Both front tyres are badly in need of replacing as on both tyres the inside and outside part of the tread have turned to slicks. I've read through a few posts about when the bushes go it can wear one side but this is happening to both sides on both tyres. Tyres are inflated to the pressure indicated in the fuel flap and i normally check it every week.

When I got the car the bushes had to be replaced at 50 something thousand miles but now i'm on 69k so I doubt they could of gone again? There is no creaking but could knackered bushes cause this type of wear?

The tyres are Nangkang NS2's I think 205/45/R16's.

Cheers

Never heard of the make. It sounds like you've been running them under-inflated, and the car manufacturer's recommended pressures aren't always right for aftermarket tyres. For example, the 205/55R16W Toyo Proxes T1-R direction on the Octy wants to be 2 or 3 PSI up on recommended to stop edge wear.

i bought my car in june and already have to replace tyres. im verging the legal limit. just got 2 bridgestines which i have on it at the moment through my mates work for £100. i think i will be drivin more carefully now and making sure these last longer, much longer!!!

either they're underinflated or you've been driving it very hard round corners

... or flooring it from every set of traffic lights, etc

The tracking is slightly strange on the Fabia though as there is very little toe in. This can mean that if it is not checked regularly and goes adrift the wheels can actually toe out. This, in combination with low pressures and/or some spirited driving will kill tyres very quickly.

I'd look to get it on a laser alignment tracking system when you get the tyres fitted.

Probably cost about £40-50 (at a guess) but it might save you forking out on a new set so early next time around.

either they're underinflated or you've been driving it very hard round corners

IME hard cornering doesn't kill the inside shoulders on fronts.

Well, I've just had a bit of self made bad "luck" - my wife's Polo 1.4 16v 75PS with 195/55 X15 Michelin's has just failed its MOT for lack of tread on the inner edge of the front tyres. This car had been correctly set-up by a proper VAG indep back in September 2007 after having Cupra bushes fitted - these tyres were fitted just prior to that and survived only 11,000miles!! Worse than that, I had all four wheels off 10 days ago and thought all was well!! My only excuse is that it is only the very last short section of the tyre edge that was illegal - but that is enough to fail - subconsiously I must have been on the look out for any wear pattern to be across more of the tyre width!! So I had to nip along to Costco and get two new ones and then VW garage did a quick 4 wheel re-alignment. I think that the local VAG indep might have used "sport" settings - ie maybe the Polo GTI or Ibiza FR etc instead of the "cooking" SE settings. Ah well we win some - lose some!

Bad luck mate, nothing worse than an unexpected bill :(

Bad luck mate, nothing worse than an unexpected bill :(

When I said that I was angry about failing due to the front tyre wear, the service guy tried to explain the rules - then I had to explain that I was angry and embarassed with myself for being what turned out to be just a bit negligent!

My dad did that with my mums old 406 a couple of years back, he would alaways fastidiously check before the MOT, he had even replaced a couple of things, then the car failed because of a tyre. Lets say he wasnt best pleased with himself.

Having now had a look at the pre>post four wheel re-alignment results sheet - before adjustment Front was camber -0:30/-0:51 castor 3:55/3:53 toe was -0:15/-0:15, Rear was camber -1:14/-1:41 toe was 0:06/0:16 after adjustment Front is camber -0:28/-0:48 castor 4:09/4:04 toe 0:07/0:06 Rear is camber -1:23/-1:35 castor 0:02/0:14

Does that sound like it would make much differance, I know that they will have equalised the rear camber wrt the car's action line, and adjusted the castor a bit - but will that have made much differance. Also I'd expect a bit of inside edge wear (should have been looking for it tho). Other than the side to side rear camber issue, is this not just a case of when replacing the non-cupra TCA bush with a Cupra TCA bush you might have to reduce the toe out as there is not so much "slack" - I don't know what the Cupra toe spec is BTW. Just a thought that's all, its just that the MOT guy thought it was a front camber issue and certainly there was very little "toothing" on the tread to make me think it was a toeing issue. Just as reported in other postings elsewhere, a perfectly good looking pair of tyres with even wear across 85% (roughly) of the tyre width then a 45degree chamfer at the last 15%.

