Excessive Tyre Wear - R34 Gtr

[r0bstr_]

G'Day All,

Recently purchased a R34 GTR, did all the usual checks.. workshop check and pits inspection all passed fine.

However, my mate mentioned tonight when I take corners from time to time he sees sparks coming from under my tyres..

We looked further and noticed crazy excessive wear on the inner of both front tyres:

The previous owner had Tein Superstreet Coilovers fitted to this car so I'm thinking he either had a very stupid camber set..

Previously I thought he moved the rear tyres to the front.. but on second thoughts I'm doubting you could get wear like that happening on the rear..

It's safe to say I'm now ordering 2 brand new 275/45/19 tyres as I've got that profile on all 4 tyres, all around.

Any thoughts on what caused this fellas?

[NISSAN GTR]

You feakin serious , get some adjustable camber arms or bushes

[Duncan]

there is no way those tyres passed inspection by a competant workshop.

most likely they were on the rear, because lowering makes a bigger difference to camber in the rear.

you should get a wheel alignment, and make sure they tell you the "after" settings. If you have too much camber you need to raise the car, add adjustable bushes, or worst case, add adjustable arms

[XKLABA]

there is no way those tyres passed inspection by a competant workshop.

most likely they were on the rear, because lowering makes a bigger difference to camber in the rear.

you should get a wheel alignment, and make sure they tell you the "after" settings. If you have too much camber you need to raise the car, add adjustable bushes, or worst case, add adjustable arms

+1, get a wheel alignment and see whats going on, when i first brought my 32 it chewed out a pair of tyres in 2500kms, got a wheel alignment and the front had 6.5mm of toe each side so it drove straight but was very twitchy when turning and made the tyres look like yours

[Owgasm]

Agree with Duncan. Inspections would have picked that up. RWC would not have happened with that tread.

How long was it between your purchase and noticing this?

Weeks or days?

Unless you've been doing burnouts or hard driving, it would have been very low to begin with.

[r0bstr_]

G'Day Fellas,

The inspections here in WA arn't as strict and due to them being quite lazy they probably only checked the middle and outer tyre wear and ticked it off.

A RWC is not required here in WA for the car to be registered, a re-inspection is.

I just noticed it now and haven't been doing any burnouts or hard driving.

The front tyres have always looked a little worn so I'm assuming it's been like that for a while!

[r0bstr_]

Just had a further look.. I'm running 3 different types of tyres.

Front Tyres:

Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R

275/30 R19 (92W)

Rear Left:

Continential SportContact2

275/30 ZR19 (96Y)

Rear Right:

Pirelli PZero Rosso

275/30 ZR19 (96Y)

I'm not really sure on the difference between 96Y/96W and 92W, etc.. Something to do with weight and speed rating?

I definately need 2x front new tyres. The profile is 275/30 19 inch.

Should I just get 2x new 275/30/19 96Y's of any brand?

Opinions would be great!

[Owgasm]

Geez. Where did you buy this.

Good thing the fronts are the same. So someone was cluey.

Weird rules.

Get a wheel alignment at the very least after new tyres and keep an eye on it.

Hard to say if there is quick wear if you haven't had it for very long.

Is the car lowered?

[r0bstr_]

This car is ex-TPG34R and I purchased it off the previous owner (not Ben).

Ben has been helpful and the previous owner was not unfortunately.

The previous owner was instructed by Ben to change the front 2 tyres (The Bridgestones) as they already had bad wear due to the camber setup on the front (which is set to -2) which I believe is the cause of the excessive wear.

[r0bstr_]

The car is sitting on King Springs at the moment with custom Racepace front adjustable control arms.

The ride height isnt that low, I'm content with the way it looks for now.. However, it is definately comfortable to drive!

Very reluctant going Coilovers as it's very bouncy on the straights and quite uncomfortable (so I've been told)

[Duncan]

Hi mate,

To be frank, those tyres, and a mix of tyres is downright dangerous. Whoever sold you the car sold you a car that is not roadworthy. There is no way even an incompetant inspection would have missed that.

You have bought one of the best performance cars ever made, and the 4 bits holding it on the ground are mismatched rubbish. So.....go and buy 4 new tyres. Look at brands like Federal or Falken or Kumho, you should be able to get a set for $1000-$1500.

If buying 275/19s is a problem price wise, sell the wheels and go back to 18x8 or 18x9, the tyres will be 30-50% cheaper. A better quality, smaller tyre will always grip better than a huge, cheap one.

Get the alignment done, and check the after settings. 2o is not a lot of camber and is not the cause of that wear, so maybe the toe is wrong.

While you are at it....if the tyres are that bad, the fluids probably have never been changed either. I'd change all the fluids (diff, gearbox, xfer case, attessa) to give your car the best chance to run reliably for years.

[r0bstr_]

Thanks Duncan.

Definately will be getting 4x new tyres shortly, an alignment and camber/toe fix up.

[r0bstr_]

Any of you had experience with the following brands:

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT

or

Nitto Invo

I hear the Nitto Invo are the next best thing to come out and apparently #1 in America?

I also hear the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT are quite good but loud tyres?

Any feedback fellas?

[Owgasm]

Personally never heard of.

Whats your budget?

[r0bstr_]

Budget would be $300-350 a tyre max.

[GTR-34A]

I got falken 452s within your price range, 275/19... They go alright... For street use anyways, never had them on the track...

[R34P3R]

mine did this because the car was lowered and the wheels never aligned, after the alignment it helped alot. camber is at -3.5 >.<

Edited May 15, 2012 by R34P3R

[Owgasm]

Expand your search. $300-350 is a lot of tyre.

[wedge_r34gtr]

you should be able to pick up a set of Bridgestone re01's (or re02's) at that price.

Walk into tyre shop and ask or even ring. You will always get a better deal then looking online.

Also check out the traders section here. Always tyres for sale.

Edited May 15, 2012 by wedge_r34gtr

[Kinks]

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT

Great tyre, they have converted me back to Dunlop. Last well, not noisy, and they grip right down to being worn out. I have had plenty of other tyres that got 5000 or 10000km into them, hardened up and was like driving on ice in the rain. The TT's stay grippy for much longer. Recommended.

I just replaced the rears after 25,000km, the fronts still have heaps of meat left on them. Can't work out why I expect if I was able to rotate tyres (running different sizes F-R) I would get 35-40k out of a full set. More if my right foot didn't weigh more than my left one

Geoff