Front end alignment & tire wear
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: Jupiter Florida
Front end alignment & tire wear
I had a dealer here in Florida tell me that my C6 needed new front tires again. This is the second time I have had to put tires on this vehicle. I noticed that the tires have worn on the inside front again as they had before. When I commented on that, the dealer said I had not had a front end alignment, I then informed him that I had in fact had 3 front alignments. He then said and I quote "All corvettes are performance cars and this is how the front tires wear. You can't expect more than 15,000 out these tires." Am I getting a line of BS or is something amiss with the front end alignment? Help!
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 1,404
From: Bethesda MD
I pulled my Z51 tires off at 10k. I think they would have been at the wear bars in another 5k. I don't remember the inside wear being noticable compared to the tire as a whole.
Maybe your alignment specs are aggressive?
Maybe your alignment specs are aggressive?
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: Jupiter Florida
As the front end has always been aligned by the dealer, I doubt it is aggressive... I actually got almost 15K out them this time but could have gone another 5k if the alignment had not been an issue. I had a tire dealer look at them... he said it was probably not aligned correctly as both tires wore equally on the inside edge. It would be nice to think that my dealer is not trying to take advantage of me.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
He's not trying to take advantage of you: he IS. By that I mean you have an alignment, or several, that are "within the range." That means, they're lazy and don't want to bring your car in to what it should be, for your driving. If you want an aggressive alignment suitable for max handling, that's what you'll get, and you'll get less life out of your tires. If you want "cruising" range with good handling but not super aggressive, it needs to be changed. What you need is neither a tire dealer or necessarily the car dealer. Time to ask around for your area who really knows and can align your car for your driving pattern.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 1,659
From: Las Vegas NV
Janet, it sounds about right to me.
I'm on my third set of replacement tires (60,000+ miles on my car). On the first two sets, the front tires wore out on the inside edge before the rest of the tire was down to the wear bars, but I still got 18,000+ miles out of them before they had to be replaced. Z06 sized OEM Goodyear tires, so they were the softer compound. I think 15,000-18,000 is about all you can expect out of the GY Supercar tires, even if they wear the inside edge first.
Yes, I did have it aligned regularly, and yes, I did see the 'before' and 'after' specs on the alignment so I know that toe and camber were set correctly.
Cheers,
Kent
I'm on my third set of replacement tires (60,000+ miles on my car). On the first two sets, the front tires wore out on the inside edge before the rest of the tire was down to the wear bars, but I still got 18,000+ miles out of them before they had to be replaced. Z06 sized OEM Goodyear tires, so they were the softer compound. I think 15,000-18,000 is about all you can expect out of the GY Supercar tires, even if they wear the inside edge first.
Yes, I did have it aligned regularly, and yes, I did see the 'before' and 'after' specs on the alignment so I know that toe and camber were set correctly.
Cheers,
Kent
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
From: Auburn WA
My alignment shop told me that inside tire wear has a lot to do with toe setting vs. camber settings. They aligned my 05 to –45 camber and 0.00 toe. It’s been 8k miles and I have no inside tire wear whatsoever.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,296
Likes: 156
From: Location: Location: kAnSaS
going off the stock settings you will see some inside tire wear (-.5 camber at all 4 wheels) you can however set it up to give you better tire wear. BUT you are sacrifising some handling. Set the front tire at -.2 or even 0 and toe at 0 and you will get great wear.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 310
Likes: 55
From: Brentwood CA
Tire wear
Lowered my C6 at 7000 miles and had a four wheel alignment done. I had them put it within spec but at the least aggressive settings to get the most tire longevity. I got 32000 miles on the fronts before the inside wear was at the max safe limit. Backs still had some life left in them but I did all 4. I do not race it around and over 1/2 of the miles were cross country traveling on major interstates. Normal non overly agressive city driving should allow at least 25000 on fronts.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 887
Likes: 1
From: Dallas TX
I got my car with 7K miles on it and just went past 33K and just had to replace the front 2 tires for inside tire wear. And trust me I am not easy on my car. I just had an alignment done the same day I replaced my tires and had it setup for a agressive handling alignment. It handles sooooo much better now which I am sure new tires didnt hurt. I am sure i needed to change my tires well before I did but just hadn't looked at the inside shoulder of them to find out. Only reason I knew I had an issue was one started coming apart on me going down the highway at uhhhh lets just say over the speedlimit.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
Keep in mind that there are TWO DIFFERENT tires for a stock C6.
The GY Supercar tires will give about HALF the mileage of the GY standard tire. The Supercar tires use a softer compound for better traction and therefore they wear faster.
When you get an alignment you need to use a pro, an Independant shop that will take the time to set the alignment EXACTLY to specs, not to GM's generous + or - tolerances.
$125 for a good aligment will more than pay for itself in tire wear.
The GY Supercar tires will give about HALF the mileage of the GY standard tire. The Supercar tires use a softer compound for better traction and therefore they wear faster.
When you get an alignment you need to use a pro, an Independant shop that will take the time to set the alignment EXACTLY to specs, not to GM's generous + or - tolerances.
$125 for a good aligment will more than pay for itself in tire wear.
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: Jupiter Florida
Keep in mind that there are TWO DIFFERENT tires for a stock C6.
The GY Supercar tires will give about HALF the mileage of the GY standard tire. The Supercar tires use a softer compound for better traction and therefore they wear faster.
When you get an alignment you need to use a pro, an Independant shop that will take the time to set the alignment EXACTLY to specs, not to GM's generous + or - tolerances.
$125 for a good aligment will more than pay for itself in tire wear.
The GY Supercar tires will give about HALF the mileage of the GY standard tire. The Supercar tires use a softer compound for better traction and therefore they wear faster.