The front toe would make a difference, but not to the rear wear (and I thought rear angles were nonadjustable anyway?)

Which bushes are likely to have gone if you get wear on the inside front?

I wouldn't rule bushes out, Dealer replaced bushes on my car & 8000 miles later I replaced them myself with Cupra & powerflex, done 15000 since then with no adnormal wear at all - makes the steering sharper.

As to your problem my first guess would have been tyre pressures?

Tyre pressures:- no I check them weekly and actually have them at the higher end of what most tyre manufacturers quote - just to try to reduce this as it happened a bit with the previous two sets of front tyres - I just swopped them front<>rear - they were Dunlops - these tyres were new on a couple of days before getting the 4 wheel alignment done at my local VAG indep.

Rear angle adjustment:- correct, but moving the front a round a bit you can change how they are wrt the front end.

Bushes worn:- It got its Cupra bushes fitted a couple of days before getting these tyres - all four of them - fitted.

I was just looking for any comments wrt how the car had been set up previously and what they had now changed it to - to see if it was felt that this would improve things.

There is of course the most obvious item to blame - both front hub bearings - but this wear characteristic has been with this car from new (I've just worked that out now!) and might just be a reflection of what happens when you specify optional Factory fit alloys that are wider than the default ones. Also, it seems that it was only the early group of cars that ended up being fitted with 195/55 X 15s on the Polo - the later TDI Sports were supplied with 195/50 X 15 - maybe because this was closer to the default rolling raduis that the "55s" were and/or because these "50s" were a cheaper (more used) size of tyre. It just seems a bit silly to now get both front hubs replaced when there is no noticable slack in them and they are not noisey and the MOT guy did not comment on them or the lower swivels.

Edited 26 September, 200817 yr by rum4mo

The front toe would make a difference, but not to the rear wear (and I thought rear angles were nonadjustable anyway?)

All the irregular wear is on the front tyres - I was only commenting on the fact that they seemed to have moved the front across a bit to bring the rear into the cars action line - or steering axis.

Edit, out of interest, I had to change the first pair of front tyres at 22,000 miles due to needing to sort out the tracking - got toeing adjusted, next pair of front tyres lasted 22,000 miles with same inside 30% worn down, but I now had discovered that the TCA bushes were not too good (one was torn) so after getting the next front tyres, this time Michelin, I got the TCA bushes replaced and four wheel alignment done. With the Michelins, I was using about 32-35psi - depending on load and use, now I see that Costco, using Michelin's own data, have filled them to 27psi all round with that nice dry N2 stuff (I was ready for this so removed my old black caps before they changed them to green ones!).

Edited 26 September, 200817 yr by rum4mo

Which bushes are likely to have gone if you get wear on the inside edge of the front tyres?

Sorry to hi-jack this but can anyone advice me on this?

Much apprieciated

This is caused by worn console bushes - the great big ones holding the suspension together. They are not solid, and the original ones wear causing the wheel to toe-in and toe-out excessively when braking and accelerating. The way around this is to fit (solid) Cupra bushes which do not allow such movement. Lummox (Ross) fitted mine last weekend and I now hope to have the tyres wear evenly. The steering is certainly sharper after the swap.

TH

Thanks tailhappy

Yes, search out your local proper VAG indep, then go to a Seat dealer and buy a pair of "TCA rear bushes for an Ibiza Cupra 2004 please" the 2004 bit is a safe age guess. Don't go into details about your car it will only confuse the issue and they might not want to sell you what is clearly the wrong bit for your car. (they have a 6LL******** P/N) - used search and you will find the actual p/n. You need to expect your car to get a proper four wheel realignment after that - same place might be able to do that if they have the nice expensive RIG.

Just ordered a pair of Toyo T1R's - a few people on here rate them and will try out 34psi / 32psi front and back to see what difference it makes.

Cheers for the replies.

Edited 26 September, 200817 yr by kebaros

Is the 43 front a typo? On Octys 2 PSI up on book is enough to even out underinflation edge wear.

Is the 43 front a typo? On Octys 2 PSI up on book is enough to even out underinflation edge wear.

Yeah good spot.....should of been 34