alignment problems and tire wear

[AVINO95]

Well, since my dunlop SP 5000's are pretty much down to the wear bars on the front after about 3000 miles (gahhh!) I need to figure out what the **** caused it. The car is within the alignment specs up front, but when I took of the tires, and then shook the components under there the bottom parts seemed solid, but it seemed that the top of the strut was moving around a little on me, I would figure that was most likely the cause. The tie rod ends seem to be alright still. Any suggestions?

Also, the rear tires are also wearingkinda funny, the inside blocks of tread are kind of feathering on me. This happened in my 91 sable too and i was told there was no adjustment to fix that. Is this the case? I was thinking that perhaps my springs are sagging, and the constant compressed state of the rear suspension was the culprit, causing messed up geometry between the tire and the road. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!!
Dave

 

[Blast7]

I think that the feathering on the rear tires could be caused from bent control arms, bad wheel bearings, and maybe some inside wear from saggy springs. What kind of wear do the front tires have? Are they worn on the inside/outside/feathering?

 

[sdpatt]

Did the tires wear evenly across the tread? From the pictures it looks like you car has aftermarket springs that lower the ride height. This will create more negative camber. The front suspension can accomodate and adjust for this, but the rear is not adjustable for camber. Have you had the car alighned since the tires were installed?

 

[ThumPa]

HELLO,

SHOs do have a rear toe adjustment. there is an excentric cam in the rear. Allot of alignment shops just do toe and go in the front. I had new tires put on my 92 and watched as they did a toe and go in the front. I complained to the manager because I paid for a 4 wheel. He tried to tell me that there was no adjustment for the rear bs . So I took my case to the consumer compaint department at the attorney general's office. My case was proven by my teacher and the alignment computer in school. But be careful, because most places only do toe and go fronts, that cam may be tough to move(mine was). Also,SDPATT is correct there is no camber or caster adjustment in the rears

good luck