Help with uneven tyre wear causes

TomOliver

Hi all,
Hoping for any insights this group might have on reasons for uneven tyre wear. I have a Volvo V50 (08 Reg, 2L Diesel) that has gone through two sets of mid-range front tyres in 20 months. Mileage in that time has been about 35k (mainly rural roads) so not too concerned about the rate of tyre wear itself (17.5k a set isn’t great but not a problem in itself). The issue is that both times the tyres have failed where the tread meets the inner side wall, despite having c. 4mm of tread left.
Two tyre failures in this manner 10 months apart suggests something isn’t right. It certainly isn’t safe, the tyre failure yesterday occurred not long after getting off the motorway. We were very very lucky to have a 20mph flat in a queue rather than a 70mph blow out on the M56 with our little one in the back
Garage looked at it today briefly when they changed the tyres and it’s booked in for a proper check on Monday. A google suggests this could be wheel alignment or suspension. I’m going to ask for both to be checked but I’m wondering if there is anything else I should make sure the garage check for?
Little bit of extra context:

• Car has done 90k
• I do check the tyres and had physically looked for this issue recurring two months ago before we drove to Scotland and there was no sign of concern then.
• The car last had its tracking checked when it was serviced in August, before that was January and then before that was March 16 when a full laser wheel alignment was done.
• Whilst I’m not the best at checking tyre pressures it does get done every few weeks (normally when my other half reminds me).
• [EDIT] 4x new bushes were fitted by the dealer when I purchased the car back in Feb 16.

Thanks in advance
Tom

Warwick_Hunt

Who did your tracking?

That's the most obvious, any mot advisories for bushes?

Maybe the Volvo don't like the tyres you're using.

TomOliver

Thanks for the reply!
4 wheel alignment was done by kwik fit before the first failure. Tracking was done by the local garage (non-dealer) before the second.


Re bushes should have mentioned it had 4x new bushes fitted by the dealer when I purchased the car back in Feb 16. I'll edit the post with this extra info.


Thanks

BeenThroughItAll

TomOliver wrote: »

Thanks for the reply!
4 wheel alignment was done by kwik fit before the first failure. Tracking was done by the local garage (non-dealer) before the second.


Re bushes should have mentioned it had 4x new bushes fitted by the dealer when I purchased the car back in Feb 16. I'll edit the post with this extra info.


Thanks

There's your answer then, take it to a decent garage and have the alignment done properly. KF probably used the wrong Volvo model's values, or maybe some for a Volkswagen. Or they didn't touch the thing and charged you anyway.

Surprised you didn't come away with four new tyres, brakes and suspension TBH.

EdGasketTheSecond

Presume these are front tyres wearing: Wear on inner edge means you need to toe-in the front wheels a bit i.e. point them inwards using the track rod adjusters.

Joe_Horner

A little confused by the OP.

By "failed" do you mean that it scrubbed the inside shoulder until it blew (with the tread around that edge worn out), or that it blew on that shoulder despite still having 4mm of tread across the full width?

If the first then it could be tracking, it could be suspension wear, it could be wrong tyre pressures. Are you definitely using the right figures? When you're reminded to check them do you usually have to top that tyre up by a significant amount (more than say 4 or 5 PSI)? Are you sure the gauge you're using is reasonably accurate?

If the second (blew but still had full tread around that edge) then it's very unlikely indeed that it's tracking or suspension related.

System

I only ever had a car tracked by Kwik Fit once. Never again. They did such a good job it wore the inside shoulder of an almost new tyre to chord in under 200 miles. Strangely though the car seemed to steer OK. Turns out that when they did the tracking one of the track rod ends was seized and instead of freeing it up decided they could do it just adjusting one side. Yeah you can - for when the wheels are pointing straight but it shafts up the Ackerman Angle (the thing that allows the wheels to turn left/right at different rates to each other - the outside wheel on a corner turns less sharply than the inside one on any corner so you don't scrub the inside/outside of a tyre ) so as a result it was scrubbing the hell out of the side that was seized as the wheel wasn't putting as much lock on as it should have been doing.

So they could be using gauges, it could say everything is hunky dory when the wheels are pointing straight but if at some point its been adjusted as I've said then although the tracking is right in a straight line the wheels might not be pointing in the right direction on a corner.

This may be the problem with yours if it has been the same corner that it has done it on both times.

AdrianC

Joe_Horner wrote: »

A little confused by the OP.

By "failed" do you mean that it scrubbed the inside shoulder until it blew (with the tread around that edge worn out), or that it blew on that shoulder despite still having 4mm of tread across the full width?

If the first then it could be tracking, it could be suspension wear, it could be wrong tyre pressures. Are you definitely using the right figures? When you're reminded to check them do you usually have to top that tyre up by a significant amount (more than say 4 or 5 PSI)? Are you sure the gauge you're using is reasonably accurate?

If the second (blew but still had full tread around that edge) then it's very unlikely indeed that it's tracking or suspension related.

I'm intrigued, too - I'd like to see a photo of the failed tyre, but I don't know if the OP has one.

Even if it is wearing, there's a hell of a long way from illegality to letting the air out suddenly...

OP - are they standard-size tyres on the original rims? The only thing I'm wondering is if they're fouling on full lock, and that's gouging away over time. But that should be blindingly obvious.

molerat

AdrianC wrote: »

OP - are they standard-size tyres on the original rims? The only thing I'm wondering is if they're fouling on full lock, and that's gouging away over time. But that should be blindingly obvious.

Something I thought too. On my car if you fit 18" wheels - even the manufacturer original spec - you have to fit a lock limiter to prevent the tyres scrubbing on the inner arch.