Would wide tires cause inner wear?

[Rmartinez0512]

Hey guys

Today i noticed that my rear tires had a ridiculous amount of wear on them. My front tires had normal wear but the rear tires were completely worn on the inner side.

I took the car to my friend who works in a shop to replace the rear tires, and he told me the main cause of the problem was that i had the incorrect size tire. I have 195/65/R15, while my car uses 195/55/R15.

I recently had a 4 wheel alignment done a little under a year ago, and i have stock suspension.

Throughout searching i read about bad toe alignment and I'm going to check that asap, but i wanted to know if having the incorrect size tire could cause uneven inner wear.

(heres a pic of my old tire, the metal wire was actually showing)

[tlangy]

Since it changes the suspension geometry of the car (ride height) yes it could cause premature wear but that looks like uneven wear, not premature.

[Rmartinez0512]

thanks i edited the post

[codenamezero]

Going from 65 to 55 will NEVER cause that kind of severe wear, especially if you are running stock suspension and only used them for 1 year.

195 x 0.65 = 126.75
195 x 0.55 = 107.25

So like what... ~20mm sidewall difference, do your car would sit maybe ~1cm higher...? Big deal... Either the shop that did your alignment didn't do it properly, or you bent something, or some bushing are COMPLETELY worn out...

ps: You are lucky it didn't blow while you are driving your car.

edit: You said your wear tire is completely worn out, i'd check your rear upper control arm bushing as well as rear trailing arm bushings.

[integrajerzey]

alignment and suspension causes wear like that.........those tire size have nothing to do with that kind of edgewear in your case.

[codenamezero]

Originally Posted by integrajerzey

alignment and suspension causes wear like that.........those tire size have nothing to do with that kind of edgewear in your case.

Yea but he got an alignment a year ago. So either the shop didn't know how to do an alignment (is possible, but i doubt it) or he bent a LCA or completely worn out rear upper control arm bushing could also cause this type of wear... it would totally throw the toe off (which eat your tires quickly).

[SniperX]

UCA's control camber, not toe.

In the rear the compensator arms adjust toe.

[DPancoast]

Have you hit any potholes or anything like that? to me that's def toe wear

[Rmartinez0512]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Dan, the roads around me in jersey are pretty crappy so i do hit the occasional pothole, but i do my best to avoid them.

I wrote everyone's opinions down and im gonna check this out tomorrow.

[Rmartinez0512]

Hey guys, thanks again for the quick and informative responses

I just got back from the shop, we put the car on the lift and the rear trailing arm bushings are tearing and the bushings for the compensator arm are very worn as well.

So it looks like i wont spend much on parts but labor is gonna be expensive

[codenamezero]

Originally Posted by SniperX

UCA's control camber, not toe.

In the rear the compensator arms adjust toe.

Yes, but if the bushing in the rear UCA is completely gone, the wheel can move. Another member just had another post similar to it, and his tires were getting eat up severely because he had zero bushing left on his rear UCA hehe...

Originally Posted by Rmartinez0512

Hey guys, thanks again for the quick and informative responses

I just got back from the shop, we put the car on the lift and the rear trailing arm bushings are tearing and the bushings for the compensator arm are very worn as well.

So it looks like i wont spend much on parts but labor is gonna be expensive

If you are willing to do the work yourself, it can be cheap. Replacing the rear UCA is easy, and we do have an article (and also a thread) that talks about replacing the rear trailing arm bushings. When it comes down to saving money, you have to do the work yourself.

I think parts wise, it would be ~150-200$ if you get the rear UCA (adjustable) from ebay and then the trailing arm bushing somewhere else. Then you just need to pay for alignment.

[Rmartinez0512]

Lol i dont think ill have the stones to tackle something like this, i hear trailing arm bushings are a big pain in the ass. I really wanna learn to work on my car but i wouldnt wanna mess something like this up

and zero, on the lift i didnt notice that the upper control arm was worn. The damage was on the trailing arm bushing and compensator arm, why would i have to get a new UCA?

[fyberoptik]

There are videos online of people popping out trailing arm bushings with hammers super easy. I used an air hammer and it came out quick (~30 sec), but I guess it's easy enough to do with a hammer. The compensator arm I'd just get something like the spc kit because I've heard of those 14's on the frame seizing or stripping.

[Rmartinez0512]

So i replaced the rear trailing arm bushings on both sides, as well as the compensator arms. When I went to do the wheel alignment I was told i still had pretty bad camber and toe in the rear.

Here are the specs for the rear from the print out (I dont have a scanner so i hope im reading it right)

Rear Left:
Camber: -1.1
Toe: 0.05

Right Rear:
Camber: 1.1
Toe: -1.08

I was told my tires would continue to wear if i didnt fix the camber and toe problems, then i got confused when the mechanic started talking about a spindle, lower control arm, and camber kit.

Why would i need a camber kit if the toe is whats eating my tires? According to my alignment report what do you suggest i do to solve this problem?