Hi everyone.

I have an 02 Fabia SDI estate (160k miles) and am experiencing uneven/excessive tyre wear on the front wheels. The wheels are the standard steel issue ones, fitted with 165/70/14 tyres that are inflated to the correct pressure.

When I bought the car in May, it had just been fitted with a new, budget NS front tyre and I noted that the spare tyre was down to the metal on the inside edge. After driving for approx 6k miles, I noted that both front tyres have excessive uneven wear on the inside, so much so that even the recently fitted one was now not fit for use after only 6k. I took the car to my local/trusted garage and as well as replacing the OS front wheel bearing, he replaced two 'suspension' bushes and tracked/alligned the wheels. I then replaced all of the tyres on the car with a set of almost new Vredesteine Snowtrac3s, but after only another 1.5k miles, I have noted that yet again, the inside edge of both of the front tyres is wearing unevenly. I would estimate that I have lost about 1.5 mm of tread on the inside edge in 1.5k miles, with the outer edges showing hardly any wear. When the wheel alignment/tracking was done, the garage told me that there was a 1 degree toe-out (I think), but he said that this was about as good as he could get it, and being well within tolerance, it should have no impact on tyre wear what so ever.

Please can anyone suggest what may be causing the problem. It's a catch 22 situation, as money is tight at the moment, but at this rate, my new winter tyres will be dead before the winter is over.

I travel approx 500 miles per week, and drive the car very sensibly to maximise fuel economy.

Thanks in advance

Merry Christmas to all.

Sounds like you have proper alignment issue here. I bet you had it done on "old type" aligner and thats why you have those problems. Toe is not the only factor nessecary to adjust with tracking/alignment on your car. I bet no one bother to look at your camber. You need proper 4 wheel alignment/geometry done to resolve this. If you wearing those tyres as quick as you said that mean that within next 2-3k miles you will need next set - which means in next 3-5 weeks with your number of miles. If you willing to travel then I would suggest this place:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/218818-amazing-wheel-alignment-in-west-yorkshire-leeds/

As for Peter.

Sounds like you have proper alignment issue here. I bet you had it done on "old type" aligner and thats why you have those problems. Toe is not the only factor nessecary to adjust with tracking/alignment on your car. I bet no one bother to look at your camber. You need proper 4 wheel alignment/geometry done to resolve this. If you wearing those tyres as quick as you said that mean that within next 2-3k miles you will need next set - which means in next 3-5 weeks with your number of miles. If you willing to travel then I would suggest this place:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/218818-amazing-wheel-alignment-in-west-yorkshire-leeds/

As for Peter.

Thank you so much. I will speak to Peter and see what he says.

Agreed, maybe try a different garage with better alignment tools.

Find one near you on this site - http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

I wasn't aware that a fabia estate would sport 165/70/14 tryes, surely they provide very limited grip.

i though the standard trye size was 185/60/14 on all but the base spec 1.4 mpi boggo car,

when you get your next set of tyres i would suggest 175/65/14, they should fit straight onto your current wheels, and are within the 2.5% toleronce for rolling radius.

these will be unlikely to affect your fuel economy and should proivde more grip for what i'm assume is a very ungrippy estate car.

I recently upgraded my partners car Fabia 1.4 16v(100bhp) from her 185/60/14 Klebers to 185/55/14 Falken sports and the difference was immediately noticeable. sharper to drive etc etc

but on your next set of tryes i expect you will be able to fit 175/65/14 straight onto your steel wheels.

nothing to do with uneven wear, but might reduce your stopping distances and keep greater speed through large motorway roundabouts allowing a small increase in fuel economy.

I would suggest these.....

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m4b0s393p74022/HIFLY_TYRES_CAR_HIFLY_HF201_HIFLY_HF_201_-_175_65R14_82H_TL_http://www.camskill.co.uk/m4b0s393p74022/HIFLY_TYRES_CAR_HIFLY_HF201_HIFLY_HF_201_-_175_65R14_82H_TL_

they recently featured in an article in america where they achieved similar grip levels to other budget brands like matador and Nexen yet had managed a lower rolling resistance than all it's similar priced rivals.

That means it's likely you will see a small inprovement in fuel effeciency. worth a try.

though for a car like this i personally would get part worn tyres. my local garage only charge me(mates rates) £12 for a fitted part worn trye with a minimum of 5mm tread. he normally charges £16, either way it's a cheap way of doing it.

Edited 19 December, 201114 yr by Sonner

lol i see my off topic post kinda killed the convo, sorry