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-   -   Swift VDi - execessive tyre wear - help (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/77183-swift-vdi-execessive-tyre-wear-help.html)

Hi ,

My swift vdi just crossed 22400 kms and suddenly i noticed excessive tyre wear since the 20000 kms paid service.

Havent seen this much wear prior to the 20000 kms when the wheel alignment, balancing etc where done by the service center.

What could be the reason for this? And now to stop this from happening even if I change the tyres. I see 22500 kms is too early for a tyre change even for an oem tyre (JK tyres)
Front left:

Front right:


Both seem to have wear pattern which is uniform and on the inside.

Looking at the pictures it is very clear that the wheel alignment has not been done properly. Or the tyres are not rotated regularly. this usually causes the wear the way you are facing. The inner thread of the tire gets worn out.

Have you have rotated the tires at regular intervals???

Tyre rotation done during every service / 5000 kms. But prior to 20000 kms the wear was even on all 4 tyres. This rapid wear is experienced only during the last 2500 kms.

ramkris a typical problem when wheel alignment isn't done correctly. If the alignment is out, it can cause excessive tire wear and steering or tracking problems. I would recommend that you get a new set of tires and get them aligned at a store who have state of the art equipment.

Ramkris

The wheel camber angle is on the negative side and out of range.
The normal range is +/- 0.30 degrees.
To confirm, just check the steering of another Swift with same wheel setup. Your car's steering would feel heavier.

Cheers

Doesn't the wear look a bit on the higher side for it to be due to wheel balancing?

It might be due to play in wheel bearings and/or worn suspension joints too. Since this problem has appeared after the service, could it have to do something with the wheel bearing?

Seniors in the forum can guide.

EDIT:

Found this article on a site:

One Side Wear
[SIZE=-1]When an inner or outer rib wears faster than than the rest of the tire, the need for wheel alignment is indicated. There is excessive camber in the front suspension, causing the wheel to lean too much to the inside or outside and putting too much load on one side of the tire. The car may simply need the wheels aligned, but misalignment could be due to sagging springs, worn ball joints, or worn control arm bushings. Because load has a great affect on alignment, be sure the car is loaded the way it's normally driven when you have the wheels aligned; this is particularly important with independent rear suspension cars.[/SIZE]

Link to the site: http://www.procarcare.com/includes/c...dtirewear.html

Note: The image in the website is of the cross section of the tire. (Thought I might mention this, I took some time to figure this out ;) )

Is the camber adjustable on most front wheel drive cars? I thought only thing adjustable is the toe. That being the case, I narrow this down to either alignment issue with the last service/suspension issues. I dont remember hitting something heavily even potholes during the last few thousand kilometers. So without physical damage, suspension damage around 20k kms is quite unlikely. That too with uniform wear on the inside of both the front wheels.

I took the car to the service center couple of days back and toe was adjusted. But now I am feeling the car pullin g to the left excessively.

If I am going to change the tyres I would like to ensure this problem is resolved so that it wont affect the new tyres also. What can be done to ensure that this issue is fixed?

Even if the service center is to blame they wont bear the cost of the new tyres after 20000 kms of running right.

Unfortunately tyres have taken the toll, goto an independent alignment specialist and get the settings done asap and rotate so that front left can get some more kms. Use the spare instead of FT RT.

It's definitely a wheel alignment issue. No question about it.

Did you get it done regularly or did oyu just ask the service guys to do it when you ghave it for service?

Well, my spare tyre is actually only a spare, coz there was a puncture long back and it was not repairable so had put a tube and put it on the back. :(

I am due for a premature new tyre purchase afterall.

Alignment was done during the service and same was being billed during each service. So I assume it was done. Let me check the previous service bills and see if there was any alignment report provided as part of that.

Well, Thank the wrong alignment to have worn out those crappy JKs so fast that you can now upgrade to 185/70/R14 and have a safe drive.
Learn from this mistake and always have the alignment done every 5000 kms at a tyre dealer with expensive equipment and not the A.S.S.

I agree. Not necessarily with the "expensive equipment", :p but outside.

Service centres rarely do a good job when it comes to Wheel rotation, wheel balancing and wheel alignment.

Everything can be set right .Just goto a good tire alignment shop.
Getting alignment done from service center is waste of money IMHO.

Whenever i give the car for service i give them a strict instruction "DON'T TOUCH THE WHEELS":)

Ramkris - The problem you faced is typical of what happens when the service centre does the wheel alignment. Take this as an oppurtunity to change your tyres to better ones and a lesson to take it outside every time for alignment.

I'm also taking it as a lesson and will not do a wheel alignment in service centre again.

I get my Swift's alignment done at the service station and so far, I had a problem only once, but they rectified it immediately. Even after alignment & balancing was done, the car used to pull to the left. I complained and they got it done properly & ever since, I have no problem.

So what are the symptoms of bad wheel alignment? It will be helpful if anyone can tell me how to detect a case of bad alignment or balancing.stupid: