Considerable Camber Wear on inside of tire

[Google]

My Mazda3's OEM tires with 24K miles on it need replacing. However, last year I had an alignment done cuz I noticed uneven wear on the inside of all 4 tires. I regulary have my tires rotated tires every 5K or so.

After the alignment was done, the alignment shop said my camber was off (-1.5 degrees) on the front. It didn't appear as they measured the rears. Unfortunately, even after the alignment, the wear in the inside of the tire has gotten worse. The overall tire tread is around 4-5/32 with the inside edges of about 1.5 (2)-3/32.

My 3 has not been lowered or been in an accident. Now, I am concerned what my options are? What could be causing this? I hear that the 3 has a little bit of a negative camber and the factory specs on my 3 are -2 degrees. Would a camber kit help with the offset? I dont want the new tires to wear on the inside like my OEM has.

Thanks

 

[mountjonas]

i believe toe has more of an impact on wear than camber.

 

[GoFast]

My Mazda3's OEM tires with 24K miles on it need replacing. However, last year I had an alignment done cuz I noticed uneven wear on the inside of all 4 tires. I regulary have my tires rotated tires every 5K or so.

After the alignment was done, the alignment shop said my camber was off (-1.5 degrees) on the front. It didn't appear as they measured the rears. Unfortunately, even after the alignment, the wear in the inside of the tire has gotten worse. The overall tire tread is around 4-5/32 with the inside edges of about 1.5 (2)-3/32.

My 3 has not been lowered or been in an accident. Now, I am concerned what my options are? What could be causing this? I hear that the 3 has a little bit of a negative camber and the factory specs on my 3 are -2 degrees. Would a camber kit help with the offset? I dont want the new tires to wear on the inside like my OEM has.

Thanks

I am confused a bit here. The alignment shop did an alignment and left the camber out of spec by -1.5*? Why didn't they bring that back within spec?

If your camber is that out of spec on the negative side then yes, it will wear the inside of your tires. If the car hasn't been lowered then there should be little reason why your car could not be aligned within spec.

i believe toe has more of an impact on wear than camber.

Not really more of an effect, just a different effect.

 

[Google]

I am confused a bit here. The alignment shop did an alignment and left the camber out of spec by -1.5*? Why didn't they bring that back within spec?

If your camber is that out of spec on the negative side then yes, it will wear the inside of your tires. If the car hasn't been lowered then there should be little reason why your car could not be aligned within spec.

The tire/alignment shop said that NOTHING could be done to correct the camber, except maybe buy a camber kit. I was also told the camber is within spec.

In addition, I paid for a 4 wheel alignment. The illustration or print-out I got was just for the fronts. Right is off by -1.0, left -1.5. I was thinking to myself, why didnt they do a before and after print-out?

Does anyone know the camber specs or tolerances on an 2006 Mazda 3?

 

[GoFast]

I think you need to bring it to a different shop for another opinion. I honestly recommend the dealer.

 

[Google]

Unfortunately, none of the Mazda dealers in town do their own alignment. They have it outsourced. I called up one alignment shop who deals with one particular Mazda dealer who's about an hour out of town and is recommended by the small local Mazda forum. I talked to the same dude several months ago after I had my alignment done and I called again just recently cuz I'll be getting a new set of tires and his tune changed from being able to do some tweaking to the camber to "recommending" modifying my OEM/stock suspension components by buying additional parts, none of which is a camber kit. He also suggested I bring the car in to do the "alignment" before I put on the new tires. Typically, I have always been told to do the alignment AFTER you get new tires, not before.

 

[lucaspl88]

ok, well when they told you they cant do anything with the front thats BS really.... they could always mess with the front, rear camber is what they cant really do.
if you want something for rear camber, get SPC rear camber kit.. allows you to go from -1.5* to + 5.0* camber in the rear

 

[sunrun176]

... He also suggested I bring the car in to do the "alignment" before I put on the new tires. Typically, I have always been told to do the alignment AFTER you get new tires, not before.

The only reason it matters whether you get an alignment before or after new tires is if you get it done after and it was 'out of spec' you'll have applied some improper wear to the new rubber. So, while he's right on in suggesting it be done BEFORE the new tires, it really doesn't make much difference if you get it aligned AFTER unless you drive it more than a couple hundred miles on the new tires before getting it aligned.

