you need to take it back to seat and complain that the tyre wear is uneven and they will carry out 4 wheel alignment should correct this if tyre pressures are ok i had this on mine when i bought it but fine after the alignment
4 wheel alignment won't fix it (BTDT)... it is inbuilt failure of these cars (and all the same generation of VAG cars). Use the search button on here.. done to death and no "real" fixes exist .. beyond hoping to get 12k legally .. after 18k the fronts were most definitely not good on the inside.
.. or has someone found the magic bullet?
.. or has someone found the magic bullet?
just clocked 14,000 miles since march.
may put front tyres on the back now.
dunlop sp max 205/45/16
may put front tyres on the back now.
dunlop sp max 205/45/16
Mal
Guest
It could be a wheel alignment problem, tracking can get thrown by speed humps / potholes.
Bear this in mind though as a possible cause:
I've got an uneven tyre wear problem on mine (TDI 100) whereby the inside of the front tyres wear quickly. This was first noticed at the 3 year service, where I was told it was a problem with the wheel bearing in my osf wheel.
Anyway to cut a long story short, its continued to happen out of warranty, and SEAT don't want to know as a good will claim or otherwise despite the front bushes not being up to the job. (the expensive bit is the labour rather than the parts)
The dealer has told me that the bushes on mine need replacing with uprated ones such as those of the FR/Cupra models.
It may not be the same problem as mine, but if it is, push them hard to make sure it is sorted, and keep checking the fault hasn't returned. They do try and fob you off.
Bear this in mind though as a possible cause:
I've got an uneven tyre wear problem on mine (TDI 100) whereby the inside of the front tyres wear quickly. This was first noticed at the 3 year service, where I was told it was a problem with the wheel bearing in my osf wheel.
Anyway to cut a long story short, its continued to happen out of warranty, and SEAT don't want to know as a good will claim or otherwise despite the front bushes not being up to the job. (the expensive bit is the labour rather than the parts)
The dealer has told me that the bushes on mine need replacing with uprated ones such as those of the FR/Cupra models.
It may not be the same problem as mine, but if it is, push them hard to make sure it is sorted, and keep checking the fault hasn't returned. They do try and fob you off.
BigBash
Guest
I really don't understand why people swap the tyres around.
As far as I see it which end would you prefer to lose front or back?
Well I for certain do not want to lose the back end, front end can be corrected and is progressive, back end quite often just goes and you've little chance of recovering.
Now I know this is the case, a while back I bought a 106 GTI that had the cheapest budget tyres on the back, near brand new and on several occasions the back end went, until I replaced the tyres for Eagle F1's.
So other than a bit of penny piching, why oh why would you want the better set on the front????
BigBash
Guest
When braking in the wet from 70mph 3mm of tread on your front tyres will see your stopping distance increase by up to 20 metres further over the distance if you had 6mm of tread.
What is the more likely scenario - losing the rear driving like a t*t round a bend in the wet or rear-ending someone who's stopped a bit sharpish on the motorway?
What happens more often every day?
What is the more likely scenario - losing the rear driving like a t*t round a bend in the wet or rear-ending someone who's stopped a bit sharpish on the motorway?
What happens more often every day?
BigBash
Guest
Ok that is a fair point....But have you ever lost your back end under braking, I have and it is not nice. Whether under braking or chucking it around or even driving sensibly you will get some form of feedback from the front end warning you that there is a loss of grip, with the rear you will get very little if at all.
So whether you get a bit of increased stopping distance or not, you will be in a false sense of security until your back end goes, at which point you are likey to have lost complete control of the car.
Anyway driving in the wet you should allow yourself extra braking distance, so I would say if you lose your front end under braking then you are driving like a t**t anyway....
