palaman

I got new Yoko's for my stock '98 Max a couple years back and after approx 20K miles and normal rotation the front right (passenger side) was terribly worn on the inner edge. So I got an alignment before rotating again and now the same thing is happening with the one that is currently on the front.

I suppose that over a few months the tire could have gotten mis-aligned to cause the same uneven wear but it seems too similar that I am guessing if there is a bigger problem. For now I have been trying to over-inflate them so they wear in the middle more. There is a slight pull to the left while driving straight.

Are the front end parts wearing out? I checked the struts by pushing down above the wheel wells and they seem to be fine ... however, while driving I feel like the car should handle various bumps better (shocks?).

Do you have recommendations of what else could be the problem?

Thanks, Phil

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

If your car is stock and you still have the original struts, then your struts are blown.

The most common front end problem on these cars is control arm bushings. They will not be easily seen on the alignment rack, but will cause exactly the problem you're describing. you can buy replacement control arms with rubber bushings, or you can buy Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings if you want some better handling while you're doing the job. Better yet, the poly bushings are cheaper than new control arms. only drawback is that new control arms come with new balljoints too- you'd have to replace them separately if you get just the bushings.

bushings are about $35-50/set, balljoints about $35-50 each, or you can buy new control arms for about $85 each (all best guesses at parts prices. more detailed info in the 4th gen forum.)

but just going by a guess-- remember that internet advice is worth exactly what you pay for it, and your best bet is to take the car to a qualified mechanic if you don't know what you're doing yourself-- I'm going to say your control arm bushings are gone.

It could also be worn ball joints and/or tie rod ends. honestly, it wouldn't hurt to replace them all on a 10 year old car. the labor won't be much more to replace them all now. If you don't, you wind up paying much more labor because you have to get an alignment after every part change.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

yeah i'm having the same inner-wearing problem after my alignment too and i'm on coilovers. I know its my control arm bushings because the guy pointed them out and told me while he was doing the alignment. But, he also pushed one of my struts as far outward as it would go when adjusting the camber soo....i dont know what was up with that.

either way, i'm gonna get some poly ones off ebay and since matt suggests replacing those other ones at the same time to avoid multiple alignments, I guess i'll do that too. hopefully its not too hard.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Pulling the strut out while doing the alignment pulls your camber closer to 0. pushing it in gives you more negative. better for handling, but worse on tire wear. Also note that if you're on coilovers and lowered more than about 1-1.5", your front tires will always wear uneven because of the camber and the bumpsteer. drawbacks to lowering a FWD car.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

Gotcha. Well, he pulled the driver side all the way out and the passenger side is more towards the middle-inside side. So I was confused about that.
I'm not expecting perfect tire wear, I just can't keep replacing my tires every 10k cause they are balding on the inside.

SilverGLE

iTrader: (21)

Just remember, once you can really see/feel the uneven wear, the damage has been done and the tires will be uneven until you replace them.

palaman

I have also been noticing the front right tire squeaking all the time when I go over an uneven patch of road and it gets louder as the bump gets bigger.

Also, when leaving work and driving slowly through the parking garage ... I have noticed the sporatic popping sound coming from the front of the car ... I always guessed it was a suspension related sound.

Thanks for the heads up.

hybridc24k

another way to fix it might be a camber kit. I had a car a new car at 500 miles the alignment felt off. I did change to 18" and took it to the dealer for a free alignment and they told me that they put in a camber kit under warranty cuz they couldnt align my car.

K20z1_rsx

iTrader: (2)

Get new struts

palaman

So where do you recommend I start? I want to do it myself in order to gain experience and save $. I am not overly confident but confidence comes with experience ... and I have mechanic friends to fall back on if necessary.

How do I narrow it down to struts/LCA/tie rods/ball joints/etc. ???? How do I determine which is the real problem? Is it possible to determine the problem before disassembly?

From what I am reading it doesn't appear that I can just see that the LCA bushing is broken. Or is it possible?

A few people recommended to change the struts which, I agree, should be done in any case. With these symptoms, is it possible that only the struts are bad?

Yes, yes ... I am a newbie ... but a hardcore DIYer. So, please be nice

Thanks, Phil

Machine

Something I learned the hard way with alignments - ALWAYS request a printout of the alignment readings before AND after the alignment. That's really the only way to verify they've actually done anything. With the computer alignment rigs most shops have, this is not a big deal for them.

Short story - I hit a curb pretty hard to avoid a near head-on collision. It punched a hole in the sidewall, so I had to get a new tire. It never occurred to me that the alignment was probably knocked out. A month or two later, I noticed the uneven wear pattern and took it in for an alignment, then got new tires. Another month or two, same exact wear pattern. I went back and talked with the Service Manager from the alignment shop, but I couldn't prove that they didn't do the alignment properly. They ended up giving me a little something, but not what I think they should've. Very frustrating experience.

Machine

Oh, and in my experience, toe problems cause more severe tire wear than camber. A lot of negative camber puts pressure on the inside of the tire, and over many miles, that'd probably show up. But too much toe (either toe in or toe out) actually "scrubs" the tire with every rotation. The tires are actually trying to pull or push against each other with every rotation, so that's what generates the wear.

Also, classically, bad shocks/struts cause uneven wear or cupping in the tread, not wear on the inside of the tire. There's a lot going on in the suspension, especially up front, so it's hard to say exactly what the problem is without direct inspection.

You can check for bad ball joints or loose bushings by jacking up the car and yanking on the top, sides, or bottom of the tire. You'll hear and feel a clunk as the tire shifts if you've got bad ball joints. But again, I think you'd have other indications if bushings or ball joints were an issue, like noises going over speed bumps or when cornering. While you've got it jacked up, crawl under and look around at the suspension and steering linkages and bushings and see if you see anything that looks... wrong.

And one other factor I don't think has been mentioned is air pressure. Running your tires with low air pressure tends to wear on the outside edges. Running your tires with high air pressure tends to wear in the center of the tread.

Good luck.