Trashing front tires... It's getting expensive!!

[747mopar]

I've got an issue to resolve after trashing 2 sets of front tires. 1st time was of my doing, after getting the car aligned I decided to lower the car a bit more in the front and didn't think to have it realigned... my fault. After taking it back and having it realigned with new tires it drove excellent and seamed to be wearing evenly as far as I could tell so I called it done. Fast forward to this past weekend when I was washing it I noticed they're down to the cords on the insides AGAIN..

$300+ down the crapper... 12,000 miles and 2 sets of front tires is aggrevating especially when the rears are still good!!

So what gives? I put it on the lift and everything is tight, no slop, a arm bolts are all tight, etc. It's a 69 Charger with a completely new front suspension (12,000 miles) that utilizes 70s Bbody spindles for disc brakes and has tubular upper a arms.

I remember the last couple times I drove it something felt odd in the front but never found anything?? Has anybody ever had the a arm adjusters move on them? I did some research on using the late B body spindles and didn't see any issues with using them so I think they're fine. If I can't find something I'll find a new alignment shop and Mark all 4 of the adjusters so I can visually check for movement but outside of that I'm out of ideas.

 

[Cranky]

IF everything looks good, get it aligned again and then do your own checks. If it's wearing the insides that fast, you should be able to either see something that's not right or at least check it. You could have a toe out issue or camber or both. You can usually see too much negative camber and same too much toe out just by eye balling it but you can also use a level on it. I've use a level on the wheels vertically to see that the camber isn't extreme and you can use string to check toe out but that will take a helper.

 

[1967coronet440]

Good advice from cranky, we did the string method on my brother in laws truck and got it damn close, still took it for final alignment but we got it real close. Second, sounds like you might want to explore other shops...

 

[Cranky]

Good advice from cranky, we did the string method on my brother in laws truck and got it damn close, still took it for final alignment but we got it real close. Second, sounds like you might want to explore other shops...

I started playing around with doing my own alignments then took it to a shop where he said I was pretty much on the money except for my toe which surprised me since setting the toe isn't hard to do. You can also use a tape measure and get damn close. Anyways, the shop tech set the toe and charged me 20 bucks which was wasted money. I knew as soon as I drove off something wasn't right and upon getting home, it got eyeballed and it was very easy to see. The dang thing looked cross eyed!! It was toed in a full inch!!!

 

[1967coronet440]

I started playing around with doing my own alignments then took it to a shop where he said I was pretty much on the money except for my toe which surprised me since setting the toe isn't hard to do. You can also use a tape measure and get damn close. Anyways, the shop tech set the toe and charged me 20 bucks which was wasted money. I knew as soon as I drove off something wasn't right and upon getting home, it got eyeballed and it was very easy to see. The dang thing looked cross eyed!! It was toed in a full inch!!!

My uncle who showed us how to do the string method used to work at a frame shop back in the 60’s-70’s, he told me We will get it close in our garage but when taking it for final alignment call around and ask to speak to the oldest tech on site and see if they’re familiar with the older cars.

 

[Cranky]

My uncle who showed us how to do the string method used to work at a frame shop back in the 60’s-70’s, he told me We will get it close in our garage but when taking it for final alignment call around and ask to speak to the oldest tech on site and see if they’re familiar with the older cars.

I've got a few stories.....the worse one being where the tech turned the upper A arm adjusters full circle. Always ask the tech if he's ever worked on a setup with cam adjusters before letting them 'practice' on your car. If they say yes, ask them if they can be turned full circle or not. They usually will not be able to answer it correctly.

 

[Bill Monk]

Based on the specifics of what you are saying, I would take it back to the shop that did the alignment. Unless they can point out a faulty part (unlikely since it's all new), if they have any ethics at all they should realign it for nothing. If it's out far enough to wear them out in 12000 miles they should buy you a set of tires but I'm sure that's not going to happen. It doesn't take long to wear a set out if they are riding on the edge though

 

[Fran Blacker]

Based on the specifics of what you are saying, I would take it back to the shop that did the alignment. Unless they can point out a faulty part (unlikely since it's all new), if they have any ethics at all they should realign it for nothing. If it's out far enough to wear them out in 12000 miles they should buy you a set of tires but I'm sure that's not going to happen. It doesn't take long to wear a set out if they are riding on the edge though

Wonder if you should give them another chance?

 

[Bill Monk]

Wonder if you should give them another chance?

Assuming the front end is tight, I would not but the tie breaker is that they should do it for free! If they will make it right then yes but if I had to pay for it, I would never give them another penny of my money.

