# Front tires uneven wear?



## CrimzonBlur (Oct 13, 2011)

I just bought my tires brand new last winter, Falken all seasons. I noticed some clunking sounds which I've discovered is worn sway bar links so I just purchased the moog links to replace them. However I'm not sure if that alone could be the cause of my tires showing an incredible amount of wear in such a short time. The inner part of both front tires are almost completely bald, whereas the outside are about half way worn down. Back tires are great still with an even amount of wear. Any ideas what else could be causing this? Worn struts? Just incorrect tire pressure?


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## mechguy78 (Jun 6, 2016)

Alignment issue by the sounds of it. Possibly a toe issue if I remember correctly.


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## CrimzonBlur (Oct 13, 2011)

mechguy78 said:


> Alignment issue by the sounds of it. Possibly a toe issue if I remember correctly.


So if I got the warranty on the tires and an alignment from the same place, they should realign and replace the tires correct? If it's a toe issue what does that normally cost to get repaired?


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## mechguy78 (Jun 6, 2016)

Toe would be adjusted at time of alignment and should be the last adjustment made. Any changes to caster or camber angles will cause toe to change as well which is why toe is done last. 

Check the the front end for loose tie rod ends, ball joints, or bushings. Any of these could cause issues with tire wear as well.


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## CrimzonBlur (Oct 13, 2011)

mechguy78 said:


> Toe would be adjusted at time of alignment and should be the last adjustment made. Any changes to caster or camber angles will cause toe to change as well which is why toe is done last.
> 
> Check the the front end for loose tie rod ends, ball joints, or bushings. Any of these could cause issues with tire wear as well.


Ok will do. I've got a friend who knows a bit more about suspension components than I do, so I'll have him look at it with me. I don't know much about what to look for in regards to the things you mentioned.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

You can measure the toe on your tires by using a measuring tape and measure the distance between the inside tires at the front and the back. If it's out bad enough. You'll see a difference in measurements. 

Caster is a measurement used on rear wheel drive vehicles with upper and lower control arms. Front wheel drive only has a lower control arm. 4x4 trucks would have it through the sway bar. Usually, fwd cars don't have that capability. And according to google. Cruze does NOT. 

Camber is the angle of the tire top to bottom. Positive camber is a tire leaning outwards. Negative camber is a tire leaning inwards. With your tires worn the way you explained. You might have good camber but the tires will show negative camber. You'll need new tires before alignment to get a more accurate reading. 

Camber is adjusted from the strut provided the strut has a elongated hole. According to google, the cruze has macpherson struts installed with elongated bottom hole. Most standard replacement struts usually aren't that way and therefore non adjustable. Used to be. That may have changed in the last 20 years. 

When i was wrenching. Toe was about the only adjustment available. If a fwd car had a bad camber. It usually meant an accident. But that was 20 years ago. 

My 97 cavaleir required taking a deburring tool and elongating the strut holes to adjust camber on my drivers side tire. The struts weren't adjustable. 

You can check your suspension yourself. Lift 1 tire off the ground couple of inches. Shake it side to side to find a loose tie rod end or a bad hub. Shake up and down for a bad hub. Stick a bar underneath the tire and check for loose ball joint. By prying on the tire upwards. If it's slight going bad. You'll only see it with your naked eyes. You'll probably feel it also if the bushings are bad. Your lower control arm will have some movement. 

Basically speaking. The tire should be good and solid in every direction shaken. There shouldn't be any movement of any kind. 

Check both front tires.


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## CrimzonBlur (Oct 13, 2011)

snowwy66 said:


> You can measure the toe on your tires by using a measuring tape and measure the distance between the inside tires at the front and the back. If it's out bad enough. You'll see a difference in measurements.
> 
> Caster is a measurement used on rear wheel drive vehicles with upper and lower control arms. Front wheel drive only has a lower control arm. 4x4 trucks would have it through the sway bar. Usually, fwd cars don't have that capability. And according to google. Cruze does NOT.
> 
> ...


I'll be taking a look at it tonight, got bit on the face by a spider Sunday night while I was sleeping and all day yesterday I wasn't feeling well. 

About 5 years ago I was in a bad accident. Was rear-ended by an F150 doing about 70 and I was at a complete stop. Completely wiped out the back half of my car. My dealerships body shop did the repair work and told me that all of that body work had a lifetime warranty, maybe it's worth a shot seeing what they have to say as well?


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

If you do. The car needs to be lifted on the lower control arms. Forgot to mention that.


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## CrimzonBlur (Oct 13, 2011)

snowwy66 said:


> If you do. The car needs to be lifted on the lower control arms. Forgot to mention that.


My friend has the jack and stands at his house. I'm going to try and swing down there tonight to take a look at all that, along with installing the moog links.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Outta curiosity. Is the steering wheel straight or crooked?


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Ever found there to be other issues with these cars? My 2014 is wearing the inner tires. I've had an alignment done and had it checked again and it's still good but the inner tires are wearing quite a bit faster. The original tires on the car were completely smooth on the inside when I replaced them and it's almost doing it on the new set I have on there.


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## Gus_Mahn (Aug 16, 2011)

My brother and I have owned 5 1st gen Cruzes. They all seem to wear the inside edge. I believe this is camber wear. The problem is almost no alignment shop will adjust the camber. Most shops just "set the toe and let it go". The worst I've seen was on a Cruze with a bad lower ball joint. The wheel was crooked and the car pulled hard to the right, and my neighbor just kept driving it. It ruined a set of font tires in less than 10,000 miles mostly caused by Toe wear. Camber can cause tire wear, but toe is, by far, the biggest tire wearing alignment component.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

My car came stock with toe a tiny bit on the wide side. Just a hair outside of spec. Dealer ran it on a machine when they warranteed the battery at 2k miles.

If you're not rotating,. The front tires will always wear down faster then the rears. 

It's not that no shop will adjust camber. It's they can't. As camber adjustment generally isn't provided.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

This is a really old post, but since someone brought it back from the dead...

How many miles since the front end alignment? You should have noticed way before the tread went bald. Kinda voids the warranty in my mind.


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