One thing that I will say about the possibility of losing the rear end under heavy braking, while braking heavily there will be very little weight over the rear of the car if you are braking in a straight line like you might expect on motorways or dualled sections of road. Back to getting four wheel re-alignment carried - that might be the best £50>£100 you will ever spend every couple of years as the alignment will have changed from when the car was assembled - and as suggested the factory settings do not seem to be too "good". I got my wife's Polo re-aligned (four wheel) after it had had a new ARB and later new TCA bushes (Cupra) fitted. Prior to this I rotated the wheels at about 10,000 miles to try to get sensible mileage out of a set. By 20,000 miles I had to include the spare wheel to keep the total number of tyres needed down to 6 in total by the time 35,000 miles had been reached. Then the first four wheel re-alignment was done at a VAG indep specialist at 35,000 miles roughly just after I replaced all four currently fitted tyres to Michelin Pilots. About 10,500 miles later the car failed its MOT for having bald bits on the last 5% inside edge of the front wheels - dealer said that car needs a four wheel re-alignment as it had obviously clouted a kerb and knocked the crossmember over a bit (one front wheel had been kerbed by me when the car was almost new!!) - anyway, the before and after figures showed that the fronts had been in spec but the front to rear alignment was out of spec - so for some reason or another the alignment had shifted! I'd keep an open mind on how well these little cars hold their wheel alignment even although they have not been kerbed or thumped by potholes. BTW once a tyre shoulder starts to wear unevenly, it would take a lot of opposite misalignment to correct it was the flexible sidewalls allow the tyre to retain this "set" after the source of the misalignment has been removed.
When the back of my car steps out it is so progressive that i can steer it on the throttle.
I'd rather do that than go straight on at a corner..... Curb, grass, then no hope of recovering the slide or worse.
Why put the best tread at the back where it can't try and steer you out of trouble? All it will do is follow the fronts to their death....
I'd rather do that than go straight on at a corner..... Curb, grass, then no hope of recovering the slide or worse.
Why put the best tread at the back where it can't try and steer you out of trouble? All it will do is follow the fronts to their death....
The point about needing the deeper tread on the fronts was made during the last series of Fifth Gear IIRC - local Ford dealerships are also currently running a promotion/advertising campaign based on this showing wet-weather braking distances are increased by anything between 7-40% depending how far off maximum depth your front tread is on.
What's 25k out of a set of tyres then!?
They were only swapped from front to back about 10k ago!BigBash
Guest
To be honest I'd rather trust the manufacturers, not some television program, who say that it is MUCH safer to put the best tyres on the rear, try taking your car to Costco (who only supply Michelin's) they will refuse to swap them as Michelin have told them not to do it.
Ford are totally correct, but that is not an endorsement to put the best tyres on the front, but warning people to get their worn tyres changed.
Have a look at this video of someone as you said driving like a t**t
http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/tire-basics/reartire-change/
Each to their own, but I know I'd rather drive sensibly in the wet, don't tail gate people and know that my rear is not going go on me without some prior warning!
The inner-edge wear is extremely common, mine did it from new. Was on holiday in south of France when I spotted the inner edges had worn down to the fabric
But it can be sorted. When I got my geometry sorted by someone who knew what they were doing, the problem went away, and the car did another 80k+ miles with even wear.
I think if you take it to any general alignment place, then half of time they look up the wrong alignment values, or their equipment is out of calibration, or they're just plain dumb and don't know/care what they're doing.
You need a specialist who understands suspension geometry, who can find the optimum setup for the car (not necessarily the values supplied by Seat) and knows how to use their equipment...sadly not many places around like that !
But it can be sorted. When I got my geometry sorted by someone who knew what they were doing, the problem went away, and the car did another 80k+ miles with even wear.
I think if you take it to any general alignment place, then half of time they look up the wrong alignment values, or their equipment is out of calibration, or they're just plain dumb and don't know/care what they're doing.
You need a specialist who understands suspension geometry, who can find the optimum setup for the car (not necessarily the values supplied by Seat) and knows how to use their equipment...sadly not many places around like that !
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Oh, and if you've got the voided wishbone bushes, get these replaced with the solid Cupra ones first - as they allow far too much movement even when new. Then get your geometry sorted...
Well, SEAT dealers are more than happy to rotate tyres for you for £19.99 and the Fifth Gear slot was done in conjunction with a tyre manufacturer - Goodyear IIRC.
And as for driving like a tw@t you have more control over how fast you corner in the wet than you do over someone in front of you deciding to stand on their brakes on a wet motorway at 80mph.
As I have already said, what incident happens more often on the roads every day?
All FWD cars should toe-in slightly at rest as the wheels are forced back to straight under drive (IIRC).
Chances are that the bushes on the rear of the front wishbone have worn allowing the wheel to move too much. I would have them replaced for cupra ones and have the alignment done correctly by a specialist.
Chances are that the bushes on the rear of the front wishbone have worn allowing the wheel to move too much. I would have them replaced for cupra ones and have the alignment done correctly by a specialist.
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