Front tires getting worn from the inside??

[areznik]

Fellas,

I hope you all doing great and enjoying your Qs as much as I enjoy mine .

As the title says I noticed a significant wear of about inch and a half on each of the front tires from the inside. The mechanic who did the alignment five months ago checked it again and said that it was fine.

What I noticed from my observation is that the front of the car is a bit too low for my eye and it seems that the front tires are a little in angle making more contact with road with the inner part of the tire. This is just my observation though. Did any of you had the same problem? I replaced struts about 25K ago but did not replace the springs. I also replaced the tension rods on both sides.

I really don't want to change tires just because the inner of the front ones is worn so fast. What do you guys think?

Thanks,Andre.

[daegrigg]

Excessive wear on the inboard edge is usually an indication of too much toe out. Excessive negative camber could also contribute. If you have excessive toe out, the steering might feel a little too sensitive around the neutral point. Hit any big pot holes lately? A good alignment shop should be able to check this out. Beyond that you get into worn components such as bushing, tension rods, tie rod end links, etc. I'm sure others will chime in. Also, check the Technical Articles section and search on a few key words.

Don

[maxnix]

Time to flip them. That is a dismount and a mount with the worn areas on the outside.

Any not up to spec suspension components will also contribute to premature wear through suspension instability.

[DrewQ45]

Worn tie rods and/or wheel bearings can contribute since no matter how good the alignment is, the worn part causes an alignment change under stress (driving).

That said, you probably need to take it somewhere else and have it aligned properly. My Q was eating tires (expen$ive 18") for breakfast until I found a good shop... one where the alignment guy actually has you sit in the drivers seat during the process.

...Drew..

[CrimsonQ]

thread jack srry,

Drew, could you send me some upclose pics from different angles of your fender trim?

[email protected]

[areznik]

Thanks guys. A piece of additional info - I have local Nissan done inner and outer tie rods both sides a year ago. I suspect bushings as you mentioned but need to take a closer look at a diagram to figure out where those at. I will also head to a different shop to check my alignment. The rears have no abnormal wear whatsoever, do you think flip 'em with fronts?

Andre.

[maxnix]

Flipping is a side to side excahnge. Dismount, remount side to side, tires and wheel staying in the same oreintation. Rotation is front to back on the same side.

You can cross rotate diagonally also (unless the tire, wheel or both is or are directional), but us older folk don't like to reverse the direction of rotation of a radial.

[DrewQ45]

thread jack srry,

Drew, could you send me some upclose pics from different angles of your fender trim?

[email protected]

Haha! I see you're lovin the trim?

You're gonna get flamed for that as many have told me to take it off saying it's tacky...to me it's far from tacky but to each his own. Came with the car and I like it! One actually protected my passenger side rear fender lip when a non-driver tried pulling my car into the garage and took out the side post. The fender trim looked like an accordian but the fender lip was relatively unscathed except for a few small dents.

One thing you might want to know tho. Those looking for a flush look where the wheel fills the well may not like the trim. It causes further extension of the fender lips. Personally, it matters not to me. I'll shoot you few pics this weekend.

...Drew....

[Q451990]

You can cross rotate diagonally also (unless the tire, wheel or both is or are directional), but us older folk don't like to reverse the direction of rotation of a radial.

Care to elaborate? I've used the cross rotation per the service manual since 1996. What can it harm if the tires are non-directional?

Heath

[maxnix]

In the old days when radials first came out, the tire would take a set to the direction of rotation. Reversing this direction could give rise to all sorts of problems including increased roughness and shorter life due to (I am assuming) faster radial fiber break up.

Everyone in the industry will tell you it is now no big deal, but I am old school. Besides, most of the tires I have now or will have in the future are directional.

By the way, directional wheels, while still round, should not be reversed either for air flow reasons. These also require filpping, even if the tires are non-directional.

[Jeff Williams]

Worn out springs can cause increased negative camber. Worn out tension rods can casue the caster and toe to cahnge under load conditions, and cause the tire wear. Look in the Q45 link. There is a thread about this same thing. Adjustable links are discussed there as a solution as well.

[areznik]

Okay folks, it is possible that I overlooked a very simple detail - tire pressure (what a genious I am). The tires seemed to be just a bit low and when I checked the pressure it turned out to be 25 psi instead of 35 psi as the stricker on the rear door (or more precisely the fender) suggests. The only thing that bothers me, why those techies at the alignment shop did not inflate it properly. Maybe that's a sign that I need to realign my baby wheelies at some other place. While I am not completely certain that my tire wear was only due to low tire pressure but it could absolutely contribute to that. I will drive more under these conditions to see if the wear increases. In the meanwhile thanks to all of you who contributed to this thread.

Andre.

[maxnix]

Still need to flip them.