Wierd Tyre Wear

[The Pielander]

I had my TDI Sport 130PD in at Kwik Fit today to get a wheel balanced and while it was on the ramps they did a free inspection. I have a set of Kumho KU31's that are about 10k miles old and the fronts are showing an even 4mm tread across them. The rears are wierd though - as you view the car from behind and left to right the tread on the left tyre is 3, 4, 5mm and then the right tyre is 3, 4, 5mm too with the 3mm now on the inside. It seems wierd to me that the wear is uneven across the car left to right. The fitter described it as steps in the wear like a 50p piece.

I know that this model can have some uneven tyre wear but has anyone seen anything like this on their car? Any explanations cos I'm intigued?

Cheers!

 

[Deleted member 20376]

think that could be the camber. have you had it lowered.
or the tyre could be flat but i think it may be more to do with the camber.

 

[L9 GOW]

i would put this down to camber!
maybe get it booked in somewhere to get the camber checked and set up

 

[cheshire cat]

i would put this down to camber!
maybe get it booked in somewhere to get the camber checked and set up

the camber on the rear is as far as the factory is concerned non adjustable is it lowered? however the yanks sell shims to do the job but don't know if it fits ibiza, get a fulll alignment done first

 

[RUM4MO]

Your lucky that the fronts are wearing evenly - are you aware of the car "crabbing" and if so, as mentioned on previous posting, get a full four wheel re-alignment done as it looks like the front needs moved across to suit the (fixed) rear - or the rear has been heavily clouted at some point in the car's life.

 

[The Pielander]

Thanks for all the replies. The wheel balancing hasn't made much difference. The only way I can describe the 'problem' is that the car sounds like it is gripping the road and is a touch more noisey - it makes a noise a bit like a Land Rover's tyres now. The tyre pressures are ok though.

The only clout the back wheels had to my knowledge (I've owned it from new) was recently in the snow. I did a 90° spin at about 20mph and it was the snow that built up in front of the rear tyres that stopped me going further. I wonder if the force of that was enough to push the rear wheels out of alignment?

I'll get the geometry checked properly.

Cheers!

 

[Trumpetman21]

At the 40K service the car had last week I had the wheels rotated plus alignment checked & adjusted - both fronts were wearing quicker inside than outside.

Same happened around 20K too....

 

[RUM4MO]

Thanks for all the replies. The wheel balancing hasn't made much difference. The only way I can describe the 'problem' is that the car sounds like it is gripping the road and is a touch more noisey - it makes a noise a bit like a Land Rover's tyres now. The tyre pressures are ok though.

The only clout the back wheels had to my knowledge (I've owned it from new) was recently in the snow. I did a 90° spin at about 20mph and it was the snow that built up in front of the rear tyres that stopped me going further. I wonder if the force of that was enough to push the rear wheels out of alignment?

I'll get the geometry checked properly.

Cheers!

I don't thing that that "trip" in the snow would have done that. The Land Rover noise - do you mean a "wha wha" noise? - if so that sounds more like wheel bearings as I had that with a 4X4 Passat - and it was only wheel bearings.

 

[Neo]

Most cars are supposed to have a small amount of negative camber, especially sport models... this is so that when you go into a corner and load up one side of the car, the tyres on that side lay flat to the road. So as long as its not eating tyres I would not worry too much. But the noise cuold be wheel bearings: jack up the front and give the wheels a shake from side to side and up and down, if you can feel play then its probably bearings. Also, give them a spin and if it sounds like its grating that is an indicator of bearings too (but ignore the noise of the disc against the pads).

 

[NickyJam]

Most cars are supposed to have a small amount of negative camber, especially sport models... this is so that when you go into a corner and load up one side of the car, the tyres on that side lay flat to the road. So as long as its not eating tyres I would not worry too much. But the noise cuold be wheel bearings: jack up the front and give the wheels a shake from side to side and up and down, if you can feel play then its probably bearings. Also, give them a spin and if it sounds like its grating that is an indicator of bearings too (but ignore the noise of the disc against the pads).

true...but not enough camber to noticeably wear out quicker than the rest of the tyre

the only way the tyre will wear on both sides, hardly wearing in middle, is with under-inflated tyres

 

[Neo]

true...but not enough camber to noticeably wear out quicker than the rest of the tyre

the only way the tyre will wear on both sides, hardly wearing in middle, is with under-inflated tyres

That`s right, and the opposite with over-inflated tyres.

 

[Ultra_Joel88]

Hi there mate, I have a problem on my rears too.

Recently lowered my car and the fronts are wearing fine but on the rear I have

-1.38 on the right hand side (within factory specs)
-1.10 on the left hand side (too much positive camber)

So that tyre is wearing faster on the outside by a couple of mil

Only way to correct is with shims I believe.

Car also pulls left.

 

[Gazb]

When you say the car pulls to the left I presume you mean when on a level peice of road and not just when your accelerating?

Never had an issue with the rear on my ibiza's but the front tires on my cupra really seem to wear down alot and quickly on the inside.
There is a heavily worn almost smooth patch on the inside about an inch wide but if you go out to the middle of the tyre there is probably 5mm or more tread left.