Help needed with terrible tire wear
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,205
Likes: 40
From: Tucson AZ
Help needed with terrible tire wear
My 2010 GS convertible has just over 15,500 miles and is at the end of its third set of tires. (fronts are worse than the rears) The first set were gone at 5300, replaced by GM, the second set were gone at about the same mileage. The third set is now ready to be replaced after LESS than 5K miles. The car had an alignment
done after the first set. I'm going to take it in to the dealer next week for another diagnostic alignment check, but this seems to be something more basically wrong with the car. Any ideas? Am I the only one? Help.......
done after the first set. I'm going to take it in to the dealer next week for another diagnostic alignment check, but this seems to be something more basically wrong with the car. Any ideas? Am I the only one? Help.......
Last edited by carpe dm; Sep 8, 2012 at 01:15 PM. Reason: additional info
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 14,950
Likes: 266
From: St. Louis, MO
St. Jude Donor '08
I'd pay for an independent but big name alignment shop to check your existing alignment and give you the paperwork, but don't fix the alignment. Then I'd take that paperwork to the folks that aligned it last time and see what they will do for you to help out on the tires...assuming it comes back that the alignment is way out which I suspect it will be.
Of course if you are delivering newspapers in your Vette then that is normal tire wear, I can tell you from experience. Well experience with a Chevy van that is.
Of course if you are delivering newspapers in your Vette then that is normal tire wear, I can tell you from experience. Well experience with a Chevy van that is.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 14,950
Likes: 266
From: St. Louis, MO
St. Jude Donor '08
Your tire life is abysmal. I strongly suspect an alignment that is way out of whack. If not either your cradles are bent or somehow misaligned (not likely) or your frame is (also not likely).
For reference, my OE Z51 supercar runflat tires lasted 27,000 miles - the fronts were corded on the inside and the backs were mighty thin.
I then ran a set of Kuhmo's for 17,000 miles, replacing them with my current Invos which currently have 23,993 miles on them and have plenty of life left.
You can see how much meat the Kuhmo's had on them when I replaced them in this picture:
For reference, my OE Z51 supercar runflat tires lasted 27,000 miles - the fronts were corded on the inside and the backs were mighty thin.
I then ran a set of Kuhmo's for 17,000 miles, replacing them with my current Invos which currently have 23,993 miles on them and have plenty of life left.
You can see how much meat the Kuhmo's had on them when I replaced them in this picture:
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: Ringwood New Jersey
From what I understand, the GS is a track ready car and the alignment is tuned accordingly. If the Chevy dealer is aligning your GS to GS spec it could be correct for the car and still be miserable on tire wear. I believe, but am not certain, this has to do with an aggressive toe-in. You may want to do a search on GS vs coupe alignment, or something else that will tune it down. I have seen some one post actual measurements of degrees for toe in and camber that will range from aggressive handling to long tire wear, meaning a range of different alignment settings that will lead to one or another result. I do not think there is an alignment setting that will give you both long tire life and aggressive handling so you may need to make compromises along the way. If you search the forum for alignment, tire wear you will likely see more educated opinion on this. To be clear, I am not an expert in any regard, but I have had this question in the past, and have read through many posts from members who seem to know what they are talking about. The above is a summary of what I remember reading, but would leave it to the experts to offer the real answer.
SUBVETTE
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,841
Likes: 93
From: San Diego CA
Go to Pfadt Race Engineering. They offer a table of Corvette alignment specs for various kinds of use (track, street, combinations etc.) These specs have been used by many forum members successfully.
pfadtraceengineering.com/blog/?page_id=121
pfadtraceengineering.com/blog/?page_id=121
Last edited by SUB VETTE; Sep 8, 2012 at 05:48 PM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 14,950
Likes: 266
From: St. Louis, MO
St. Jude Donor '08
From what I understand, the GS is a track ready car and the alignment is tuned accordingly. If the Chevy dealer is aligning your GS to GS spec it could be correct for the car and still be miserable on tire wear. I believe, but am not certain, this has to do with an aggressive toe-in. You may want to do a search on GS vs coupe alignment, or something else that will tune it down. I have seen some one post actual measurements of degrees for toe in and camber that will range from aggressive handling to long tire wear, meaning a range of different alignment settings that will lead to one or another result. I do not think there is an alignment setting that will give you both long tire life and aggressive handling so you may need to make compromises along the way. If you search the forum for alignment, tire wear you will likely see more educated opinion on this. To be clear, I am not an expert in any regard, but I have had this question in the past, and have read through many posts from members who seem to know what they are talking about. The above is a summary of what I remember reading, but would leave it to the experts to offer the real answer.
