I got the car up off the floor and was surprised to see that all 4 tires were worn to the cords on the inside quarter of the tread. The out side quarter was like new???

 

Telling your ride height will be a good start for someone more knowledgeable on the forum to assist you.
Good luck

 

Mine are also wearing in the same way, the tyres before where like you described. I think it's just the suspension needs a good rebuild, new springs, shocks and shock mounts. Bushings while you are there.

 

This is a tracking issue not ride height /shocks /springs . I have had a tracking gauge since I was 17 .Put car on ramps ..crawl under check for front rear difference and adjust each steering arm the same amount to get toe in of 2-3mm. Should measure from the wheel rim to wheel rim L and R The front should be 2-3mm less than the back

almost 60 years old and a accurate at the day it was new !!

 

This can be a ride height issue.

At the front: collapsed shock mounts lead to reduced ride height and excessive camber, resulting in inner tire wear.

At the back: if the car was lowered or the springs are collapsed, you will also have increased inner tire wear. Half shaft spacers will solve this.

However, if your ride height is good and your suspension is not worn out, bad toe is what I would be looking at.

 

Wrong pistombroke. Ride height affects camber. The suggestion was spot on.

John

 

If you have vast wear on the inside of the tyre then its tracking /or can be corrected by tracking adjustment..
How may automobile engineering qualifications have you got ?

 

It's a well known fact that on these cars, when the ride height is compromised, the increased negative camber always leads to inner tire wear. It doesn't take an engineering qualification to understand the physics behind this either. I invite you to do a quick search using this forum's search tool and you will find many threads in which worn shock mounts cause lowered ride height in the front which cause severe inner tire wear. Any toe problems only exacerbate the issue further.

 

Howdy Folks:

My original post was based on my limited (not total lack) of knowledge and my understanding of the steps to correct inboard tire wear.

This is:

· Check and adjust ride height with shock mounts, springs, spring packers (spacers), and/or any worn or damaged parts.

· Check camber as my experience has seen negative camber result such tire wear.

· Check caster (so far, I have been limited to just doing a road test for this)

· Check toe-in (I have a “tracking” bar with offset ends similar to Pistnbroke’s pic which I now have a digital indicator that replaced my old dial indicator on one end) I use 2 forward and 2 rearward “leveled” target receptacles stuck at a measured distance on each front rim. I do this using front ramps and raising the rear axle till my tread plates read level. Although I do use a pressor (Mercedes type) bar, “Brutal” and also my local alignment guru both just press out by hand. I do 3 settings…1st rearward to set Zero… 2nd forward, my calculated “toe in” distance, and 3rd, lastly for closure recheck Zero (usually within +/- 0.005)

I would welcome “Brutal’s” thoughts if he is lurking in the background.

There was a post from a few weeks ago concerning toe-in where I expressed that I used angular conversions, and had just found some links to online dedicated calculators which really sped up my having to do all the trig.

Right or wrong, this where I was coming from. As I posted in that Toe-In thread a few weeks ago,

“It’s hard the argue with success”.

 

You dont need to go to all that trouble ..put the bar as in my photo across the rims to the front. Carefully move to the rear .You dont need a dial gauge to tell you if you have 3mm of left right movement in the bar .
My car ran for thousands of miles at 14.5in before I bought it with no problems.

Did someone forget wheel bearings?

 

Gene,

It has been a year or more since I have seen a forum post from Brutal. I hope he indeed sees your post above and chimes in....

 

I believe @Brutal retired - still lurking the forum though so hopeful he chimes in as well

 

Charlie,
Is this tire wear problem the same or similar to the one that you posted in Sept. 2018? Curious minds would like to know the particulars.

 

I dont get this ..everytime I approach my vehicle my subconscious scans the tyres and the ground below for leaks etc...why would you not have spotted this.?
Sounds like a serious case of suspension re build all round or you could say the tyres lasted 5 years which dependent on mileage could be good or bad.

 

To answer a couple things without going to each comment. First IF ride height is lowered ie front collapsed upper strut mounts like the xk. It reduces(more neg. Camber) this in turn cause the toe to move out(toe out) this is THE predominant wear angle. Look down at your feet, while driving for best wear you want even toe, straight ahead. If you move your toes out the road will scrub more of your inner shoe tread off. Toes in toward each other the road wears your OUTER tread off. BUT, and pay attention here damn it. THE ROAD FORCES THE TIRES TO TOE OUT WHILE DRIVING! This is the important reason for a pressor bar or pushing it on the inside of the front tires while checking toe during an alignment. If the tires are set neutral they will be toe'd out driving as the road will take up all the tolerances in the suspension causing inner tread wear. If it is toed in during an alignment and then you push out you will see it goes to the middle or neutral. This is how it will be while driving. If it goes past, then increase the toe in to achieve a middle setting when pushing on the inside of the tires evenly. This also gives you a confirmation for too much wear in ball joints, tie rods, bushings, and bearing. If 1 side moves out alot more than the other now you need to determine what is causing this. Is it a stacking of wear, or is 1 thing loose and needs to be replaced like a tie rod. Over the decades this has shown me worn parts on an alignment that I really could not feel or see as bad during inspections of suspensions. So yes, if your upper strut mounts are collapsed, replace them a get an alignment as the change in ride height ALWAYS changes camber and toe.

 

Well I'll be damned -- a rare Brutal sighting! Brutal, where have you been hiding?

 

Brutal,
Thanks for chiming in. I attribute much of my alignment success to your expertise. I bet that I'm not the only one.
Know that your comments are always welcome here.

 

Retired last year but not what I was expecting at this point in life. This inflation is killing me and may go back out of retirement. Only 61 so weighing options

 

I retired at 62. Now 10 years later and not regretting it at all. To make it work with 0 savings I had to downsize nearly every area of life. Went from daily driving a $100,000 classic Shelby to driving a 2002 XKR. Not a bad downsize.

the one thing going back to work won’t get you is more time above ground in this planet. At this point think about time being the most valuable commodity you have. Spending it to maintain your current lifestyle may not be a good trade off. There’s a lot you can do in retirement that costs little or zero. Even travel can be done on a shoestring with some planning.

Being tied to a job at 40 years old is one thing. At 60+ it takes on a completely different meaning.

best of luck whatever direction you take.

Z

 

^^ I concur. I retired from the corporate world a week before my 49th birthday. I had decided that I would (and could) make my living playing the markets by dedicating myself to the process. Took me a couple of years to learn to control the two biggest obstacles to anyone playing the markets full-time (fear and greed), but I eventually found my niche and have stayed in my lane doing what I do best, still learning every day, and keeping an open mind while realizing that no one can beat the markets 100% of the time (a 75% win rate is more than good enough for me). That was more than 20 years ago and I have never looked back....

You can find your niche as well. It just takes committing yourself to whatever process you choose and being willing to put in the time and effort required to continually get better and better at it ....