Unusual tire wear - suspension to blame?

honda250xtitan said:

my cooper at3 xlt's started to cup as well. i rotated them every 5k, but they still did it. i ended up selling them for some toyos. It was a shame cause they were fantastic tires. I will try them again now that i've had my Kings rebuilt, and new ball joints installed in my upper control arms.


Discount tire did mention to me that a blown shock can cause cupping but idk.

Click to expand...

Saker said:

Question. You didn’t mention balancing, did you balance and rotate?
Did you balance every 5-10K miles?
Predictive/preventative maint helps maintain your T4R.

Click to expand...

honda250xtitan said:

yea back then I was having discount do the balance and rotate every time. these days I just rotate myself when i do oil changes/tinker. I wont do a balance anymore unless I notice a vibration. bad habit but it takes too much time to drop it off

Click to expand...

lazwa said:

Hi all,

I'm scratching my head a bit on an issue I'm having with my 2015 Trail. I have started to notice uneven wear on both front tires - they are both wearing on the inside ~1 inch from the edge of the tire.

Bit of background and sequence of events below:
1) Started at stock height with stock suspension and Cooper Discoverer AT tires. Tires were on the car when I bought it so I'm unsure of mileage but I'd say ~30k kms. No noticeable issues or vibration.
2) Installed new Bilstein 5100 shocks, front and rear, went with the mild lift at the front (0.85" I believe). I loosened the camber bolts during the install to help in getting the strut out/back in. Tightened back up after install.
3) Took the car for a wheel alignment. Mechanic said it was slightly out of spec and they adjusted it without much effort. As far as I know wheels were not balanced, only aligned, but with no vibration before I didn't think it needed it.
4) Drove ~6000kms on a big road trip. Noticed significant vibration through the steering at around 100km/h. Started to notice the uneven tire wear during the trip.
5) Got back from the trip, still getting vibration through the steering. Took it to another mechanic who said the alignment on 1 side was slightly out, but nothing major. There appeared to be slight cupping on the front tires. Re-aligned and rotated rear tires to the front. So far I think the vibration is reduced. Haven't had a chance to properly test.

Now I am going to monitor the tires that were rotated to the front to see if they develop the same wear. But the whole thing has me a bit stumped. I am hoping to get new tires soon so want to make sure this is sorted so I don't ruin a new set.

Any thoughts or ideas on what to check next would be appreciated!

Click to expand...

fkheath said:

Is that alignment chart yours? When was that done -- long ago or recently?

Note that the toe is way out -- far into the red. That is what is causing the edges of the tires to wear. Toe bad will always do that.

Why didn't your mechanics flag that bad toe alignment?

Why didn't other responders to this post flag that?

Click to expand...

fkheath said:

Is that alignment chart yours? When was that done -- long ago or recently?

Note that the toe is way out -- far into the red. That is what is causing the edges of the tires to wear. Toe bad will always do that.

Why didn't your mechanics flag that bad toe alignment?

Why didn't other responders to this post flag that?

Click to expand...

fkheath said:

Is that alignment chart yours? When was that done -- long ago or recently?

Note that the toe is way out -- far into the red. That is what is causing the edges of the tires to wear. Toe bad will always do that.

Why didn't your mechanics flag that bad toe alignment?

Why didn't other responders to this post flag that?

Click to expand...

lazwa said:

Yes that is my alignment chart prior to the second alignment after I got back from the road trip. They aligned and balanced the tires during this visit.

The mechanic said that only 1 side had bad toe alignment - why would both front tires be wearing the same on the inside edge?

It just seems strange that the tires didn't seem to have abnormal wear/cupping until after the lift/alignment/road trip.

Click to expand...

lazwa said:

The mechanic said that only 1 side had bad toe alignment - why would both front tires be wearing the same on the inside edge?

Click to expand...

Saker said:

Did you balance every 5-10K miles?

What was your alignment specs "after" your lift?

We can't help if you hold back info!

Click to expand...

fkheath said:

Toe is the angle difference between the right and left side. Zero toe indicates both tires are pointed straight ahead.

Even with only one tire with the toe out, it will try to steer the car in that direction; thus the one without a toe problem has to fight to bring the car back straight.That is why both tires wear, even though only one has a toe problem.

Click to expand...

CutthroatSlam said:

We have the same issue with Cooper AT3s on our 2014. Road force balance the tires. Consider balance beads in the tires. Rotate tires every 5K miles as the feathering will scrub off in the rear position. Check suspension for worn ball joints. Check shocks for wear.

Click to expand...

lazwa said:

Thanks for the reply - this makes more sense.



Interesting. Is your vehicle lifted at all? My vibration is gone after the second alignment and balance but I will keep a close eye on the wear. The shocks are brand new.

Click to expand...