I have a mostly trouble free'98 Corolla LE that's coming up on 100k miles. I changed out all the struts and brakes at the begining of '08, put on new tires and had the car aligned as the rear tire wear was VERY odd, "lumpy" as you can see in the video below, especially on the inner side of the tire. Same thing is happening again with a little over 20k on the new tires.
Anyone have thoughts as to what the root cause might be? Rear bearings and bushings all seem fine, no movement or play at all. Maybe bad/no alignment was really done, or a issue with this kind of tire (Yoko Avid)? Just trying to avoid putting new tires on and having it happen yet again. Thanks in advance for any input or suggestions.
I'm going to guess overinflated tires. I had a similar problem on one of my tires that was inflated to 40psi, when I believe the Corolla spec is 30psi.
If you have this kind of wear, you have something bent in the rear suspension. Wear like that is nothing normal. A trip to a competent alignment tech will probably reveal the issue.
Replacing the tires will do nothing but produce another set that matches these.
Yeah, that vid was taken the first time, before I replaced everything and had it aligned. "New" tires are doing the same thing, but that vid illustrates the tire wear better.
I'll need to get new tires (for the rear anyway) before the snow and want to see if I can find the problem before installing them and having it re-aligned again. Would be disheartening to have this happen a third time. If it's just a matter of a bad/incompetent alignment having been done, I can try to seek out a better shop. But I've never seen that odd wear pattern before and thought I'd post to get opinions on what may be the cause.
What I see in the vid looks like cupping. Overinflated tires would theoretically produce excessive wear in the middle of the tire. But I run mine at 46psi (!) at times and after a few track days the outside still gets chewed up faster.
__________________
Little Pig - 1999 Corolla LE - Manual Swap - 2001 front end - #138 @ CASC-OR Autoslalom 2012
Big Pig - 1997 Camry LE - need new tires, rear struts and alignment
Skinny Pig - 2010 devinci St-Tropez
Thanks, def not overinflated. Always keep them at 32 and they'll go down to 30 if I don't get to recheck for 4-6 mo's.
Sorry the vid isn't better, doesn't run as well as the original does. It's like someone took a grinder on the inside half and dished it every 6" resulting in very high and low spots. Same in the middle, but to a lesser degree. Used to be smooth as silk at highway speeds a few years back, was a very nice ride, now it's a totally different scene.
Well there is defiantly a possibility of something being bent and there is also a possibility that it was not aligned properly. choppy sweeping accross the tire is textbook toe out of spec.
Could well be both! I'd assume they would have told me about a bent component during the last alignment, but maybe not.
If there is something bent, can I tell by looking or is it something that shows up when the car is being adjusted on the alignment rack? Also, if the toe is out that far, can I measure it to see by comparing the distance between the front edges of the rear tire to the distance between the rear edges, or is it something that again needs to be seen on the rack?
A worn strut can cause "cupping" or scalloping of the tire like that on the tire - as the strut cannot reliably dampen while driven. Bent or worn suspension, bad bearing, bent hub, worn bushings - can also cause that sort of wear.
Sometimes a bad wheel balance can cause this issue - very rarely will cause this sort of damage, unless it is one of those tires that don't like to be overinflated. Easy way to check is to verify how much wheel weight is on the wheel - any more than 2oz in total is too much. The tech should have dismounted the tire, spun it and rebalanced it.
In any case, looks like that tire is too far gone to try and salvage - would have to ask the tire tech to be sure, can't really tell from the video.
Well the struts are all less than 3 years old so I'm hoping that's not the cause.
Bought the tires thru Tire Rack and went with one of their recommeded installers in my area. They do the tire install, balance, align, and hand you a sheet with the old and new alignment spec's and everyone is happy. I even went back within 6 mo's for a free re-alignment.
Well a friend of mine did the same thing shortly after me for his 850 wagon, and within a few months, he had a tie rod end go bad. We picked up a new one and went to install, but the adjusting nut on the driver's side was absolutely frozen in place. Nothing worked to free it, including heat, so we had to cut it off. This seemed proof to me that they didn't even attempt to align his car once (or maybe IF) they came across the frozen nut. We took great care to install the new tie rod end to the same length as the old one, and sure enough, his new tires wore unevenly/quickly. So maybe all this comes down to a bad alignment? But my tire wear is so unusual (to me anyway), I figured I'd post to see if anyone had any thoughts before I dive back in with a different alignment place...
Toe being out of spec is the single worst thing for tires as far as wear. You putting on the tie rod and eye balling it might have looked like it was in the right spot but is most likely pretty far out. If the shop came across a frozen tie rod, they can sometimes try to counter it with the other side. This can cause bump steer and other symptoms.
My .02 is to get the car on a lift and look for anything that is bent or any sign of an accident.
Also you got your struts just under 3 years ago. That could be just long enough for an aftermarket strut to go bad especially if those 3 years were high mileage driving or abusive driving such as pot holes and such.
Hi guys. I just wanted to chime in on this. I've also got a '98 Prism (190k) and have just replaced the driver's side rear tire for a third time in ~2 years.
The first replacement was very soon after I purchased the car, used, with about 135k miles on it. As I got the odd tire wear I assumed it was just a cheap-o tire, or a defective one, etc. It was replaced with a Yoko Avid.. I replaced the whole set of four. Same tendency to wear it exactly as you have mentioned... cupped out, or scalloped...dishing out... whatever you want to call it... and a bit worse on the inside than the outside. I've just replaced that same tire again, as it has exhibited the same wear characteristics.
Soooo, either we're both getting taken to the cleaners by the alignment shop... or we're both getting defective tires from Yoko... or we both have a mechanical issue. A trusted mechanic friend of mine has suggested replacing the struts, as he feels that's what's allowing the tire/wheel to "hop" down the road... as I see your post, it makes me wonder.
I notice that you say your '98 is about to rack up 100k. Does that mean that you aren't driving it a lot right now? I mean to say... I drive a little over 100 miles/day...so it's pretty easy for me to notice this wear. You replaced struts 3 years ago... does that equate to 10k miles?....or 60k miles? It would seem that worn struts would be an easy way to produce this issue.
Keep us posted please!
Sorry to hear you're having this issue too, but thanks for the reply. I put about 9k on per year, so that would be about 27k give or take on the new tires and struts.
We've had this car since new and the original tires were the mediocre Goodyear Integrity's. Second set was the Yoko Avid Touring-S, and the car was so smooth going down the highway on decent pavement it was amazing! But eventually the problem showed up on the rear tires, which you see in the video above. So then we went with the Avid TRZ and they're showing the same wear pattern. I'd say after about 27k, but it's been happening for a while now, just haven't got to check it, so it probably started much sooner.
So my plan at this point is to hopefully find a decent alignment shop and see if they can determine the issue before I go ahead and get new tires. When it's all said and done, new tires, mount and balance, alignment, etc, it's an expensive proposition to not have it all done properly. And the kicker is that the only way I can determine if it's fixed is by racking up miles and checking tire wear, and if it's not fixed, a year or more has passed and the tires are already on their way out.
That being said, I think I'm going to switch back to the Touring-S for the next set of tires...
The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.
ToyotaNation.com is an independent Toyota/Lexus enthusiast website. ToyotaNation.com is not sponsored by or in any way affiliated with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. The Toyota, Lexus and Scion names and logos are trademarks owned by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
Linear Mode
