I have a 2002 C5Z. I notice that my front tires are excessively worn on the inside edges. The rest of the front tires have a good amount of tread left. The tires have 26,000 miles. The rear tires wear normally. I have read that because of the camber of the C5Z, this wear pattern is normal. Does this sound right or do I need an alignment?

 

I don't have a Z06 but on my '97, I have the same problem. The car tracks straight and the front end is supposed to be alligned but who knows.

 

Yes.

The Z06 has a factory spec for more negative camber. At 26,000 miles you've pretty much gotten what you are going to get out of them.

 

Very common problem on most C5's. Mine were once like that, but told the alignment guy that I didn't race so he readjusted the front end like I was driving my old Buick Riviera!

Haven't had a problem since.

 

If you want to eliminate that type of tire wear, realign the front end with "0" degree camber and your next set of tires will wear evenly.

 

From what I have heard it is a very common problem with all C5s. I didnt realize how bad the tires were worn until I had my front on jacks to do a lowering job and noticed the steel belts literally coming out of the inside portion of both front tires. Then I realized it was just time to swap the runflats to BFGs. My way of looking at it is there is always some kind of a trade off to have such a good handling car.

 

That is how I found out. I had it up on jacks to change the oil and got to looking at the tires and saw steel belts showing through on the inside edge. My new front Goodyear F1 SCs are on their way from the Tire Rack right now.

 

Check the "toe".

 

That kind of wear has nothing to do with "toe," in or out.

Check the camber.

 

Yup! cost me 1 set of tires when the car was new.. Did this and now they wear even. Only drive the track 1/yr so racing is not an issue. vettdvr

 

Depends... This wear can come from two things.

Camber will wear the inside edge of the tire because you are putting more of the tire on the road.

0 toe and toe out (0 static toe will become toe out when moving) will wear the inside edge of your tires. This because the inside edge of the tires are scuffing on the pavement as you drive wearing the inside edges far more severly than camber ever will.

for street use only, you should set your car up to the minimum of the camber spec and with some toe in.

Keep an eye on the tire wear and rotate your tires. This will hopefully save you a few $ on tires.

Regards,
Tony

 

I had the exact same tire wear problem. I usually get an alignment under warranty but I didn't for my Z06...the car seemed perfectly fine--didn't pull and drove straight as an arrow. What a chump I was...cost me a set of tires and an alignment at 13K miles.

 

I have never owned a new car before so I have never had a new one on the rack. On a commercial truck, from my experience, it takes some time for the suspension to settle. It is not uncommon for the alignment to be out of adjustment after 7k miles. It would be a good practice to check it on a new vehicle between 5k and 7,500 miles.

Regards,
Tony

 

You cannot rotate Z06 tires.

 

Mine do the same thing and when it's time I will have it seta "0" camber, The alignment shop said to have the new tires on before I bring it in! Was the same way with my other cars bring it in with new tires already on not thee old one's!

Thanks,Matt

 

Had the same type of wear. Checked alignment and everything was in spec except toe. After new tires and alignment all is well. So you must be right. Must be some other gremlin.

 

I've never seen the Z06 rubber, didn't know they were asymetrical. If you replace them with directional tires, then just dismount them and swap from rim to rim. I'm sure it depends on how much meat was left when the tires started wearing badly before investing the time and $ to do this.

PeirEagle, If your toe was adjusted, do you mind posting your before and after setting on your alignment sheet?

Regards.

 

I have an 03 50th Anniversary Edition and had the same problem with the inside of the front tires wearing out at about 15,000 miles. Had the entire car realigned, not sure what they did, however, the front is now wearing evenly.

Not sure how you would rotate tires, since I have 17" on front and 18" on back, would look pretty wierd, I guess.

 

Swapping front tires doesn't help. The tires are directional and the inside surface would be in the same position. The bottom line is that C5Z wheels cannot be swapped in any way that will do any good as far as tire wear is concerned.

 

I had the same problem on my 02 Z06
I just bought a new set of front tires.
What i'm going to do is take it to the dealer and have the car aligned, but not before they give me a read out of where my alignment stands at at the moment they put it on the alignment rack. The reason why I want to do this, is for two reasons;
1- my car drives straight
2- what's causing the inside wear, or how the reading differs from the recommended settings for stock Z06 spec
If number 2 is still within Z06 spec, then I would set it to regular C5 specifications, if it was off, then I would ask them to align it to Z06 spec
Below I copy/paste the Z06 and C5 alignment specs from the Z06 forum of this board. It shows the alignment spec for both regular C5 and Z06. It will also be beneficial at this time to do all 4-wheel alignment

Wheel Alignment Specifications
RPO
Operation
Service Preferred
Tolerance

Front Alignment Specifications

All
Front Individual Toe
+ 0.04
+/- 0.10

All
Front Sum Toe
+ 0.08
+/- 0.20

All
Steering Wheel Angle
0.0
+/- 1.0

FE1 & FE3
Front Individual Caster
+ 7.4
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Front Cross Caster
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE1 & FE3
Front Individual Camber
- 0.20
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Front Cross Camber
Within +/-0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Front Individual Caster
+ 6.9
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Front Cross Caster
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Front Individual Camber
- 0.70
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Front Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5
--

Rear Alignment Specifications

All
Rear Individual Toe
- 0.01
+/- 0.10

All
Rear Sum Toe
- 0.02
+/- 0.20

All
Rear Thrust Angle
0.0
+/- 0.10

FE1 & FE3
Rear Individual Camber
- 0.18
+/- 0.5

FE1 & FE3
Rear Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5
--

FE4 (Z06)
Rear Individual Camber
- 0.68
+/- 0.5

FE4 (Z06)
Rear Cross Camber
Within +/- 0.5
--