Tyres, bald on inner edges

[conaero]

Parked up this morning at work and notice that the insides of my front tyres has not tread left on it, its smooth, but the grooves are all legal. Now, I know the Alfa did this also, and can be attributed to hard driving...hum, yes, I like a blat!

Can anyone suggest who to set it up. I am up at Ace cafe, so London area is not an issue. Rather specialist than MD.

The outsides of my fronts have over 5mm on them, and they are only a year old and 5k miles

The rears have 3mm on them, so it wont be long. Think I am going to change all 4 and go for some Vreds.

 

[rs48635]

Wow! 5mm outside and bald inner edges must mean huge camber or toe out?

Go anywhere for full alignment, but make sure you have hte alignment page from our workshop management book.

 

[conaero]

Ok, but your average garage, cant adjust it, it has to be done by shims I believe.

They will probably tell me its out, and can do nothing about it.

Does anyone have the correct settings for alignment so I can get it checked?

I found this for a 3200, is the GS the same?

 

[Peter]

I had Emblem do my old 4200, cost about £150.

 

[nfm]

Join the club, alas.

Not that it is local but to give you a comparison the specialist outfit MP Supercars use for alignment charge £95. It is the norm - some have suggested making the settings more neutral but I am inclined to stick with the guidance and take the pain!

I doubt the 3200 and GS will be the same, you will need someone to advise the GS settings, it being lowered etc.

Cheers

 

[lozcb]

The GS might be different 19" wheels , worth checking the GS data i have it somewhere , really busy at the moment i'll post it in the tech section soon as i have time



regards loz

 

[conaero]

Thanks Loz, and the place you get your Vreds from if you would.

 

[cowsurgeon]

Hi Matt,
Is it worth sticking the 3200 data you posted above in the technical section as well? Would save me saving it as a JPEG somewhere on my hard drive and never being able to find it!
Cheers,

 

[lozcb]

Thanks Loz, and the place you get your Vreds from if you would.

Camskill.co.uk best Value around


regards loz

 

[Garry_c]

Hi Matt,

I spoke to the guys at Emblem when I needed the geometry set on my 3200, they recommended that I have new tyres fitted so they would sit flat and square when they made the adjustments, not be affected by the 'wedge shape' of the worn tyre. You're correct in that shims are required to make some of the adjustments and I now have a great report showing the car geometry when I took it to them and then again after it was adjusted. Of thirteen values, i.e. toe-in, camber, caster etc only one was in tolerance and of course they were all set correctly as confirmed by the second report. I'll scan the sheet and add it once I get home.

I spoke to Micheldever tyres when comparing prices, ( I have Veredistein Sessanta on the back now) and they said they could make the adjustments if I took the data along, when I asked 'data'? they wanted me to supply the set-up values, I asked about shims and they said that as the cars get older they 'settle' so generally shims are removed rather than added. This conversation made it an easy decision to go to Emblem, cost was around £120 plus £5 for shims as a couple were required.

 

[WGG]

If you were up in Edinburgh I could recommend a great place to go. Have had all my cars set up by Bill and he is superb.

 

[WGG]

If you were up in Edinburgh I could recommend a great place to go. Have had all my cars set up by Bill and he is superb.

That really was as helpful as a fart under the duvet

 

[nigw]

If you were up in Edinburgh I could recommend a great place to go. Have had all my cars set up by Bill and he is superb.

Do you mean Willie in Sighthill? If so, I used him this week - does a great job, and got a printout of the before and after toe, camber and caster for the front and back, together with the manufacturer spec/tolerance.

 

[Garry_c]

Attached is the printout of my geometry before and after set-up as earlier post, before is upper diagram, notice the red and below is the corrected geometry.

Hope that helps - Garry C

View attachment 1043

 

[white noise]

Matt,

You definitely need an Indy who also has access to an alignment specialist. The only way around it is buy all the shims you could need and return the ones you don't. That is why I went the same route as Gary, as Emblem keep a full set of shims for the use of their preferred aligner. You just pay for what you need. I would do a full 4 wheel alignment every 3 years even if you don't observe a specific problem. My rears went the same way as your fronts, luckily I noticed it before I picked up the car and got the dealer to replace the tyres and do the alignment. Don't know who they used but again in common with Gary, when I asked Emblem to recheck almost every setting was still out and would have trashed all the tyres over time. It just goes to prove that you can't trust anyone to do a good job on these cars who is not a specialist.

 

[white noise]

Gary, is that your AC that has been sat at Emblem for the last week or so?

 

[conaero]

Ok, thanks guys, who would be my nearest person, I am in Chichester. Emblem would be great but they are in Poole, so miles away. Anyone closer? Meridian are closet for me, but not sure I want a Main Dealer bill

 

[conaero]

Emblem want £150 plus shims

Meriden have dropped form £225 down to £169 plus shim

Both prices include VAT, so I think Ill take Meridien up on their offer as I will burn the difference in fuel, driving further to Emblem, although I do want to use Emblem, they are just that bit too far.

 

[white noise]

Matt,

I understand your dilemma, it is a fair bit further to Emblem. My only point of caution would be - what if some of your adjusters are seized or the problem is down to more than geometry? Would you want your car at Meridian or Emblem? But then I'm lucky enough to be 30 mins away from Poole! Hope it all goes well and you will almost certainly notice improved handling.

 

[nfm]

Yes, after mine was done I noticed it was much less edgy over the crown of the road, which was great. Definitely something to do when fitting new tyres, even if it is expensive and these days with all the potholes it won't stay perfect for long alas.