I have a 2002 Golf TDI 130 with 11500 Mls owned from new.
The front tyres are Firestone Firehawk 195 x65 and both have almost 5mm of tread across the tyres, apart from the inside shoulders of both.Approx one and a half inches, confined to the shoulders, has worn considerably. This level of wear is confined to the inside shoulders only.Surely the Camber angle would have to be miles out to wear only this part of the tyre .
Pointed out to VW at first service but feedback was \"tyres legal,plenty of tread left.\"
I was not convinced so had the alignment checked by an independant.Camber,toe setting and castor all OK within spec.
No feathering and tyres are inflated to correct pressures.
Been back to VW who do not know what to suggest, only that perhaps my tyres are prone to wear like this!
Has anyone had a similar problem or any suggestions.
Limmo
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On my Mk 5 Golf they wore down at 14k in the middle to 1.6mm and the shoulders were fine, ATS said that Michelin (what was on) were a soft compound and thats how they wear, maybe the firestones wear on the shoulders more? they also said it was from pulling away fast!! How that wears a tyre when you've got ESP i dont know!!
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Sounds like its toeing out too much. May be within limits but too close to the outer limit. Regards Peter
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Thanks for your replies gents.Maybe it is specifically the tyres
and not the alignment or other related problem.I guess I will not know the answer to that until I replace them.
I agree Peter it looked to me like toeing out, but the wheel alignment test shows the toe out to be minus 0 degrees 5 minutes and the specified toe setting is 0 degrees plus or minus ten minutes, so it is well in.The tyre wear is so pronounced on the inner shoulders only that I feel it would need to be well out to do this.The alignment tester also said that toe setting tyre wear would also show feathering of the tread and there is none at all.
Thanks again
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Hi limmo,
If the geometry is correct, then there must be another cause.
One possibility is that if the car does a lot of full lock manouevering, then you will get an unusual wear pattern. Another would be repeatedly emerging from tight junctions in a spirited manner.
I'm sure there are more scenarios that will tend to wear the tyres on one side more than the other.
Tracking is one of those mythical faults - wrongly blamed for all sorts of effects, and often poorly understood. Your tester is right, if the treads aren't being distorted and 'feathered' then the tracking is probably OK.
number_cruncher
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>>Tracking is one of those mythical faults - wrongly blamed for all sorts of effects, and often poorly understood.
You hit the nail on the head numbercruncher...
I'm experiencing uneven wear on my Civic's front tyres currently, in the same manner as limmo's Golf. I'm reluctant to charge straight in and pay for tracking/balancing without having some sort of confidence that this will remedy the problem.
Can anyone recommend a resource on t'internet to explain how tracking/balancing works, and what sort of symptoms may be cured by each? I've done a brief google but couldn't find anything sufficiently detailed.
tia
Ed.
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Sure you are right numbercruncher, although I do not do a lot of full lock manoevres and as I am 63, I am not heavy with the right foot when pulling out of junctions.
Also never happened on any previous cars or tyres.
But thanks for the suggestions.
Ed, nice to know I am not totally alone.
Whilst looking for info myself, the following 3 sites were fairly informative, although I did not find the answer.
www.allwheelalignment.com
www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles
www.familycar.com
Happy hunting
{http:// added above to make the links clickable. DD}
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I have Firestone tyres fitted to the front of my 306 td, they too have odd wear patterns on them. The o/s/f tyre is worn on the outer shoulder, the other side is perfect. I put it down to running at a too low pressure and the run into work (and back), which is mostly LH bends.
I found out from a mechanic friend that Firestones are very soft anyway and wear badly. Mine have only done 12,000 miles and are close to the limit. I'll be buying better (read more expensive) tyres in a few weeks.
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Golf MK4 110TDi, original fronts were replaced at 25k (when I took over the car) with Michelins, which lasted 32k motorway miles. The outside edge of the nsf wore quickest (as did every set of Michelins on my Audi 80TDi and Passat 110TDi, 27k per set, 235k combined) otherwise rest of tread wore evenly. However, the last osf tyre on the Passat (which my ex now has) wore on its inside edge - first time I'd seen that. Individual tyres can wear funnily; get a tread guage and watch the replacements - if they start wearing the same way, something is not right. Badger your VW dealer or try another... Good Luck!
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Thanks for the info John,and your good wishes, I will do as you say.
A pal of mine said that power steering had a lot to answer for, as we all now twirl the steering wheel around at a rate of knots that did not used to be possible "in the old days".
He may well have a point.
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I've just had the same on my 2001 V6 Mondeo with a pair of Bridgestone Potenza S02A tyres. They rubbed off the inside edges to the legal limit in 10,000 miles with a good 4 mm left on the rest of the tread. At £125 each I was disappointed to say the least. I also had the tracking checked by 4 wheel laser alignment at two different garages and they both said it was all ok(no charge for no adjustment). IIRC Bridgestone and Firestone are the same manufacturer. I'm now watching the new tyres with a tread depth gauge (as suggested above)and they seem to be wearing evenly, but it's too early to tell if anything is amiss yet as I've only done 250 miles on these tyres.
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Forgot to say, the new tyres are a different brand, Hankook Ventus Sport K104 XL, at £55 each from mytyres.co.uk
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Thanks Kith,
The wear on your Potenzas just about equals where mine are going to be soon.Probably a good idea if I switch them to the rear ASAP, otherwise I will be in the same boat as you, throwing away tyres with over 4mm on most of the tread.
Not heard of your new brand of tyre, was it recommended ?
I do'nt suppose that if I e-mail Firestone they will admit to it being the tyres, but I might try it, to see if they have had any previoous feedback.
Good luck with the new tyres.
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Just to add that I did e-mail Bridgestone/Firestone. They confirmed that tyres do not wear in the manner that mine have, without some outside mechanical influence.
As one of the previous replies suggested, the wheel alignment specifications set by manufacturers are set to give optimum vehicle performance and this may not give optimum tyre wear
characteristics.Bridgestone suggested that the alignment could be within vehicle spec, at the edge of the tolerance band and may therefor contribute to premature wear,double check alignment.
Still no feathering though if it is toe out!!
Thanks to all those who answered.
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