I have a question for everyone and am looking for the correct course of action to take. I have a 05' Z-51 pkg and the F1 supercar tires.

I noticed the tires wore out very quickly which I am told was normal but they not only got choppy they went bald on the outside. I know you think alignment right? Well I put up with them for the first 16k miles, which I hear is a very long time for that tire.

So 6k miles ago when I install my new supercar's I get an alignment and figure all is well. I now have near bald on the outside of the tires and chop on the inside of the tires. Same place the original tires took a dive. I of course think that chevy did not align my car correctly.

I take it back to chevy and they put it up on the rack and they say the alignment was within specks. I say impossible because of the wear, the service manager notices I am a little upset and offers to buy one tire if I buy the other.

Now if he had done the alignment correctly why would he offer such a thing. I know, just to keep me happy right? lol I am in the car biz and by being in that biz I can buy that tire he wants $507 bucks for for half the price so it would be like buying two new tires anyway.

I contact GM and first response was we spoke to the service manager and there is nothing they can do. I then explain that I am a GM of a dealership and kind of know what I am talking about. The GM rep then says he will get back to me after finding this out saying he wants to try one more thing for me.

Sorry for being a bit long winded but this does bite a big one having to buy new front tires after only 6k miles.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

The spec is pretty loose, my car was well within spec, but the tires
in the front and back wore badly on the outer edges. I had a local
guy align it and reduce the toe in (like put it dead nuts in the middle
of spec).

The tires have not been wearing like that anymore, and the car
drives much better.

Go away from dealer, have a good alignment shop dial it in tight.

 

You can actually have positive camber and still be in spec! You can't just tell the dealer to align it. Bring in the specs you want, and tell them to dial in in until it is equal to your numbers. That's what I did. It's not that hard, but they can't just throw it on the rack for 10 minutes and expect it to be done. They actually have to do work.
You should tell them that so they know that their offer is worthless to you. And their price is

 

I agree with rzone, take it to an alignment shop with people who actually know what they are doing.

 

I am not sure it is getting aligned correctly. Also, when is the last time the dealer had the alignment rack/system calibrated and certified. Possible that he is putting every car out of spec, while the tech believes he is doing the job correctly. What records does the dealer have for the tech as far as training and certification. Is he qualified/certified in steering and suspension?

I have the Z51 w/Supercar tires, and while the tires do wear quickly, but they wear normal and even. No problems.

Maybe find a different alignment facility and see if GM will help out on a couple of new tires.

 

Can somebody post up the alignment specs?

 

What tire pressure are you using?

 

Here you go

http://www.corvetteforum.net/c5/toom...6alignment.htm

 

I would take him up on his offer (he buys one tire).

But, buy your tire online..... they're about half that price.

 

Hmm, very interesting post.

A question, Poker: do you mean this is ONLY happening to your front tires, meaning you now hav 22K miles on your original rear tires? Even if it's so, that might be the more expected mileage for the fronts, I would think, regardless of "weight on the front", steering, etc.

Second, mlongo and blkc6, per the specs listed on the attached sheet, does that mean you specify/specified "OEM Preferred" column? Or, does it mean you take the mid-point of the "OEM Min." and "OEM Max" which, in some cases is not the exact "Tolerance" column.

For instance, the first line, Front Indiv. Caster. the tolerance is 0.60 per the chart. While the recommended .045 IS 0.60 from the OEM Min., it is NOT 0.60 from the recommended OEM Max.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

The preferred column is the midpoint. The OEM maximum for that line is a positive number, the other numbers are negative.

 

oh gawd.....egg-o on face-o....:o

 

 

Thanks for the info.