Tires

[justbg]

I purchased 2005 STS used with 32k Miles and front tires were worn, so I purchased new Mich. tires and had front and rear wheels alined. After 15K miles the tires are again wearing on inside. Since the car has two different sizes on front and rear, I cannot rotate to even out wear. Tire dealer says the weight of front of car is causing wear and cannot fix problem.

Has anyone had this problem and can I put the same size tires on front and rear?

Thanks

Old Dude

[Ranger]

Wearing on the inside sounds like the camber is off.

Tire dealer says the weight of front of car is causing wear and cannot fix problem.

That sounds like a cop out and he does not want to deal with it. I'd have it checked again somewhere else.

[Danko]

First off, front and rear tires do different jobs and since the fronts turn, they tend to round out on the bottom, unlike rears that want to stay flat/squared off and that gives better traction, so rotating is NOT beneficial except it allows fewer trips to buy tires if you get them four at a time. I have many years of experience and like to have rear tires bigger than the fronts on FWD and RWD, but not AWD/4WD, of course. If the insides of your fronts are wearing more quickly, there is a plus. The fact your tires/wheels are slightly angled is actually giving you better control and not getting as many miles from tires has benefits, too. Softer tires do not last as long but they give you better traction and a better ride. Buy softer tires, upsize them with the rears even bigger and get to know your local tire guy better. . The fact your tires are Michelins may not mean squat. Check the surveys at TireRack.com and you will see what actual owners think of many different brands and types and you will find some surprises. Hopefully, you will find American tires that will do the job for you. Please remember who butters your bread and the price of those tires may include your neighbor's job, your country's security and your children's future.

[Texas Jim]

Old Dude....

Pay no attention to what DANKO said about the tires.

Most of what he said is wrong anyway.

I agree with Ranger... IF it is "ONLY" the "INSIDE" of the front tires that are wearing... the alignment is off.

If it is both the INSIDE and OUTSIDE of the front tires that are wearing, you are not running enough air pressure.

I have read of a lot of people that "DO" change the staggered size tires to ALL SAME SIZE tires.

I would probably do that if it were mine.

In the long run, it might make life a little simpler just by being able to rotate the tires when and how you want to.

[hjb981]

It does not sound normal to me with uneven wear. We are many on this forum with heavy cars (well, all of us, I guess ), and at least in my case the tires are wearing evenly. If the car was designed for a certain size of tire (design parameters including spring rates, damper stiffness etc), I would try to stick to that size tire. Especially changing the size ratio between the axles sounds like a bad idea to me.

Do you have lower-than-normal profile or wider-than-normal tires? That would make them more sensitive to any alignment imperfections.

Another possibility is that something is loose in the front end. They should have checked that when doing the alignment, though. And your car does not have that many miles, so not likely unless it was driven hard over bumps or something similar.

Hopefully it is just a matter of getting a proper alignment to stop the uneven wear!