SoCal4.2

Yesterday my front driver side tire went flat, when I checked it out I was able to feel the air coming from a small hole on the inner sidewall. When I actually took the wheel off I found that the tire wore really funny, like the alignment is off, but this is the only tire that wore that way. So my question is, is this an alignment issue? If so, is it typical for only one wheel to wear this way?

When you look close at the pictures you can see what I'm talking about, there is a ridge that wore along the inside part of the tire tread.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/114977/0801071008.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/114977/9bary01l.jpg">

Grapeking

other side of tire look like (the outer edge)? Does it have a lot more tread depth than the side that is so worn? that would be a sure sign of a major alignment issue.

Boston Driver

and what size tire and what offset wheels???

All Wheel Driver

The camber can be more negative on one side, and shifting the sub-frame can even it out Right to Left. Some alignment shops won't touch this though.

This is usually an issue on lowered cars though, where you end up with more negative camber than stock. If you run zero toe-in it will help reduce wear a bit when you have extra negative camber.

It could be due to low pressure on that tire too.

SoCal4.2

As far as the rest of the tire, it looks like it is still brand new, that is the only tire that wore that way and it is only on the inside. I am guessing it is the alignment.

Just Me

If it was the OUTSIDE edge, it would be obvious - hard cornering with maybe too liitle tire pressure or too little negative camber.

But on the INSIDE, i'm wondering if it could still be cornering.

Let's say you turn to the left, hard, and both front wheels have negative camber. The outside (right, front) wheel will begin to straightne, as force pulls the tread in.

but the inside (left front) wheel will gain more negative camber, since the car will begin to tip to the right. It could, possibly, drag the inside edge of the LF tire - causing what you have.

So:

- too much negative camber?
- worn suspension somthingorother?
- low tir pressure?

Or all 3 of the above?

Just wondering,
-G

ThetaTau87

I've never seen a tire wear quite like that. Wear on the inside edge is common with too much negative camber and/or a bad toe alignment, but the wear is normally at least 1/4 the way across the tread. Your tire looks like just the inside corner was worn and almost no wear on the tread itself.

BernieBenz

Primarily low tire pressure, reacting with excessive negative camber.

S4_Cinci (I S'edTFA)

for an extended time may have contributed to this. Rather unusual for one wheel to be so far out of alignment w/respect to the others unless you recall hitting a huge hole pretty hard. Good tire store should be able to diagnose the problem to a decent degree of certainty.

Eric 2.7

wear situation on stock sport suspension.

I had been playing around with air pressures and was maybe 3 PSI low over a long period and was slightly out for toe and my tire looked EXACTLY like that.