Uneven tyre wear

[Slugman]

Hi all

Looking for some advice on uneven tyre wear (225/40 18s). Took it to the dealer today who looked at them under warranty. They agreed that they were not wearing evenly and suggested I take the car to the local VW dealer who has a full geometry machine at an approx cost of £120. The car has done just over the 20k miles on the original rear tyres (Sport Contact 2s) and second set on the front (Sport Contact 3s).

Depth readings are as follows:

outer middle inner

Front right 3.6 3.5 3.8

Front left 4.5 4.0 3.5

Rear left 3.0 3.4 2.8

Rear right 2.9 3.8 3.1

Is this kind of wear normal and if not is it a warranty issue? I'm sure I read a thread some time ago where the poster claimed to have had a similar situation resolved under warranty - unfortunately I can't find it. Incidentally, I check tyre pressures every fortnight and follow the book figures.

Any thoughts/comments greatly appreciated.

Slugman.

[Raf_]

Take it to a tyre place with a full laser alignment facility, we have north eastern tyres and exhausts in york, most will do a free check and charge roughly £30 for most adjustments

[KenONeill]

Those patterns of wear suggest to me that the rear tyres are under-inflated, and the fronts over-inflated.

[AnotherGareth]

Agree the rears have been under-inflated for an extended period but the front wear pattern is wierd - the left is wearing on the inner while the right is wearing on the outer. Could the front suspension have had a really bad knock?

[Slugman]

Rear tyres are run at 2.3 bar which is hardly under inflated, but I agree that the figures do not reflect this. Maybe my tyre gauge is faulty. I guess I will now have to over inflate for a few miles to try and get some more miles out of them. Front tyre wear is just plain strange. Dealer tells me that the suspension looks fine and that "there is nothing hanging off". Could the car have come out of the factory badly set up?

Lesson to self, fork out for regular wheel alignment checks, even on a new car!!

[KenONeill]

Rear tyres are run at 2.3 bar which is hardly under inflated, but I agree that the figures do not reflect this. Maybe my tyre gauge is faulty. I guess I will now have to over inflate for a few miles to try and get some more miles out of them. Front tyre wear is just plain strange. Dealer tells me that the suspension looks fine and that "there is nothing hanging off". Could the car have come out of the factory badly set up?

Lesson to self, fork out for regular wheel alignment checks, even on a new car!!

There's a thread in the Octy 1 forum where user "Mackdaddy" and myself discuss wear patterns on Toyo Proxes T1-R (I know you're not running those; bear with me) and reach the conclusion that they need to be run 2PSI over Skoda quoted (recommended) pressures to prevent excess edge wear.

Your front wear could possibly suggest a mis-setting in the "rear thrust axis" (the angle a virtual rear beam would be at) as well as being slightly over pressure and/or driven "enthusiastically" (nothing wrong with that, but you have to accept some front outer edge wear if you do)!!. Since you've aledgedly had a full alignment, have a look for the geometry printout, and post that if you've got it.

[Raf_]

You say the dealer says it "looks" fine, did they do a full alignment check?? I have heard of brand new cars not having their alignment set propery from the factory

[Slugman]

Sorry for any confusion but no geometry check was done. Dealer said there was nothing visibly wrong that would cause the tyres to wear in the way that they have. They recommended visiting VW to get it done at a cost of £120. I've not done this yet, as I really wanted your thoughts as to whether the car could have come out of the factory with wonky alignment. Raf, your comments would suggest that this is a possibility. Two tyres and an alignment is going to cost £400 so if there's have a chance it might be covered under the warranty I'll take it.

Just exploring options. Thanks for your input - much appreciated.

[Raf_]

As I said before, you should go to a tyre place with a full laser alignment rig. It has it's own ramp etc. Most places offer a free check, get one done and ask for a printout, that will clearly show what's wrong and if the dealer says it will refund the £150 for a vw check if owt is wrong go there after.

[rarerims]

Alignment is a wear and tear type thing, a few potholes and the likes and it'll get knocked out. It's not something that would likely be covered at all under warranty :(

You should be able to get 4 wheel laser alignment done for £20-£30 on a standard car somewhere like ATS, it's not like you have loads of aftermarket kit that will take them hours to figure out.

It would be worth doing this asap to avoid any further wear. Toe is the main killer of tyres, along with incorrect inflation.

Also it's generally worth shopping around for tyres, allnewtyres, camskill and black circles all offer a good basis for comparison

[KenONeill]

Sorry for any confusion but no geometry check was done. Dealer said there was nothing visibly wrong that would cause the tyres to wear in the way that they have. They recommended visiting VW to get it done at a cost of £120. I've not done this yet, as I really wanted your thoughts as to whether the car could have come out of the factory with wonky alignment. Raf, your comments would suggest that this is a possibility. Two tyres and an alignment is going to cost £400 so if there's have a chance it might be covered under the warranty I'll take it.

Just exploring options. Thanks for your input - much appreciated.

Correct response "And? You can't judge geometry by eye unless it's so far out the tread is being lifted off the road or you've got about 10deg toe! "

Yes, the car could have left the factory with an incorrect alignment, and from the sound of things this dealer can not possibly have checked it at the PDI.