Tyre ware

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Mon 18 Feb 2002 11:43
Tyre ware - CM
Whilst pumping up my tyres the other day, I noticed thatone of the fronts is badly worn whilst all the other 3 are still in very good condition. (The car is rear wheel drive).

I bought the car 2nd hand from a dealer and it has only covered 17k miles. I presume that this is a problem with the tracking (unless someone can tell me otherwise) and I have not hit any curbs/big potholes etc.....

Should I be able to return to the dealer and complain that the car was sold to me with incorrect traking (I bought the car 6 months ago and have done 6k miles myself)?
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 12:05
Re: Tyre ware - Andy P
Depends whether its covered by the warranty. The dealer could easily claim that the tracking was fine when it left the showroom, and that you caused the problem by accidentally hitting a kerb or something. All I can suggest is you try and see what happens.


Andy
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 12:06
Re: Tyre ware - Brian
If it is the front nearside it may be "Milton Keynes Syndrome" i.e. going round roundabouts too often or with too much enthusiasm.
Otherwise just get the tracking checked and corrected if necessary.
I would not have thought that a dealer is going to be too co-operative on something like tracking 6 months and 6,000 miles after sale, too much could have happened to the vehicle in the meantime.
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 13:09
Re: Tyre ware - mike harvey
CM,
incorrect tracking will not cause just one tyre to wear. It will wear the two fronts equally. If It is just one, it could be many reasons

Worn bottom ball joint or track rod end
Incorrect camber, castor or kpi
Cheapo tyre
Incorrect tyre pressure
A new tyre was fitted to the other side prior to your purchase.
Out of balance wheel/tyre combination.
Milton Keynes, as stated by previous answer.
Incorrect toe out on turns (mainly on steering box systems)

You may get wear in bushes bearings covered under warranty, but you will be lucky to get adjustments such as tracking done for nothing.
Good luck, Mike
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 13:53
Re: Tyre ware - John S
Mike

Sorry to disagree, but it is quite possible for incorrect wheel alignment to wear one tyre and not the other. Believe me I've had it happen!

Regards

John
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 14:10
Re: Tyre ware - mike harvey
Thanks John, have you an explanation though? I thought if, for example the n/s wheel was to-ing out too much, that would make the car turn left. The driver would then turn the wheel a tad clockwise to correct it and drive straight. Both tyres then toing out the same hence even wear. This, of course, assumes all other geometry is correct, so nothing else can influence the balance. On steering box systems I can appreciate that if the drop arm is not at 90 deg to the drag link when straight ahead, the TOOT will be out and cause odd wear, but not on rack and pinion. I am genuinely interested as this topic is often raised in the staff room, and by students, and I would love a definitive answer or explanation. Perhaps it has something to do with the other 3 wheels going straight ahead, with the odd one fighting a losing battle. What do you think?
Mike
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Mon 18 Feb 2002 19:20
Re: Tyre ware - steve paterson
I'm inclined to agree with Mike. But if my memory serves me correctly, with a rack and pinion system TOOT can be wrong if the track rods are different lengths
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