[Lasergirl]

Hi

It's me again!!

Now the saga with the TPMS has been sorted, the dealer pointed out wear on the inner shoulder of the tyre where the TPMS valve had failed, naturally they tried to sell me a budget tyre for a high price. I politely declined and took it to a tyre depot and got both front tyres replaced as they had both worn to bald on the inner edge.

I also got them to check the alignment and they found it was ok, and not in need of adjustment. I had a look here http://www.procarcare.com/includes/content/resourcecenter/encyclopedia/ch25/25readtirewear.html and this would indicate that it is an alignment problem.

I have now got 2 Bridgestone 205/55/R16 on the front. I don't know how long the Pirellis had been on the car, as I have only owned it since August; car has done just over 33k miles now, so am hoping these new ones will last, but naturally am a little concerned about the wear pattern. Is there anything I can do to try and prevent this happening again?

I have my pressures at 32 all the way round as per the instructions, but have seen comments saying it should be higher than the manufacturers spec. If so, by how much please?

many thanks
Fiona

[asathorny]

Hello Lasergirl and welcome back...

Our resident tyre specialist should be along shorty, he's prolly in bed bout now, to give you the definitive answer.

In the meantime I would say, based just on experiential learning that there is something wrong with the front wheel geometry which needs to be remedied.

I have just reverted to 32 PSI for the winter after using 38 PSI through the summer to attempt to improve fuel consumption.

I have even wear all round, thank heavens

good luck

[Asterix]

The fact that the alignment is ok now, could indicate that the previous owner was aware of the problem, and had the alignment done before the tyres were all worn out.

I run 2,5 bar / 36 PSI front and rear, works great on both summer and winter tyres, both 15".

[Dazzler]

Hi Fiona.. I do like the way you handle yourself in these situations.. 

There has been an issue with uneven tyre wear for some diesel owners* (although from memory I think we got nearly 55,000 out of our first set on our previous Diesel i30)

*Possibly due o the extra weight of the diesel motor...

There have been some fixes discussed on here, I'm sure some other members will elaborate. 

[Lester]

In the past on all my cars, irrespective of make, I have always had my tyres rotated every 10,000 km to get better tyre life. They are just too expensive.  Had the i30 Trophy since June, got 7000 kms on it, tyres ok so far, but my mate over the road is a mechanic and has got the hoist so I will get him to rotate the wheels/tryres, might cost me a couple of cold ones after though, way to go.

About once in their life I rotate swap my tyres front to back in an attempt to even the wear so they expire at the same time. I purposely leave each tyre on one corner for as long as possible so any uneven wear has a chance to be detected.  I don't subscribe to the idea that more frequent rotation will extend the overall life of the tyres - just how would it? In fact I suggest that regular rotation can shorten their life because while you are evening out the wear you are also evening out any uneven wear giving the illusion of health only.

I use my eyeballs and my hands to check my tyres as I go. I've never had an alignment that I didn't need and reasonably happy that I haven't needed an alignment I didn't have!

55k and about 3/4 done. 

[Surferdude]

Hi Lasergirl,
As Asterisk says, if the alignment is OK now, it's most likely it had been rectified before you got the car.
Once the uneven wear appears, even if you fix the cause, you can't put back the missing rubber so that part of the tyre will still wear out first.
36 psi is what I'd be running and check them once a month using. for preference, your own guage which won't have suffered from constant drops onto concrete by inconsiderate service station customers. Try to find a good quality digital guage or if you want one of the older "pencil" types, make sure it has a metal body.
Keep in touch with the place which carried out your alignment and call back to see them in a few thousand miles and ask if they'll do a visual check of the inside shoulders.  If they're any good they'll pick up any problems through "feathering" before actual wear happens.

About once in their life I rotate swap my tyres front to back in an attempt to even the wear so they expire at the same time. I purposely leave each tyre on one corner for as long as possible so any uneven wear has a chance to be detected.  I don't subscribe to the idea that more frequent rotation will extend the overall life of the tyres - just how would it? In fact I suggest that regular rotation can shorten their life because while you are evening out the wear you are also evening out any uneven wear giving the illusion of health only.

Pip, there's something in what you say but based on my observations, rotating an unevenly worn tyre WILL add something to its life because if the position it then finds itself in - generally on the back - is aligned properly there will be more weight on the part of the footprint which is worn evenly with a bit less on the uneven bit (at least in the straight ahead position). If it's left in a position where more work is done by the shoulder, the wear factor will continue.

[constipated]

Resurrecting this thread. My 2011 CRDI being serviced tomorrow for 30k service. Had the misfortune to have one of the front tyres punctured by a screw. So had to pull out the spare.

Anyway after 30k it is clear the inside shoulder is wearing preferentially. Now must get the wheel alignment done with the dealer too. I'm going to be bleeding money.

Have people actually managed to get this rectified with a wheel alignment. The first thing the technician told me over the phone was that he'll need to check if it's within "spec", which brought back memories of someone saying that even though the wheel alignment in their car had been adjusted to spec, the problem had continued. Can't remember if this was for front or rear. This problem is so common it sounds like a design flaw rather than a wear issue.

Any tips about what I should ask dealer particularly if he tells me it's all within spec.

I assume you will show him the worn tyre. If he agrees that it is worn, then in or out of spec he will need to offer a reason and a likely fix. It's if he doesn't agree that it has irregular wear you have a problem.

What I'm saying is: the wear is clear proof that something is NQR. Of course the amount and type of wear is also open to interpretation.  

