Stock Front Camber

[Amerikon]

I rotated my tires today (it had been quite a while since the last rotation) and I noticed that the inside shoulders of my front tires were worn very aggressively. Does the MS3 have a lot of negative camber on the fronts or is there something else causing the wear? (The car's 100% stock btw.)

 

[CWPspeed3]

The camber on this car is quite aggressive and the stock tires wear quickly, its recommended to rotate the tires every 5k miles to help uneven wear. If you have hit something or done something to knock it out of alignment it could cause uneven wear.

 

[Nliiitend1]

How long has it been (in time and mileage) since the last rotation?

 

[Rotus8]

Excessive wear on the insides can also be caused by too much toe-in. Get the whole alignment checked out. Either that, or spiff the corners more to wear out the outsides too!

 

[Amerikon]

I think it's been either 10 or 15k since I rotated last. It depends on whether or not the dealer did it the last time I asked them to. So let's assume 15k. On the main part of the tread and the outside shoulder, the fronts were pretty close to the wear bars but the inside shoulder was completely rounded off. The rears were in great shape so I moved them up front. Hopefully I can get a few more miles out of the worn ones, but considering that I'm at 31k already I wont be too torn up if I have to replace them sooner rather than later.

 

[Rotus8]

I think it's been either 10 or 15k since I rotated last. It depends on whether or not the dealer did it the last time I asked them to. So let's assume 15k. On the main part of the tread and the outside shoulder, the fronts were pretty close to the wear bars but the inside shoulder was completely rounded off. The rears were in great shape so I moved them up front. Hopefully I can get a few more miles out of the worn ones, but considering that I'm at 31k already I wont be too torn up if I have to replace them sooner rather than later.

31k on the stockers! There's your problem. You definitely need to take more corners harder! I'm at 30K and just put on my third set.

 

[CnoTataymo]

The stock front camber I believe is .9 degrees. Rotating tires every 5k will help a lot with more even wear. If you've hit a pothole or curb, you could possible have messed up the alignment. Also, checking your tires pressures would help out a lot and keeping them to at least factory specs.

 

[Nliiitend1]

You waited WAAAAAY too long to rotate. You should be rotating every 6K miles AT LEAST if you want decent, even tire wear.

These cars don't have anywhere NEAR enough negative camber in stock form for it to cause a wear issue (unless your toe settings are way off).

 

[Hank3]

Is it recommended to have a Mazda dealership do the alignment or can any tire place/auto service place can do the job? I'm just wondering since the Speed3 has different specs if it'll pull up on people alignment machines. Or would they ghetto-fy it by using the specs of a Mazda3 hatch?

 

[Rotus8]

Is it recommended to have a Mazda dealership do the alignment or can any tire place/auto service place can do the job? I'm just wondering since the Speed3 has different specs if it'll pull up on people alignment machines. Or would they ghetto-fy it by using the specs of a Mazda3 hatch?

I wouldn't go to the dealer, but I wouldn't go to your local discount tire shop either. Find a good shop that does alignments for high performance cars. For example, in my area this is the shop I go to. (yes, their web site sucks, but that's not what they are good at)

 

[Amerikon]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it's safest just to get my alignment checked when I replace the tires.

@Rotus8: Custom Alignment does good work? I just moved to Mtn View a few months ago and I've needed to find a good local shop.