 

[69 GTX]

They should also be able to give you a computer readout of the alignment.
Put weight in the drivers seat to mimic your weight.

 

[RT K_line]

If you have the same size tire front and rear it is easy to check. you look from the front along the front and rear sidewalls of the front tires and align them by sight to the outer sidewall of the rear tire you should be close. I usually set it a 1/16th in on each side. it helps to have someone in the car holding the wheel straight while checking and adjusting too.

 

[bm02tj]

After the next alignment chalk the tires it will show the scrub before they wear out and it is to late

 

[Hemirunner]

We wnt to doing all of our own alignments. Luckily we have access to a new digital setup. Those pro touring tires seem to be real sensitive to caster/camber changes.

 

[khryslerkid]

They should also be able to give you a computer readout of the alignment.
Put weight in the drivers seat to mimic your weight.

Some years back, the station that I was working serviced the taxi cabs. The owner could'nt keep tires on this one cab. The driver, no kidding, was 300 lbs+! I suggested to place 300lbs in the front seat during the alignment and only let that driver use that cab. Well it worked perfectly!

To the OP, it sounds like a camber issue. Tires leaning in at the top. Maybe the torsion bars are a little weak? Do you have the rear end up a little too much? Or the front end tech isn't up on these cars.

I've known front end techs that couldn't get the adjustment, (like cams adjusted all the way) and said "heck with it, that's as far as it goes", and not say anything. Some of these mopars won't adjust as far as needed without modifications.

Good luck.

 

[ckessel]

Are they doing a 4 wheel or 2 wheel alignment? They need to hang the targets on all 4 wheels so you can dial out issues with the thrust angle. If you have issues there, you may want to go to a frame shop and get it checked for structural issues. If they are not hanging all the targets, doing only front, this results in the car crabbing sideways. You have probably seen cars on the road like this. This comes from structural issues and the thrust angle being off. Can't just "set the toe and let it go". Hotchkis makes shims that go under the front spring hanger to help with the thrust angle.

 

[Bobzilla]

We always had a little trouble with torsion bar cars that had a ride height adjustment and then went straight in for alignment. It sounds weird but these settle a bit after an adjustment, or even after having the front end raised with tires hanging. If your ride height is set now, take it in for an alignment but ask up front if they can print before and after measurements. You want a copy of that for sure. This way if it's on now and not on later, along with marking the adjuster cams, you can track down whatever changed, and you'll know what's actually causing the wear. We did have some adjusters slip, but usually you could verify it was not tight enough with a wrench. Also, thrust angle did not cause this wear, but get it measured so you have the record of it.

 

[brian6pac]

I had a guy bring me a car that was doing the same thing, It turned out to be the lower control arm bushings.
He said they were tight but we had a way of checking them with a big bar. If you stand in front of the car, say 100 ft away and have it drive to you you can see it toe out, as it backs up it will toe in and it will be very obvious.

 

[747mopar]

Based on the specifics of what you are saying, I would take it back to the shop that did the alignment. Unless they can point out a faulty part (unlikely since it's all new), if they have any ethics at all they should realign it for nothing. If it's out far enough to wear them out in 12000 miles they should buy you a set of tires but I'm sure that's not going to happen. It doesn't take long to wear a set out if they are riding on the edge though

2 sets of tires in 12,000 miles!!

 

[747mopar]

I might talk to the guy but honestly he's not touching the car unless he replaces the tires which I'm sure he won't. I should have realized he was full of crap after the first alignment, I told him the car drove like crap (felt like there was zero toe) he replied that that's how those old Dodges drove . This being my first I had know idea but thought any properly aligned car should drive fine, lesson learned.

I did check the rims with a level and it is leaning in considerably however checking the side with the most wear it was leaning out but that one was checked after being on the lift, I'll move it around so it settles and re check it. Guess at this point I'll get extremely picky with who aligns it.

To answer questions regarding stance, tire size, ect... here it is.

 

[Dibbons]

I went through two set of front tires driving less than 2000 miles on both sets. First pair wore out the outside edges to the cords, second pair wore out the inside edges.

After the first set wore out prematurely, an alignment/tire shop mentioned nothing about finding worn part but sold me two new tires. After the new pair started to wear rapindly, a second alignment shop said the driver's lower ball joint was a "little loose" but only offered a re-alignment and did not replace any parts. When I noticed the second set of tires continued to wear rapidly, a third shop told me the driver's side lower ball joint was so loose it was about to self-destruct. The third shop replaced the worn parts (the first two shops failed to repair) and sold me the second pair of new front tires. So far, so good.