Honestly, you should feel lucky, Google.. Most don't get more than 20K out of the OEM Goodyear Eagle RS-A's. I just replaced mine with ~17K miles on them and they were worn about as much as yours: Fronts -- 4/32 outside, 3/32 inside; Rears -- 4/32 outside, 2/32 inside. (Okay, maybe not quite as bad as yours on the inside, but still, worse on the inside tread than the outside, even after religiously rotating every 5K miles.) Tires that cost $200 each but only last a year suck. (unamused)

 

[Google]

Wow...that's amazing the crappy wear on these tires. And it's not like they perform well either.

Right now, I am considering a replacement and I am seriously looking at the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred and Nokian WR-G2s. My local GY dealer has a sale on them where I save about a $100 over the Nokians. The Nokians aren't reviewed much but there's lots of reviews on the Goodyears, especially on TireRack.

 

[sunrun176]

Wow...that's amazing the crappy wear on these tires. And it's not like they perform well either.

Right now, I am considering a replacement and I am seriously looking at the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred and Nokian WR-G2s. My local GY dealer has a sale on them where I save about a $100 over the Nokians. The Nokians aren't reviewed much but there's lots of reviews on the Goodyears, especially on TireRack.

Indeed, they don't seem to like anything that isn't both A) warm, AND B) dry. Lose either one and they lose grip.

The TripleTred is the highest rated Standard All-Season tire on Consumer Reports -- ice braking is the only thing it scored 'fair' on; tread life is 'good'; all else is 'very good' or 'excellent' where it counts (e.g. dry and wet braking are 'excellent'). The only Nokian tire CR has listed is the WR All-Weather Plus (H & V), but it's in the Performance Winter category.

I put more stock in CR's tests regarding dry/wet braking, hydroplaning resistance, rolling resistance, treadwear and snow/ice traction than TireRack's. CR's tests for these characteristics use precise measurement tools (when possible) and objective and consistent methodologies, spelling out exactly how the tests are conducted, whereas TireRack merely states the surfaces upon which tests are conducted without spelling out the methods in any detail. TireRack also doesn't test rolling resistance, hydroplaning resistance or treadwear. That being said, CR's not perfect; there are a couple of tires that are (as of this posting, anyway) incorrectly classified as to type. New test results are due out next month (Oct. online, Nov. print) for All-Season and Performance All-Season tires.

Now that isn't to say that TireRack's test data isn't useful -- it is (especially with regard to handling), but in a different way. They test based on "lap times", which has the effect of aggregating several tire construction characteristics into one objective measurement, which in turn is more directly related to the average driver's experience. That's extremely useful!

Then there's the publicly-entered survey data, which in contrast is highly subjective. Don't get me wrong.. there's solid math/logic behind the "wisdom of the crowd" methodology, which backs up TireRack's survey data. The only weakness is the real possibility that the data is "astroturfed" to ANY degree by faked survey responses. Considering the sample size (i.e. the number of survey entries) for any given tire, it wouldn't take many fake entries to throw off the survey averages just enough to make a mediocre tire look good or make a very good tire look excellent.

Basically, I'm saying it pays to compare tires' ratings from all sources. And then, of course, listen to yourself.

I heavily considered the Nokian WR-G2 this time around, but I figured that would obviate the need to have the winter set and, as you said, there's little to no test data available out there for that tire. Without objective test data, it was a no-go for me, more environmentally friendly manufacturing practices than pretty much all other tire makers notwithstanding.

Here's another thread re: the tires I replaced the RS-A's with (Dunlop SP Sport Signatures):
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4823206#post4823206
I may yet go with something else.

My $.02.. YMMV.

 

[lucaspl88]

stock good year rs-a are garbage, one of the worst tires ive ever driven on.
I did over 30k miles on them, but whether it was dry/wet they were horrible, im not even going to mention snow traction, cause there was none.

 

[Google]

Thanks sunrun176 for a very informative post. I totally agree with you, especially about Tire Rack's ratings and reviews. They gave the second generation Michelin X-ICE i2 a very good rating, almost the best winter tire out there. I had them last year and they were just awful in the snow, at least in the compact, wetter Vancouver snow. Of course, the vehicle's ability plays a role too as well as the driver's skill.

lucaspl88, yeah the consensus has been for a while that the stock RSs are crap but the Good Year Assurance Triple Thread is quite good. However, the negative reviews really make me think twice about this tire as well. OTOH, the Nokians do very well and wear well, at least that's what those who have had them said. That being so, the Good Years do lose a lot of their performance after the first few thousand clicks according to the reviews on Tire Rack. I am so undecided, it's driving me nuts.