Swift VDi - execessive tyre wear - help

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 13:41

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:

Swift VDi - execessive tyre wear - help-front-left.jpg

Front right:

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

VTEC_Rocks · 11th March 2010, 13:44

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???

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 13:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTEC_Rocks

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.

rjstyles69 · 11th March 2010, 13:51

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.

kpzen · 11th March 2010, 13:58

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

vasanthn21 · 11th March 2010, 14:15

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

)

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen

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

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.

Jaggu · 11th March 2010, 14:25

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.

Nikhilb2008 · 11th March 2010, 17:26

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?

ramkris · 11th March 2010, 17:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaggu

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.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

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?

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.

nitrous · 11th March 2010, 17:50

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.

Nikhilb2008 · 11th March 2010, 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous

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",

but outside.

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

kpzen · 11th March 2010, 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramkris

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.

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"

krish3 · 11th March 2010, 19:41

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.

addyhemmige · 11th March 2010, 20:05

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.

11th March 2010, 13:41	#1
ramkris BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122 Thanked: 20 Times	Swift VDi - execessive tyre wear - help 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. Last edited by ramkris : 11th March 2010 at 13:43.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 13:44	#2
VTEC_Rocks BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 140 Thanked: 2 Times View My Garage	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???
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 13:51	#4
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 4,344 Thanked: 845 Times View My Garage	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. Last edited by rjstyles69 : 11th March 2010 at 13:52.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 13:58	#5
kpzen Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Faridabad Posts: 5,609 Thanked: 1,883 Times View My Garage	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 Last edited by kpzen : 11th March 2010 at 13:59.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 14:15	#6
vasanthn21 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 814 Thanked: 524 Times View My Garage	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 ) Last edited by vasanthn21 : 11th March 2010 at 14:18.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 14:25	#8
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,384 Thanked: 17,299 Times	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.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 17:26	#9
Nikhilb2008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 5,195 Thanked: 10,178 Times	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?
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 17:50	#11
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 333 Times View My Garage	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.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 19:41	#14
krish3 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cochin/Bangalore Posts: 758 Thanked: 192 Times	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.
	() Thanks

11th March 2010, 20:05	#15
addyhemmige Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bangalore/Hassan Posts: 1,527 Thanked: 490 Times View My Garage	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.
	() Thanks