to adjust the camber back to 0 but since you like it cambered, then you almost have no choice.


I'm with Bryan....I'm running -2.5, soon to be -3.0 in order to make better use of the hoosiers at the track. I have no rubbing whatsoever.


Percy

[nurb2]

Zero toe on the tires, especially in the front.

23K on Advans though you should not worry about it. Mine were toast at 10-11K, but my wear was relatively even.

-nurb2-

[Knower]

If you camber your wheels, yes they are most likely to rub on the inner side especially if you have more than -2 camber.. Most people who lower their cars with just springs will get a kit to adjust the camber back to 0 but since you like it cambered, then you almost have no choice.

Camber will not wear out the inside of a tire quickly, toe will. Lots and lots of people running lots of camber and having no serious "rubbing" or wear issues.

[EVO Neil]

To the guy who said the alignment wouldn't have helped, get real. Don't give advice if you don't know what you are talking about.

Alignments should be done as preventative maintenance. By the time you realize you need one you've already wasted tire wear. So just figure on getting it done once a year and then monitor so see if that is keeping your tire wear in check. You can do that with a tire depth gauge. Also be aware that unless you are planning to track your car don't run crazy negative camber on the front, that and the toe setting are the causes of inside tire wear.

[trannb]

I didn't say alignments will never help. I was implying that he already got 22+k out of his tires, more than 99% of us. What would an alignment do FOR HIM? Get him 24k miles?

To me, the fact that he's gone that long indicates that his camber and toe settings couldn't have been more optimal for tire wear than what they already were.

[NRG]

More than -2 camber is very general. It does not specifically pertain to only EVOs. For example, a Mitsu Galant 8th generation, with springs that drops about 1.5" will definitely not rub however if the drop is more severe like 1.8"-2.0" which will camber at an even greater degree than -2, it will rub.....

For those that said they have camber way more than -2 but have no rubbing is because it also depends on your hub distance. Meaning if the wheel lip sits closer to the inner wheel well, you are more likely to rub vs somes wheels that spaces out more which can allow more than -2 camber will not rub...Again -2 is just very general that is why on my message it said "most likely".

[NRG]

If you camber your wheels, yes they are most likely to rub on the inner side especially if you have more than -2 camber.. Most people who lower their cars with just springs will get a kit to adjust the camber back to 0 but since you like it cambered, then you almost have no choice.

Camber will not wear out the inside of a tire quickly, toe will. Lots and lots of people running lots of camber and having no serious "rubbing" or wear issues.

We are not talking about wearing.....We are talking about rubbing....And yes, if you have heavy negative camber, you can be sure it will rub. But if you are talking about wearing, both camber and toe will wear but I think toe will wear a bit more because of more friction.

[Takashi]

thanks for the feeback guys, now that i have a brand new set of advans mounted up, i'm going to take it in for a proper alignment very soon!

[EVO Neil]

I didn't say alignments will never help. I was implying that he already got 22+k out of his tires, more than 99% of us. What would an alignment do FOR HIM? Get him 24k miles?

To me, the fact that he's gone that long indicates that his camber and toe settings couldn't have been more optimal for tire wear than what they already were.

It would depend on how much tire he had left on the rest of the tread. Look he said he got 23k on his tires and the only reason they were worn out was due to inside edge wear, that says to me with an alignment he could have gotten more. That says the alignment was off.

[trannb]

Okay, then I misinterpreted the question. My interpretation was "did it really matter that he didn't get it aligned?" To me, simply no. He got decent life from it.

[EVO Neil]

Okay, then I misinterpreted the question. My interpretation was "did it really matter that he didn't get it aligned?" To me, simply no. He got decent life from it.

Yes, I would agree with that. he got excellent mileage, more than 90% of us will or did get.