But 5000 miles of tire life is absolutely not right unless he's running R rated tires and he said he's not.
Something is wrong here, and drastically so I would predict.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 314
Likes: 4
From: Ontario
PFADT Alignment Specs
http://www.pfadtracing.com/blog/wp-c...-9.12.2011.pdf
Our 2005 tires are still looking good at 22K miles. 25-30K miles look possible.
Our 2005 tires are still looking good at 22K miles. 25-30K miles look possible.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,029
Likes: 2,719
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
OP-
Are your tires wearing evenly across the tread, or wearing one edge more than the other?
If the wear is even, you might just be having too much fun with the car.
But uneven wear= improper alignment.
Camber will wear the edges of your tires, but toe will wear them a lot more. You don't want any toe-out, a little toe-in both front and rear will make the car steadier both going straight and cornering.
I don't have a GS, but the Pfadt Street specs work well on our Z51.
Are your tires wearing evenly across the tread, or wearing one edge more than the other?
If the wear is even, you might just be having too much fun with the car.
But uneven wear= improper alignment.
Camber will wear the edges of your tires, but toe will wear them a lot more. You don't want any toe-out, a little toe-in both front and rear will make the car steadier both going straight and cornering.
I don't have a GS, but the Pfadt Street specs work well on our Z51.
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Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,205
Likes: 40
From: Tucson AZ
The wear is across the tire. It is NOT a camber problem. The car has had an alignment, and I am going to take it in next week for a diagnostic alignment/showdown with the dealer. This is my wife's car, and she drives it to the store, tennis, hair dresser, etc. No track days, but no rubber anyway! 
Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1,889
Likes: 230
From: Livingston County, Michigan
The wear is across the tire. It is NOT a camber problem. The car has had an alignment, and I am going to take it in next week for a diagnostic alignment/showdown with the dealer. This is my wife's car, and she drives it to the store, tennis, hair dresser, etc. No track days, but no rubber anyway! Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me.Does the car do anything "funny"? Dart on turn-in? Hunts around the grooves in the road?
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 752
Likes: 28
From: Ottawa, Ontario
......and what tire pressures do you run?
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,947
Likes: 407
From: Bronx New York
For s 2011 GS with the sport suspension (FE3) and XFA tires (275-35ZR18) the alignment spec is:
front camber -0.95 +/- 0.6 degrees
cross camber 0 +/- 0.6
total toe 0.10 +/- 0.2
caster 7.5 +/- 0.6, cross 0 +/- 0.6
rear camber -1.2 +/- 0.6
rear toe 0 +/- 0.2
That's a lot of negative camber....Alignment spec and tire design is optimized for performance/track at the expense of tire wear..
front camber -0.95 +/- 0.6 degrees
cross camber 0 +/- 0.6
total toe 0.10 +/- 0.2
caster 7.5 +/- 0.6, cross 0 +/- 0.6
rear camber -1.2 +/- 0.6
rear toe 0 +/- 0.2
That's a lot of negative camber....Alignment spec and tire design is optimized for performance/track at the expense of tire wear..
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
My 2011 GS had a similar issue. The dealership is aware of the tire wear. I had my alignment reset to a non-track set up. I was able to catch the adverse wear, but the car has 6100 miles on it and the rear tires are on the wear bars. The run flats won't be going back on the car.
Pro
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 741
Likes: 8
From: Netherlands
A bad alignment caused my tires to be worn down after only 3200 Km (not even 2000 miles) this is what they looked like (only took photos of the rear ones)
Problem was this happened during our annual driving holiday in Italy. If you think getting tires for a Vette is difficult in the US, try getting some in Italy in the middle of knowhere
Fred
this is what they looked like (only took photos of the rear ones)Problem was this happened during our annual driving holiday in Italy. If you think getting tires for a Vette is difficult in the US, try getting some in Italy in the middle of knowhere
Fred
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
My 2011 GS had a similar issue. The dealership is aware of the tire wear. I had my alignment reset to a non-track set up. I was able to catch the adverse wear, but the car has 6100 miles on it and the rear tires are on the wear bars. The run flats won't be going back on the car.
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
No, I meant what I said. I read the thread and I am painfully aware of the alignment issue. The run flats will not be going back on the car because they are POS tires...even my dealership service manager suggested different tires.