Ok, I took one of my front wheels off because I was test fitting brakes and when I did I noticed that the inside edge of the tire was completely worn smooth. I bought these tires brand new last May or June and it looks like they need replacing already. I've been inspecting the wear of the tires every now and agian, but didn't think to check the inside edge. Well, I found this next statement on another website about tire wear.

One Side Wear
When an inner or outer rib wears faster than than the rest of the tire, the need for wheel alignment is indicated. There is excessive camber in the front suspension, causing the wheel to lean too much to the inside or outside and putting too much load on one side of the tire. The car may simply need the wheels aligned, but misalignment could be due to sagging springs, worn ball joints, or worn control arm bushings. Because load has a great affect on alignment, be sure the car is loaded the way it's normally driven when you have the wheels aligned; this is particularly important with independent rear suspension cars.
Does this sound right about one side inner wear??? The reason I ask is because my car seems to be in alignment. I don't know a lot about car alignment, but the car doesn't pull to the right or the left so I assume it is good. Although, I do have 106k on the car and I'm pretty sure the struts are original and I have been hearing a squeaking noise when pulling out of the drive way in the cold. Any thoughts>>>

I guess one good thing is I might be able to pick up my new suspension.

 

I had the same problem and it was due to having too much camber after I lowered my car. I don't know what else I can tell you about your suspension though. I can tell you that if you want to save on tires, you might be able to find a shop that can flip them so the worn part is on the outside.

 

Grant, what you need are Ksport coilovers or some super duper rare Stillen camber plates.

Lower the car yet maintaining neutral to low camber angle.

 

It's camber...happened to my car (lowered on H&R). The alignment seemed okay but it wasn't. I had to replace my front two tires b/c both were worn on the inside. The crappy thing about it is that my car was still in specs for the camber settings and without buying a camber kit the only thing I can do is rotate my tires every 3k to help maintain thread life.

 

Lowering a car will change it's alignment specifications, in other words the OEM alignment spec will no longer be correct.

 

Yes, it's sounds right. In fact, it is quite common for one wheel to be out of alignment and yet the car doesn't exhibit any ill-handling (pulls left/right, bump steer, wanders, darty, etc, etc)

Briefly:

Front wheel alignment is comprised of 3 interdependant settings/adjustments/specs: Camber, Caster and Toe.

Camber is how much the wheel tilts in (or out) towards the engine bay, at the top - tilt in is negative camber, tilt out is positive caster. This is usually measured in degrees and requires a moderatly expensive piece of equipment to measure accurately.

Caster is the angular relationship between the axis of the wheel (rotational axis) and the steering axis. Think about a chopper style motorcycle - the wheel axis is WAY out in front of the point around which the handle bars rotate (positive caster). Think about the front wheels on a shopping cart - the wheel axis is behind the pivot point (when pushing the cart forward) - negative caster. This is usually measured in degrees and requires a moderately expensive piece of equipment to measure accurately.

Toe is the "front" of the wheels pointing in towards the centerline of the car or point out away from the center line of the car. Zero (0) toe is where the wheels are parallel to the centerline of the car, toe-in is where the wheels point in and toe-out is where the wheels point out away from the centerline. This is usually measured in inches/centimeters and can be done accurately with a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment called a trammel bar. A tape measure also works reasonably well.

Typically you'll find cars with OEM specs that have a little to zero toe-in, a bit of negative camber and a bit of negative caster. Toe-in aids in straight line driveability. Toe-out will cause your car to "wander" a bit while driving down the freeway (great for autocross though). Negative camber aids in handling, while too much, as you discovered, will cause accelerated tire wear (however racers love as much as they can get, as they usually only care about making the tires last to the end of the race). Negative caster aids is straight line driveability. Think about how difficult it is to turn that radical chopper with all that positive caster.

The 3 settings are interdependant. Changing one can/will affect the others. And while changing one will not necessarily make your car ill-handling, it will, as you discovered, ruin tires rather quickly. And of course, you being an auto enthusiast, ALWAYS get a 4-wheel alignment, as the rear wheels being in alignment have just as great an impact on handling as the fronts do. And the above discussion doesn't take into account things like thrust alignment.

Auto manufacturers choose alignment specs primarily based on 2 things: 1) decent tire wear, 2) reasonable, safe handling for the masses.

With all that said, find yourself a good reputable, reliable alignment shop. Get to know the alignment techs and tell them what you are looking for in an alignment and they can help you make appropriate adjustments to OEM specs. Keep in mind, most shops won't warranty the alignment and/or tires if it's not OEM spec.

Additionally, if the inner tread is worn down past the minimum tread depth (1/16th of an inch), then I doubt you'll find a tire shop that would be willing to change the tires out so the worn portion is on the outside. Not only is it illegal for them, but it's dangerous for you. Once a tire, at any point has reached the minimum tread depth, then the tire is shot and needs to be replaced. In most, if not all states, driving on tires that are worn past the minimum tread depth is illegal.

Good luck.

 

That would be nice. Too rich for my blood right now though. I'm having new carpet put in my house this week or next week and I'm paying off my 03 Trailblazer in the next couple of months too! I'm probably going to have to stick with springs and struts unless I can find an unbelievable price on coilovers.

 

OK, guys all that info sounds good, but does it matter that my car is completely stock. I haven't lowered my car yet, so I would assume my camber would be fairly close to OEM specs unless the previous owner really got a hold of some potholes or lived on a dirt road.
Or is camber something that usually gets messed up over time with average driving?

P.S. as far as the tread on the tires, I would guess that I'm in the illegal zone when you inspect my inner tread.

 

on a non-lowered car, camber can only get "messed up" if something is bent in the suspension....spindle, strut, etc. or the lower balljoint is shot (which it might be with your kind of mile).

It could also be a result of excessive toe on one tire. Get an alignment. You should be getting one every 6 months. I get one every 3 or so....

Because of the design of the 5th gen suspension, rear camber is really not affected at all by lowering, and front will still be within spec typically with H&R, Eibach, or Maxspeed springs. On eibachs, my camber is still within factory spec - and no, I don't have the camber plates on any more.

 

Well, here's the deal my wife just gave me the ok to go ahead a replace my suspension. I have been wanting Eibach's for a long time, since I had them on my 3rd gen. I wasn't sure about struts. But I've seen some D2's for sale for around $650. Would it be worth it to pick up the coilovers, even though I can't drop the car a whole lot because of my driveway? (I've got one of those slanted curbs. I can't back straight out of my driveway now and its stock. I have to back out one wheel at a time.)

Input please!!!!!!!!