"Stepped" tyres

[Confused_Cheese]

My car just passed it's MOT but with an advisory that both rear tyres are "stepped". Not really sure if they're as old as the car (4 years, 30k, Dunlop sport maxx, 5.5mm tread left) and thats the cause or if its likely something is worn/out of alignment. Can the alignment actually be adjusted on the rear on the mk iii?

 

I haven't really noticed any ill effects from it, other than on one stretch of resurfed road by me I can hear what I can only describe as a light wheel bearing type rumble from the rear... but then i recently borrowed my works van and only on that same stretch of road did I get that same noise so I assumed that was the road surface more than anything 🤔

 

Also apparently my air con compressor is faulty, i have a new chip in the drivers side windscreen thats too minor to repair, a broken window switch, and they accidentally drained the oil on my car and had to refill. Waiting to find out if the compressor and switch will be done under warranty 😞 what a crap day.

Edited 20 September, 2019 by Confused_Cheese

[Confused_Cheese]

Just found this actually, seems to be a few people noticing similar with dunlops 🤔 http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=153349.0

[KenONeill]

@Confused_Cheese - OK, I don't understand the word "stepped" in this context.

[Confused_Cheese]

Yeah, from my research I think they mean whats more commonly referred to as sawtooth/sawtoothed tyres. I think the guy that served me was pretty new, as he was struggling a bit to even tell me if It'd passed the MOT, never mind take payment for anything. It's hard to see anything at all wrong from a visual inspection with the car on the ground, the tyre wear looks even to me. Only thing I noticed in regard to saw toothing is if I run my hand over the tyre in one direction its relatively smooth, the other way each section has a sharp edge. This is on both rear tyres on both inner and outer edges 🤷‍♀️

 

Looking at the date code on the tyre wall, they're as old as the car... so 4 years.

Edited 20 September, 2019 by Confused_Cheese

[KenONeill]

@Confused_Cheese - Yes, that's sawtooth. I was thinking in terms of "stepped" meaning that, say, the inside circumferential grooves were deeper than the outside ones. Hence why I asked rather than make an invalid assumption about the issue.

 

If those Dunlops are directional about all you can do about the problem is move fronts to rears and vice versa. OTOH if they're asymmetric and non-directional you can swap the rears side to side.

[Confused_Cheese]

Sadly they're directional so yeah front the back is all I can do in terms of rotation. Not 100% that stepped and sawtooth is exactly the same thing, I'm awaiting a call about the warranty work later so will try and get some clarification. I lost my depth gauge so I can't check the proper depths of the tread, but with my finger as a rough measure I can't see any major wear difference like I have on previous cars 🤷‍♀️ but then its only a minor/advisory.

 

Do you know if there is much/any adjustment that can be done the rear of a fabia in terms of alignment, or is it likely to be suspension wear? I remember on my MK I VRS being told the rear was practically unadjustable without shims.

[KenONeill]

@Confused_Cheese - OK, the only thing you can do about sawtooth wear is actually not brake as hard or buy a different make of tyre. It's not a geometry thing.

[Russ77]

I had the same on the rears of my old Focus estate, happened to pretty much any make of tyre I fitted (Uniroyal, Hankook, Goodyear) and no one could really tell me how/why it was happening.

 

I had the tracking checked and it was marginally out but still within tolerances, it wasn't as it I was chewing through tyres at any rate of knots so I just left things as they were.

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, Russ77 said:

no one could really tell me how/why it was happening

As above, the only thing that's really known is that it's more likely on cars that are regularly braked hard.

[Confused_Cheese]

I'll be honest, I mostly drive like a granny. I have a GPS dashcam so I don't speed and I don't brake hard. I only do about 3-4k a year. I've done less than 1k miles in this car though, so the other 29ish were done by someone else so who knows.

 

Crap photos that show nothing but yeah

 

Edited 20 September, 2019 by Confused_Cheese

[Ootohere]

The 205/40 R 17 Dunlop Sport Maxx on the rear of Fabia Mk2 vRS would often mis-shape like that, and were no use for swapping from rear to front.

Oddly on the rear of the Mk2 Monte Carlos i never spotted them looking so out of shape.

[BigEjit]

@Confused_Cheese You got a pass certificate. If it was serious, it would have failed.

 

A small amount sawtoothing on unpowered wheels is inevitable due to braking but what you have shown is barely noticeable. (Ever dragged an eraser over a page repeatedly in one direction.? Same principle of a tyre under braking...)

Does your aircon work and chill the air. If yes, it aint broken. A recharge might suffice if its not particularly cold but if you don't ever use it, why bother.

Have you tried the window switches? Again, if they all work....

And how the heck did they accidentally drop the engine oil on an MOT? That really doesn't make sense and makes me think they weren't paying attention....

 

BTW, check last year's mot and mileage to see what advisories were mentioned then. I doubt any of these points were listed. Also, advisory issues can be very subjective in the MOT inspectors minds. One might mention it whereas another would pass it by.

 

 

[Confused_Cheese]

Oh yeah I know its just an advisory, i Just like to know if there is a potential issue i can get sorted later as I don't want it munching tyres next time they're swapped. Seems that's not the case though, so 👍 I've had uneven wear before just not "sawtooth"

 

The air conditioning works, but it can be pretty noisy especially outside the car... loud buzzing noise from the engine bay that a few friends have commented on. It was in a service/recharge but asked them about the buzzing and they decided to not service it as the compressor is faulty. I have climate control and leave it on to do its thing so it gets a fair amount of use.

 

One of the window switches only goes down not up, so I asked them to take a look, hoping for a warranty fix but if not I'll swap it myself.

 

Not too sure exactly how it happened, but it was kind of half booked in for a service that I didn't request. I corrected the service guy in the morning, but obviously didn't make it through to the tech who drained it. No charge though 🤷‍♀️ mistakes happen.

 

I was a bit bummed out with it all yesterday, lot of little things going wrong at the same time piled on top of work stresses etc. 😎