Uneven Tyre Wear, Scalloping, Need New Tyres.

[KrazyKong]

I've not had a good run when it comes to the tyres on my R33. It took me x4 wheel alignments to discover my left tie rod end was moving an inch! Even then it was my neighbour who actually discovered this. So much for the Tyrepowers and all those who happily took my money but didn't bother to even put a hand on the wheel and try and move it.

Thus this started the whole decline of my bad tyre wear, as the tyres at that point had already scalloped. When I first got my car it came with brand new Gemstone 235/45/17s on the front. To get full use out of them, I've had the tyres flipped and rotated to the other side since they are directional. This bought me another year of use out of them, but the noise, oh the noise lol, it was like driving a truck.

The issue I'm faced with now, is I don't know what to do. My front left inner is wearing badly. I have to replace these tyres, but fear I'll again suffer scalloping, and inner tyre wear on the left side. Thus I've put it off for as long as I can, but I don't have much time to delay before the tyre gets dangerous.

The car steers ok, so it doesn't track or do anything weird. It's just that I can see the left inner is wearing way quicker than it should be. There is movement in the tyres however under breaking and acceleration. I was told this by a mechanic who had me sit in the car and inch forward, hitting the brakes, releasing etc. But the reason as to why it's doing this, I don't recall him saying as it was months ago now when I did this.

Should I pay for the $15 safety check thing that Pedders does? I've seen the ACA/Today Tonight stories on them and don't trust them. Will they actually check my bushings, control arms and all the things related to steering? Or should I book the car into a proper and competent tyre place and they look at it?

My shocks are standard and seem firm. Could this be causing tyre wear issues however?

In the meantime, I'm trying to make a decision on tyres for the front. I can't spend more than $150 per tyre. Thus the Michelins and really great tyres are not within my reach. I've had many alternate names thrown my way like Toyo, Nankang, Kinforest etc.

I can actually get a second hand pair of Yokohama A.Drive R1 235/45/17 fitted for $150 total. It looks like 3/4 tread is left on them, but one of the tyres has a tiny bit of wear and scalloping on the inside. But flipping and having that on the right outside should negate that I would imagine. Anyone running these tyres? Are they good? Is that a decent second hand price for this type of tyre?

Perfect world would be I'd get whatever is causing bad wear and movement sorted and fixed, then look at tyres. But I'm in this go between stage where whatever tyre I put on now before things are sorted will probably be wearing badly too. Thus even figured maybe just get a $50 second handy to tie me over until things are right. As the last thing I want to happen is to get some good tyres, put them on, and then see the same issues appearing again with uneven tyre wear, scalloping etc.

Hoping for some advice and direction there. Thank you.

Edited February 17, 2013 by KrazyKong

[KrazyKong]

Oh I forgot to add something here. When I'm reversing out and then hit the brakes, I feel this knock of slight movement through the brake pedal. That I believe is what the mechanic referred to as the wheel movement. So it sounds to me like there is either a major problem or a minor one that requires replacing worn somethings.

[GTSBoy]

It's almost certain that you need to pull apart the front end and look at whether you need to replace the;

• Front upper inner and outer bushes.
• Lower inner bushes.
• Castor rod bushes.
• Upper bearings and ball joints in the uprights.
• Tie rod ends (in case they weren't done properly).
• Rack mounts.

Whilst it is apart you can check that the dampers are actually doing something. One of them could be stuffed, which would lead to poor tyre wear.

All this is going to cost $$ though, even if you don't rplace that whole list, the work needs to be done to identify what it buggered and what isn't. But there's really no way forward unless you just pick something at random and do it one by one until you find and fix the worst problem (there may be more than one).

[KrazyKong]

Wow that sounds like a lot of things to check and or replace. Can this sort of work be done by myself? Or do you need airtools and all kinds of stuff to accomplish this?

[GTSBoy]

Well, you can pull all of that apart yourself, on stands. But rattleguns certainly make much lighter work of pulling apart the big fasteners in the suspension, and it pays to have an experienced mechanic to inspect bushes and joints if you're not sure what to look for (in terms of how much movement is OK and how much is too much). The suspension arm bushes often need a decent press to get them in and out too, which can be hard to do at home. If you have other transport you can always take the arms off and take them to a mechanic's to get the bushes done.

[KrazyKong]

Wow ok sounds like a decent amount of work is required. I don't have airtools or even stands at this point, but it sounds like it may be cheaper to do this myself. I've found a company called nolathane.com.au that makes replacement bushes for the front and rear. Seems like it might be worth it in the long run to do first the front then rear. I'm more than willing to get my hands dirty on this, but only if it could save me heaps. Guess I'll need to get some quotes then for a workshop to do this, then compare that with buying the tools and parts myself.

[GTSBoy]

Whiteline, Noltec, other names.

[KrazyKong]

I'm going to book the car into a proper steering, suspension place and get a check done. Was recommended a place nearby that charges $20 for this check so seems worthwhile to me. Then hopefully I'll have some more information as to what needs replacing.

I still think I might be better off going with a cheaper front tyre and letting them wear until I see my issues are sorted vs getting some more expensive ones and finding out they are still wearing badly.