Was my tracking done wrong??

JSCB

Hi again,

Already posted once today about solving the problems my car has developed, but I'd also like to know how they've come about so I can avoid it again in future.

I had 4 new tyres and the tracking realigned around 13'000 miles ago (around a year ago) as well as a full service in December.

My tyres are now pretty badly worn on the inside, so my question is, could my tracking have been done wrong a year ago causing them to begin wearing immediately? And if so, or it was knocked not long after, should this have been picked up at the service (as I think they're supposed to check the tracking and tyres) 9 months later? If not and the tracking was affected after the service, is this even possible, could tyres wear so much in just 3 months?

Trying to figure out what could be the problem/whether the place I had the new tyres and tracking done originally perhaps didnt do it right, tighten the bolts enough, etc. or whether the place I had my service possibly didn't compleate every check it should have, so I know who not to use again.

Ive also read that you should get new tyres realigned again after 6 weeks to check the tyres themselves havent pulled the tracking out, is this right or probably not?

Obviously don't want it to happen to the next set I have, so want to figure out what's caused it now!

Cheers everyone

societys_child

Twelve months later, it's impossible to know if the tracking was 'done wrong', why are you asking? Would have thought, getting it checked, and then fit some new tyres is the obvious thing to do.

walwyn1978

Inside tyre wear can be going over speed bumps. Do you straddle the bump? If so the edges of the speed bump can cause deterioration to the inside of the tyre. You're supposed to drive one wheel over the bump And one on the road (although I must fess up I don't always follow this advice). Cousin wrecked two front tyres on an A3 doing exactly this.

JSCB

walwyn1978 wrote: »

Inside tyre wear can be going over speed bumps. Do you straddle the bump? If so the edges of the speed bump can cause deterioration to the inside of the tyre. You're supposed to drive one wheel over the bump And one on the road (although I must fess up I don't always follow this advice). Cousin wrecked two front tyres on an A3 doing exactly this.

Makes sense, I do tend to just go straight over them, would this not of done the same to the rear tyres as well though? I don't go over many speedbumps anyway as I mainly do motorway and A road driving.

walwyn1978

More weight pressing down at the front of the car = increased friction between inner of tyre and speed hump

JSCB

walwyn1978 wrote: »

More weight pressing down at the front of the car = increased friction between inner of tyre and speed hump

That's true, it does make a difference as well as from new I needed my front tyres changing about 6000 miles earlier than my rears.

System

Get your tracking checked so you're not guessing as to the cause. This however won't tell you whether it wasn't aligned properly the last time, just that it is or isn't now. You've gone over a lot of speed humps, hit god knows how many potholes and plenty of other stuff in the last 12 months that can put the tracking out. I've had tracking done wrong by Kwik Fit once in the past and it wore the inside of an almost new tyre down to metal chords on the inside within a few hundred miles so yours could be caused even by a fairly recent pothole encounter.

takman

The tracking is only one part of wheel alignment on cars and other factors such as the camber can cause excessive inside Tyre wear. I would suggest you find somewhere which has decent 4 wheel alignment equipment (such as hunter) and get it all checked properly. They will also give you a printout showing anything that is out of spec and the results after they have made any required adjustments.

This will also highlight any alignment issues caused by worn or damaged suspension components (such as bushes) which may need to be replaced.