worn tyres

[C191JOE]

I have just renewed two front tyres because they have worn unevenly on the inner part of the tread. The tyre place said the alignment was spot on but the camber angle could be wrong. Can I fix it myself? Has anyone got any ideas, tools!

[B18 GPC]

Tools -

Plently Of duck oil , :violin:
Mol-Grips , and / or Swan neck pliers(grips)
and 17mm :s i think , spanner for the track rod ends . unless you have a lazer alighnment kit , you cant do this :o i dont think :eek:


I dont think you tracking can be spot on ifits worn un evenly .

Do you know if they jacked the car up first , and did the tyres before the alighnment?

If so by jacking it up they would have disturbed your suspenction , and would have got an in-accurate reading . They should offer free re-check , with a possable addidtional charge for adjustment (mabey) . but give it 500 miles or so before you take it back , so the suspenction has had tiem to re-settle

Hope this help , Graham

[C191JOE]

Thanks Graham I will try the 500 mile approach, since they would have to have jacked the car in order to fit new tyres.
David

[mgdavid]

disagree completely with Graham - all cars are designed to be jacked up without it altering the suspension settings, would be pretty stupid if they were not, wouldn't it. :banghead:
sounds much more like either the car has lowered springs (causes camber changes and inner edge wear) or worn bottom ball joints (ditto)
HTH

[B18 GPC]

:worried: Dont Know . We advise costomers to do 500 miles before coming back for alighnment , after 500 miles this is if we dont do it before the jacking up .

I assume we say this for a reason ..? (seriosuly dont no)

[mgdavid]

:worried: Dont Know . We advise costomers to do 500 miles before coming back for alighnment , after 500 miles this is if we dont do it before the jacking up .

I assume we say this for a reason ..? (seriosuly dont no)

Just a polite way of saying 'go away - we don't want to see you again.' :giveup:
After 500 miles the customer will have probably forgotten.

[H48HPE]

it does sound like a typical garage tactic to put you off going back, once they have your money they dont want to see you till they can get more out of you.

*FROM THE ROVER MANUAL*

(wrt checking and adjusting front wheel allignment)

"CAUTION: if the vehicle is moved, jacked up, or the track rods adjusted during the procedure the vehicle must again be rolled backwards and forwards and rocked side to side before taking any further readings"


presumably then thats 250 miles backwards then 250 miles forwards, ;) but how many times should they need to rock the car side to side? 1000? 500 rocks each way maybe?? :eek:

[C191JOE]

Thanks for your comments I will go to a Maestro -friendly garage in St Ives (Cambs) and pick their brains, taking with me the Haynes manual and Maestro manual measurements for various tolerances etc.
Can I just say that I wait days sometimes for answers on a classic car website I occasionally write to - what a friendly site this is-loads of replies in minutes.
David

[B18 GPC]

Thanks for your comments I will go to a Maestro -friendly garage in St Ives (Cambs) and pick their brains, taking with me the Haynes manual and Maestro manual measurements for various tolerances etc.
Can I just say that I wait days sometimes for answers on a classic car website I occasionally write to - what a friendly site this is-loads of replies in minutes.
David

Which One?

[H48HPE]

presumably he will go for one that gives sound advice :idea: anyone recomending driving 500 miles before doing further adjustments when simply rolling the car back and forth and rocking it side to side would do is not giving sound advice.

I have found the best ones are those run by a couple of good older mechanics, It's come to a point where these are the only ones that have the required skills to repair older cars, Many garages now employ 'opperatives' that are no more than fitters, boting new bits on is all they can do,.

[C191JOE]

Well I've cracked it. The maestro went for MOT today and passed. I asked the garage to check camber, alignment, toe in and any other checks on front wheels.
The answer to my troubles was that the camber was hopelesly wrong All is now well I hope. The window still works.

Thread now closed!!

Thanks again for all comments.

[Paulr]

Not quite closed, I'd just like to get things straight as I think we have some confusion here - jacking a car up front or back from a point on the chassis would allow the suspension to drop to it's full extent, in an arc (the last car that would have dropped staight is the Morgan front suspension). When the wheel lands back on the ground the tyres will hold that position until you roll the car back and forth to allow the suspension to settle to it's correct position.

An extreme case of this is the rear suspension on a Triumph Herald.

Grahams initial advice was correct.

[H48HPE]

Grahams initial advice was correct.

I'm sorry to disagree, but it was not right, telling someone to drive 500 miles to allow the suspension to settle back to normal was just silly, some people probably don't do 500 miles in a months driving!

fair enough the suspension needs to be settled back down, but this is done by roling the car back and forth and rocking side to side, as stated in the rover manual. Perhaps driving 500 metres would be good advice but not 500 miles! come on...... :worried:

[Paulr]

If so by jacking it up they would have disturbed your suspenction , and would have got an in-accurate reading .

I meant that bit actually, I agree with you about the 500 miles - load of rubbish.