heavy tire shoulder wear. worn struts or alignment?

[rms13Mike]

i put on some rims with "new" tires i got on the back and noticed after about a day or two of driving that the rear left tire (unnoticeable on rear right) suffered heavy wear on the shoulder of the inner side of the tire. my old tires were 205/50/15 at 1st with same results but not as aggressive. then went to 195/60/15 with no similar wear then the ones i put in now that have the aggressive wear are 205/40/17. then i tried the 205/40/17s in the front to to see if any would have the same result. upon taking out the tires up front (205/50/15) to put the 17s, i found that the front right have the same aggressive shoulder wear as the rear left. now after putting the 17s and little driving, i check the tires again and now the front left got some quick wear on the shoulder as well but less on the front right. i checked online and some say its camber some say its cupping. the wear looks more like cupping wear from the pics i found. could it be just alignment or are my struts or other suspension parts worn? i have original struts with tein lowering springs and i also have a welded diff. could my welded diff be causing this too? i need opinions please

thanks in advance

PICS:front left after driving(205/40/15)

front right after driving (205/40/17) (previously rear right)

rear left(205/40/17)

previously front right(205/50/15)
Modified by rms13Mike at 10:12 PM 8/22/2009

[locoluna825]

well you just said you lowered the car so when you lower the car you end up with negative camber did you have it aligned after the lowering springs were installed? sometimes an alignment can fix these things but it depends on how much you lowered it so sometimes you have to buy some camber correction kit that fixes it.

[rms13Mike]

i

well you just said you lowered the car so when you lower the car you end up with negative camber did you have it aligned after the lowering springs were installed? sometimes an alignment can fix these things but it depends on how much you lowered it so sometimes you have to buy some camber correction kit that fixes it.

it was already lowered with tein springs when i bought the car and from the at first i didnt really notice tire wear like i do now. then i got the welded diff, been to numerous drift events. then when i got those 17 inch rims, thats when i noticed the wear or when it got more aggressive.

im looking for opinions to see if i should just get it aligned or if the shocks are worn/broken, so i can just replace it first and then align so i can save money

[locoluna825]

wait i think im tripping that's not negative camber someone will be here soon to flame me don't worry you'll get your answer

[rms13Mike]

at first i thought it was jsut neg camber but seeing that its really just that small corner that gets worn fast, idk.

thanks!

[locoluna825]

like people do that purposely to there cars for drifting dude so lol the original owner may have done that and the rims amplified it. but i cant see why its doing that on just one side you need an alignment dude

[ashibah83]

your toe may be WAY out on one side, get it aligned

[2jztwoforty]

for sure the toe is way out get an alignment asap

[gumby74]

I don't see any cupping. What I do see is some feathering on the second pic,

Your camber and toe need adjusting. You sir need an alignment.

[rms13Mike]

thanks for the help everyone!

going get it aligned but thinking, might as well change my struts to save money since theyre pretty old.

[EgoManiac77]

new struts will not help with ur alignment per say just ride quality.however they will help keep everything ever before a new alignment. also bc it is lowered getting it aligned to factory specs will not help. u need to take it to a shop that can figure out how far it has bin lowered and recalculate all the alignment angles. hope this helps

[rms13Mike]

new struts will not help with ur alignment per say just ride quality.however they will help keep everything ever before a new alignment. also bc it is lowered getting it aligned to factory specs will not help. u need to take it to a shop that can figure out how far it has bin lowered and recalculate all the alignment angles. hope this helps

yea thats what im planning. i meant that i was thinking of replacing the struts as well before alignment instead of aligning it then replacing it then having to realign it again.

i forgot to ask. how come this only happen on tires thats 205+ but not the 195?it happened to my 205/40/17 and 205/50/15 but not on my 195/60/15. i thought it would depend on the diameter. idk

[EgoManiac77]

it is not the diameter it is the width. the farther into the wheel well u go the more noticeable it will be. if u get a wheel with a more negative off set it will be less noticeable. along with struts u will most likely need a camber kit i believe Eibach makes some good cheep kits

[rms13Mike]

hmm.. makes sense. ill look into those. thanks!