Tires Ain't Cheap - A Matter of Time
#1
Drifting
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Tires Ain't Cheap - A Matter of Time
The day I thought I was picking up my '15 Z51 for a tranny rebuild, my tech send me these pics of my right-front tire. I guess I'm pretty happy to get a little over 26,000 miles out of them. I HAVE tracked my car once. I'd have to say after that track day (and my increase in "spirited" driving) my tires wore a lot faster.
Going to cost me $1830 for OE Super Sports mounted.
Going to cost me $1830 for OE Super Sports mounted.
Last edited by stevettec7; 07-31-2017 at 10:59 PM.
#2
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St. Jude Donor '13
Those tires look like they've had a tough life, and you've been enjoying yourself!
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
Last edited by Gearhead Jim; 07-31-2017 at 08:39 PM.
#3
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26,000 miles? Hey, you done good on those sticky things. I'm going to replace mine at 10K this Fall with all seasons.
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stevettec7 (07-31-2017)
#4
Le Mans Master
The inside wear is not due to track driving. It indicates an alignment problem with either too much negative camber or toe-in.
If you want decent tire wear, both need to be close to zero for street.
If you want decent tire wear, both need to be close to zero for street.
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owc6 (08-07-2017)
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CORVETTE TODAY Host
St. Jude Donor'15
26,000 is about right.....it's time for a new set.
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stevettec7 (07-31-2017)
#6
Drifting
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Those tires look like they've had a tough life, and you've been enjoying yourself!
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
About my trans....
It's an A8. Long history really. A quick list
1. New torque converter for rpm shudder in V4 node. -Fixed.
2. New trans (Gen II part number) for harsh engagement in drive after sitting a long period.
3. Recent: Newly designed valve-body and clutch plates for issue #2 again!
P.S. I'm all over the A8 problem threads in here
#7
Racer
I would say 26K is pretty good, no VERY good for these tires. And the insides ALWAYS wear out first, even with an OEM spec alignment. Ask me how I know.... And the rears should still have about 50% left.
Last edited by RaceMic; 07-31-2017 at 09:15 PM.
#9
No they don't. That is abnormal wear probably from excessive negative camber. Front do seem to go first.
Last edited by juanvaldez; 07-31-2017 at 09:33 PM.
#10
Not sure how the fronts will match the rears, but if it is the fronts first, I'll roast the rears and then buy a full set - once I wipe the silly grin off my face!
#11
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#12
I have about 24,xxx on mine with maybe 10k left and that includes a dozen or so autocrosses.
#13
#14
Drifting
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Amazing numbers. Please tell us which tires you are running. Mine are the 245/35/ZR19 Super Sport run flats up front. 285/30/ZR20 rears.
Last edited by stevettec7; 08-01-2017 at 08:39 AM.
#15
Drifting
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I looked at mine with 7K and no track and virtually no wear on inner edges. Tires seem to run very flat. When at Spring Mountain they told us they do not use the track settting as they found very high wear rate and little performance improvement. They did say they tweak the rear camber slightly. Tires wear seems to vary widely on Corvettes.
And before replacing those rear tires with 50% just wondering if that percentage might possibly diminish prior to installation of new sneakers?
And before replacing those rear tires with 50% just wondering if that percentage might possibly diminish prior to installation of new sneakers?
#16
Race Director
A friend of mine was working on my C6 a few weeks ago and when we pulled one of the front wheels off he noticed that the inside of the passenger tire was in bad shape, even worse than the pics in this thread! I had no idea, because the outer edges of the front tires still had a ton of tread, I just hadn't crawled under the car to see the inner edges at all. I was super lucky I didn't have a blowout, I was probably 100 miles away from a serious problem! So it's a good idea to get a real good look at the inside edges of your front tires from time to time. Uneven tire wear on the front is not easy to spot like it is on the rear.
#17
Le Mans Master
Whenever you take delivery of a new Corvette within a few weeks you should be taking this car to a professional alignment shop. The cost is well worth it and you will get the most wear from your tires. The factory alignments are marginal at best. Most are bad but some are very bad.
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St. Jude Donor '13
Whenever you take delivery of a new Corvette within a few weeks you should be taking this car to a professional alignment shop. The cost is well worth it and you will get the most wear from your tires. The factory alignments are marginal at best. Most are bad but some are very bad.
Every time we get a new Corvette, I put about a thousand miles on it to settle everything. Then go to our local dealer and say something like "Gee, it handles funny at high speeds" "wink wink" and give them the alignment specs I want, and ask for the before-after printout.
The agreement is that if any of the "before" numbers are outside the broad GM specs, they use my numbers and it's a warranty adjustment.
If all of the "before" numbers are within the GM specs, they use my numbers and I pay for the alignment.
Three new Corvettes and I've never had to pay, they were all out of spec on at least one parameter. Corvette number four goes in for its check next week.
#19
Drifting
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Those tires look like they've had a tough life, and you've been enjoying yourself!
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
It's common for toe-out to wear the inner edges of the tires, excessive negative camber can do it also but not as often.
Has your alignment been checked recently? Or are you about to have it checked?
If you have current numbers from the car available, it would be interesting to see them.
EDIT:
Tranny is M7 or A8?
Reason for rebuild?
Last edited by stevettec7; 08-03-2017 at 06:04 PM.
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vbdenny (08-04-2017)
#20
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St. Jude Donor '13
Well, I could say your printout proves my belief that toe-out will eat the inside edge of a tire in a hurry.
But the larger (though not excessive) negative camber on that tire confuses the situation a little, so it's hard to be positive in this case.
The fact that one rear tire had excessive toe-IN but no report of unusual wear, keeps me thinking about the evils of toe-out.
Either way, I'm glad you caught it in time!
But the larger (though not excessive) negative camber on that tire confuses the situation a little, so it's hard to be positive in this case.
The fact that one rear tire had excessive toe-IN but no report of unusual wear, keeps me thinking about the evils of toe-out.
Either way, I'm glad you caught it in time!
Last edited by Gearhead Jim; 08-03-2017 at 11:15 PM.