[Dazzler]

Member Elleb (Tony) has done quite a bit of research about this I believe and fitted a camber kit of some kind.

He is quite busy, so if he doesn't see this might be worth a PM 

[rustynutz]

I have recollections of my wheel alignment bloke telling me that if you have it within Hyundai specs, it will scrub...... 

[Doggie 1]

My previous diesel (April) was a scrubber.

[rustynutz]

So what does that make you? 

[Doggie 1]

A scrubber's ex.   

[Phil №❶]

A pimp, pays for p76 fuel. 

[Doggie 1]

 

[Surferdude]

"Within spec" doesn't guarantee even tyre wear.
The specs have a range of acceptablity mostly aimed at providing you with a car which tracks straight.
A good wheel aligner can look at  tyre wear issues and set the alignment to reduce or eliminate that wear. This may require adjusting each setting towards one limit or the other of the "specs".
And if the particular angle which is in question can't be adjusted, then you have to start looking at camber pins etc. This step shouldn't be needed very often though.

[constipated]

Thanks Surferdude.

I have recollections of my wheel alignment bloke telling me that if you have it within Hyundai specs, it will scrub...... 

So should I be asking Hyundai to rectify this. It's not filling me with hope at getting the problem fixed if all they'll do is put it back within Hyundai specs (which it may already be in), charge me for it, then end up with the problem not fixed.

That is taking a particular pessimistic view isn't it. I guess I could just have hope they will fix it.

[rustynutz]

Do you need to get it done at the dealers?
I went to a backyard bloke who specialises in wheel alignments and front end issues.
Time will tell if he really knows what he's on about, I guess......

[constipated]

My previous diesel (April) was a scrubber.

Hey db08 did you get anything specifically done for the inside wear and do you feel it fixed the problem?

[Doggie 1]

My previous diesel (April) was a scrubber.

Hey db08 did you get anything specifically done for the inside wear and do you feel it fixed the problem?

No I didn't.
The original tyres wore out at 68,000 kms with inside wear.
The Kumho replacements had done 68,000 kms when I sold the car but there appeared to be lots of kms left in them and the wear wasn't as much of an issue but I don't know why. 
My tyre place suggested it was probably the extra weight of the diesel that caused some suspension sag resulting in tyre wear.
I'll be interested to see how the GD fares in that department.

[Surferdude]

My previous diesel (April) was a scrubber.

Hey db08 did you get anything specifically done for the inside wear and do you feel it fixed the problem?

No I didn't.
The original tyres wore out at 68,000 kms with inside wear.
The Kumho replacements had done 68,000 kms when I sold the car but there appeared to be lots of kms left in them and the wear wasn't as much of an issue but I don't know why. 
My tyre place suggested it was probably the extra weight of the diesel that caused some suspension sag resulting in tyre wear.
I'll be interested to see how the GD fares in that department.

Still comes back to the fact that if there was suspension sag due to the extra weight of the diesel, the settings would be out when checked on an aligner. And. let's be honest. 68,000 klms is generally a pretty good mileage to get from tyres.
At the end of the day, the longer your tyres wear, the more chance there'll be some shoulder or uneven wear, simply due to the fact that, if the alignment is out at some stage in their life and a bit of uneven wear starts, even after the problem is fixed, you can't replace the missing rubber. So guess which section will wear out first?

[Dazzler]

Thanks Trev, I found that comment very enlightening (makes sense too) 

[Doggie 1]

 

[constipated]

Hey Surferdude,

this is the wheel alignment report I received. It was a busy centre and didn't receive much feedback about what was found.

On closer inspection both front and rear tyres had inside shoulder wear but I don't know if the rear were the result of previously being on the front the last time I rotated them.

What do the specs look like to you and is anything they have done likely to improve the situation of excessive inside shoulder wear?

[Surferdude]

Hey Surferdude,

this is the wheel alignment report I received. It was a busy centre and didn't receive much feedback about what was found.

On closer inspection both front and rear tyres had inside shoulder wear but I don't know if the rear were the result of previously being on the front the last time I rotated them.

What do the specs look like to you and is anything they have done likely to improve the situation of excessive inside shoulder wear?

OK. Thanks for that. It appears there was a bit too much toe out on the front. Not wildly so but if it's been like it for a while, could contribute to some inner shoulder wear. It's a bit hard to tell more without seeing the tyres. How hard would it be to take pics of the four tyres and post them on here? Could be good info for others as well.

All 4 wheels seem to have about -1° of camber. I don't have access to what the settings should be but personally I'd be happy with that from a handling point of view. But it might have a very slight bearing on inner shoulder wear. Honestly I wouldn't think it would have enough effect to worry about though.

Couple of other questions.

What pressure are you running?
What size are the tyres?
Diesel or petrol?
You may have already supplied some of this info but if you could repost here it'd save me looking. 

OK. Thanks for that. It appears there was a bit too much toe out on the front.

I've got to say I was surprised by your answer. My reading of it was that there was a little too much toe-in. Isn't a negative number toe-in?

Anyway, from what I can see all they have done is adjust one front tie rod to correct the toe. Fair enough but if it really was toe-in then I that would not have suspected that to scrub the inside.

Of course, if a negative is toe-out then I'm an ass.

And I do note that you asked for more info. I'm just asking to have my understanding confirmed or corrected.

[Surferdude]

A negative figure is toe out.

A negative figure is toe out.

It had to be, didn't it... FWD cars have toe-out, don't they, because the drive tends to "pull" or rotate the wheels to the front. I knew the difference between each but confused which way was negative.

[Surferdude]

This one explains it better.