ongoing rear tire wear issue

[VR]

b6 07 3.6 4mo passat wagon, KW V1 coils

so far i have burned through 3 sets of rear tires in 2 years. falken 912 in 235/35/19, nankang nsII in 225/35/19 and now my blizzaks 235/45/17 are about toasted.

the only difference in any of the sets is that the snow tires seems to have worn evenly and not on the insides like the falkens and nankangs did. I have been to 3 different alignment shops now. The dealer cannot align my car bc its too low. The first shop I used said it was set correctly in spec with factory and the current shop uses a pit rack and I am able to go back at anytime for free to have it checked/adjusted. I am at a loss, I love the car but I cant afford to keep putting tires on it every year/season. I am highly considering putting the stock suspension back on to see if the lowering is causing the problem.

HELP

[ps2375]

Why can't you raise the KW's some and see what happens? I would ask to see what "specs" the one shop is using and compare them to the actual VW specs. I would also check all rear suspension bushings for any damage/wear.

[VR]

the rears could be raised slightly but they are almost the entire way up right now

i can ask the alignment shop when i go back to get me specs

[TBT-Syncro]

what are the specs for the rear right now?

[VR]

what are the specs for the rear right now?

i am going back to my alignment shop tomorrow, and I will ask then

I am leaning towards the possibility that it has more to do with the tires Ive been running than the camber/toe ect. But we shall see.

[waabaah]

It's either toe, or camber chewing up your tire on inside edge.

Look at your reciept of the before and after specs. Post them here.

[VR]

It's either toe, or camber chewing up your tire on inside edge.

Look at your reciept of the before and after specs. Post them here.

he didnt actually check the alignment this time, ill have to look for my old receipts....he looked @ the tires and said they were over infalted, which is weird bc i had them @ 36 and the door jam says 40

[VR]

what are the specs for the rear right now?

It's either toe, or camber chewing up your tire on inside edge.

Look at your reciept of the before and after specs. Post them here.

as of 10-5-11 (nothing has been adjusted since then)

CAMBER

LF - 3/4 deg
RF - 1 1/8
LR - 1 3/4
RR - 1 3/4

TOE

Front 1/4" in
Rear 1/4" in

[TBT-Syncro]

CAMBER

LF - 3/4 deg
RF - 1 1/8
LR - 1 3/4
RR - 1 3/4

TOE

Front 1/4" in
Rear 1/4" in

thats not that crazy, although could be lower. I used to have double that camber, and triple that toe in.

i wonder if there is a rear diff problem in the car. how is it at low speeds doing tight corners (parking lots for example)

[VR]

thats not that crazy, although could be lower. I used to have double that camber, and triple that toe in.

i wonder if there is a rear diff problem in the car. how is it at low speeds doing tight corners (parking lots for example)

everything seems fine to me, we just serviced the haldex not too long ago

[TBT-Syncro]

are you staggered?

[VR]

No not staggeted

[waabaah]

Those camber an toe settings really don't seem that off but I wouldn't trust just one read out. Especially when the settings are "perfectly even" from side to side

An alignment tech could bump or hold the sensor then he hits print. Viola!! Perfect specs but screws you. Please have another shop, or even same shop give you a "before and after".

Overinflated tire will show more wear in the middle as opposed to sides. Is that the case here? I don't think so but just double checking. . (on a side note, winter tires do tend to show more middle wear. Winter tires are Q speed rated (88mph) and are super soft. They would flex more the a zr rated (140?) performance tire. You may need to turn down your psi while running those).

Also most shops are so used to 32psi front, 32 psi rear. Almost all passenger cars have that setting. Tech could have just saw your 36 and thought it should be 32.

Another common complaint or inner tire wear is "choppiness" on the inner tire. Is that the case? Run your hand along the inner section. Is it choppy? FWD biased cars (4motion is more fwd than awd) tend to get this choppiness from lack of rotations. (rwd gets the choppy in front and rear tires have an overinflated look with lack of rotations)

I'll look at this thread again but I will probably say you should try to get another alignment. All alignment machines record before and after.

If you feel the tech is bumping or fudging the numbers, you can take a marker and mark the locknut and threads of the tierod. When you get the car back the markings won't line up if he adjusted that side. Once again before and after specs will tell you what side he "supposedly" touched.

[VR]

thanks waabaah

im not sure how their machine is setup, its a pit rack setup and i think its all mechanical but i could be wrong. I did have the snow tires inflated to 36psi which I think now may have actually been 40? i have 2 digital gauges that could be off. i just ordered a new dial style to verify this.

The rear tires in question did have accelerated middle tire wear but this is the 3rd season i have run them and never seen this issue. I went down to 32psi in the rear but the car just felt strange then afterwards (but could be due to the bad tire wear also) I have since bot new all seasons for the front and moved the newer snow tires to the rear to track the wear. My alignment shop guy told me to come back in 2k miles and he will check the tires and evaluate.

I know rotation could be a huge problem as well as I never do, ( i know i need to start to, I plan on getting a better jack or just having my mechanic do it every oil change)

[waabaah]

Looking back at your previous specs, 1.75 degrees camber is a little excessive for tire wear. The inner shoulder tread patch should be rounded with this much. I'm sure there is some sort of aftermarket camber kit that could help this out. Unsure of companies or what's involved. I've never looked into it. Maybe someone else can chime in here for you regarding this.

Cold psi is the way to check air pressure. Check and set it to whatever you feel like early morning before you drive the car.

Car will feel quite diffrent with snow tires in the rear and allseason up front. Rear will feel looser and more than likely you will want to increase air psi in rear to get a solid feel again. But then your back to wearing snow tires in middle again.

People really don't notice any tire wear until its to late. The preferred method to measuring tread is a tire tread depth measurer. Range is in x/32nds. I believe new tread is 10/32. 6/32nds is worn for winter, 4/32nds is worn for rain, and 2/32nds is worn for street use. You can tell if a tire is wearing by measuring outside, middle, inside. Visually isn't a good indicator for a tire that has tread left. When the tire gets to that 2/32nds spot in any spot of the tire, you can see the wear bars showing. Pretty easy to tell tire wear at that point but once again, it's to late to correct it.

Maybe ask your shop if they have any extra tread depth gauges. Most shops have plenty floating around. Maybe tip 5 bucks or something.

[VR]

unfortunately no companies make any sort of camber kits, bolts or any sort of adjustment for my car

[waabaah]

here is one of your old posts...basicaly still covering what all is said here in this thread.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...Wear-4mo-wagon

seems like a lot of you guys are complaiing about the same thing.

just keep up on those rotates best you can. you should see a difference after awhile

[VR]

here is one of your old posts...basicaly still covering what all is said here in this thread.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...Wear-4mo-wagon

seems like a lot of you guys are complaiing about the same thing.

just keep up on those rotates best you can. you should see a difference after awhile

yeah that alignment readout from the old thread was on a digita/laser AKA fancy rack. going back to the old school guy with the pit rack you can see he was able to get some more negative camber out of the rear