When you get an alignment you need to use a pro, an Independant shop that will take the time to set the alignment EXACTLY to specs, not to GM's generous + or - tolerances.
$125 for a good aligment will more than pay for itself in tire wear.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 277
Likes: 2
From: Florida
Janet,
Like the others have said, do some reasearch in your area. Talk to local Vette owners and find out who they use. That can sometimes help you find the shop you are looking for and avoid the others. Also, as Kent1999 said in his post get the before and after print outs and compare.
I had mine done by a dealer in Pensacola, Fl and they were excellent. Not only did I get the before and after but the tech centered up everything according to spec(ie..camber, toe, caster and side to side difference was in the middle of the tolerence). Believe it or not all for just over $80 with tax and that was 4 wheel alignment.
Good and legit shops are out there you just have to find them.
Like the others have said, do some reasearch in your area. Talk to local Vette owners and find out who they use. That can sometimes help you find the shop you are looking for and avoid the others. Also, as Kent1999 said in his post get the before and after print outs and compare.
I had mine done by a dealer in Pensacola, Fl and they were excellent. Not only did I get the before and after but the tech centered up everything according to spec(ie..camber, toe, caster and side to side difference was in the middle of the tolerence). Believe it or not all for just over $80 with tax and that was 4 wheel alignment.
Good and legit shops are out there you just have to find them.
Cruising
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
My 2005 Z51 @12k yesterday i notice the same inside tire wear. I am unemployed now and this really hurts the pocket book!! I am not happy with myself for not notice early and am not at all happy with GM selling me a vehicle that porposely wears expensive tires out with abandon disreguard for common economics...I saw many more posts refering to factory alignment specs specifically caster causing this problem but note my 1995 firebird@ 21k tires look NEW and i have many factory service books and factory caster is the same on these two cars also same or even more on 1987 and 1991 and 1993 and 1997 corvette and camaro. So it must be the excessive toe-in combined with the caster plus factory probally sets alignment even more agressive end of spec on z51 cars. Tomorrow i have an appointment with Gdyr for 4 wheel align; they will align to whatever i pick for specs...hopefully i can get additional miles out of these tires until the job market picks up.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
Z51 alignment specs appear to be the same as base C6's.
Your Firebird tires aren't even close to the Supercars as far as performance.
Moderator emeritus
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 18,599
Likes: 3,955
From: Jacksonville Florida BWO Dayton, Cincinnati, Bloomsbury NJ, Cincinnati
2015 C7 of the Year Finalist
My 2005 Z51 @12k yesterday i notice the same inside tire wear. I am unemployed now and this really hurts the pocket book!! I am not happy with myself for not notice early and am not at all happy with GM selling me a vehicle that porposely wears expensive tires out with abandon disreguard for common economics...I saw many more posts refering to factory alignment specs specifically caster causing this problem but note my 1995 firebird@ 21k tires look NEW and i have many factory service books and factory caster is the same on these two cars also same or even more on 1987 and 1991 and 1993 and 1997 corvette and camaro. So it must be the excessive toe-in combined with the caster plus factory probally sets alignment even more agressive end of spec on z51 cars. Tomorrow i have an appointment with Gdyr for 4 wheel align; they will align to whatever i pick for specs...hopefully i can get additional miles out of these tires until the job market picks up.
Elmer
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 41,732
Likes: 1,718
From: Springfield MO
It's not just a problem on Z51 cars. Yesterday I changed the oil on a friend's 05 base suspension car. No aggressive driving, weekend cruiser. When we had it up on my lift, we discovered that both front tires were down to the cord on the inside edge whereas the outside tread was 5/32"+/-. Rear tires were at 5/32" across the width, very even wear.
For normal, non aggressive driving, the alignment should be changed to help rid of the excessive tire wear. Most people won't notice losing 5-10% handling at the upper limits, as they don't drive there. There have been threads over the past 5 years where max tire life alignment specs have been discussed.
For normal, non aggressive driving, the alignment should be changed to help rid of the excessive tire wear. Most people won't notice losing 5-10% handling at the upper limits, as they don't drive there. There have been threads over the past 5 years where max tire life alignment specs have been discussed.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,493
Likes: 809
From: West coast CA
A C6 can be set up to handle great on the street and NOT wear out the inside edges of the tires, front or rear. I've had three sets of tires in 62K miles on my '06 Z51 and each has worn completely evenly side-to-side by using the following settings:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1565502174-post14.html
For anything but snow I recommend the Michelin PS/2 ZP tires. Grippier than Supercars, longer-lasting and great in the rain. These are the tires currently shipping on the ZR1. You should be able to get perhaps 25K miles out of them on the street if you're not driving too hard.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1565502174-post14.html
For anything but snow I recommend the Michelin PS/2 ZP tires. Grippier than Supercars, longer-lasting and great in the rain. These are the tires currently shipping on the ZR1. You should be able to get perhaps 25K miles out of them on the street if you're not driving too hard.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 815
Likes: 0
From: Virginia beach va
yea I just had mine changed today at 20,620 and the inside is wore down on the front to the cords I didn't think they were that bad last time I looked at them I knew they needed changed but didn't think they were that bad. but I do think it's an allignment issue.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 71
From: MA
ALWAYS ask for a before and after printout. Before you get it aligned determine what the nominal settings are and compare these to what you got from your alignment.
My experience has been not good with getting alignments so I do my own. I found that most shops don't check the calibration of their alignment machines (ask and you will see!) and attaching the mirrors to the wheels is problematic.
My experience has been not good with getting alignments so I do my own. I found that most shops don't check the calibration of their alignment machines (ask and you will see!) and attaching the mirrors to the wheels is problematic.