Uneven Tyre Wear

[manback]

Hi,

I have just noticed that the inside of my front tyres are VERY badly worn, the outsides have 4 or 5mm.

what causes this?

i have recently changed a front wishbone as it had lots of play.

[greenone]

Did you get the tracking checked having changed the wishbone, is the wear feathered ie looks like its tearing the tread? That would indicate tracking.

Could be lots of negative camber, front wheels tilted in at the top. Did you change both wishbones or just the one? Personally i'm of the opinion that things like that should be done in pairs.

It could be that the wear started as a result of the worn wishbone and because the tyres already had uneven wear it has simply carried on.

John

[nobananas]

As John says you should always have you're tracking checked after replacing wishbones. If the wishbone was a pattern part then likely it has thrown the tracking miles out (is the steering wheel still straight ?). I replaced 1 wishbone with a pattern one a while ago and it threw my tracking off the scale whilst also putting the steering wheel out by about 45 degrees (it came off again sharpish !). Your camber could also be out, if the front legs have been off to do the springs, top mounts, shocks etc then the camber setting will have been lost as it is set by the two securing bolts that hold the strut to the hub carrier. Often people just bolt them back up without realizing that the holes are larger then the bolts (to allow movement for adjusting) and they get pinched up leaving the camber all over the place, a good body shop or alignment center should be able to sort it.

[jez.w]

If you have checked the tracking then it is probably wishbones. My tracking was ok but the front tyres were totally chewwed up on the insides. The front tyres looked like new apart from the very inside edges were totally shot. I ordered new volvo wishbones for £120 each (1 each side at front), they come with ball joint, pinch bolt and 2 new bushing mount bolts. Dont get cheap pattern wishbones as they dont last long at all and are not a good alignment, £120 each for Volvo ones is not a lot of money for what you get! I only did mine 3 weeks ago. It is a simple job to do yourself, and you only need a few tools, not as bad as it looks, the bolts should not be too tight to undo as only torqued 50 ish ft/lbs if i remember. Undo anti roll bar link (size14), undo and remove 1 X balljoint pinch bolt (size13 one end size15 other), lastly undo 2 X bush bolts (size18) which are easy to get to. First side took me 40 mins, second one took half an hour. I got the car retracked the next day and its all fixed, and also it feels much tighter on the road now. Old wishbone bushes were completely worn upon inspection. It really is a doddle of a job to do yourself and it will save you a few quid as Volvo wanted £340 to do it including parts.