wdmn

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would post something that I'm in the middle of right now.

My '04 TL has been handling terribly in the winter driving conditions. As I would come upon an ice patch or pothole, the car would "shift" to the right. It became so bad Tuesday that I just had to make an appointment for service.

I really thought it was alignment. The service department checked that and everything was ok. However, they noticed that my BACK tires were bald with 13,000 miles on them. No, I had not rotated the tires yet.

They are keeping the car until Monday so an Acura Rep. can look at it. Anyone else with similar problems?

Mav

Thanks for the FYI....I just ran out and looked and my tires are wearing evenly...at 8000 miles. That sounds strange to me.

KJSmitty

Many years ago I was a mechanic for a large Dealership in Montana. Every winter we would get one or two complaints just like yours. I actually owned a mid 70's Datsun that would do just what you described. In every case I can remember it was an independent rear suspension, didn't mater whether front or rear wheel drive (mine was RWD). You mentioned they already checked the alignment - I would assume a full 4 wheel alignment?? 8 times out of 10 that was the cause. The others where either dragging brake pads or bad bearings causing one wheel to rotate harder than the other. They would hit a patch of ice and one wheel would start to slide etc...

With only 13K miles, if your rear tires are "bald", especially "evenly" bald, then I would have to think its a serious alignment issue. Even with you not rotating, the back tires should look near new, the fronts should be the pair showing "normal wear"...

Question: are the tires worn evenly across the tread, or only on the inner edge of the tread??

That is all I can say given my experience

On a humorous note: disengage the parking brake....:wow:

Let us know what the "diagnosis" is...

Smitty

wdmn

Smitty,

The wear is even all across the tire - not just edges or middle. The lignment machine was still attached when I saw it and they said all alignment was within spec.

When they told me the REAR tires were bald, I couldn't believe it until I saw it myself.

Unless we have a "tire rotation elf" in my area and they were rotated when I wasn't looking!

BTW, I did check the parking brake!

Walt

JoganJani

wdmn, what kind of tires do you have? stocks or HPT?

wdmn

joganjoni,

I have the stock Bridgestone Turanzas. I noticed when they were new that there was a hydroplane problem within the first week of owning the car. The front tires are like new but the back tires are almost as bald as a bowling ball!

Walt

NOX 3.2

that happened to my friend's Z05 (vette) after he got towed in a flatbed truck, the guy pulled the chains too hard and forced the rear wheel out of alignment, well after he got the car back from the dealer, the $700 trun-flat tires only lasted 2 months! they went bold very fast.

did you have your car towed recently ?

Modeler

Wait a second! You have 13K miles on your car already? When did you buy it???

XBrian

I have had the same problem with my car. I went to get it alligned at a prestigeous well known allignment facility (not TOWN FAIR TIRE) and the rear wheels were Towed in over 3/4 of an inch! My tires are 3/4 warn, and my dealer is aware of the problem. It now drives and handles perfect, but i'm just going to wait it out until Acura issues the new Bridgestones...instead of making a big stink to get these tires replaced.

wdmn

NOX3.2,

The car has never been towed. Talking to a friend yesterday, he mentioned that the extremely cold weather and ice may have frozen the struts so that there was no "give". I'm not a mechanical person, so it's all "greek" to me. The onboard computer reads about 25 miles/gallon so it doesn't seem to be "dragging" much as far as alignment is concerned. I have not manually calculated the mi./gal. to see if it is acurate.

dulnev,

I got the car Oct. 10. Yes, I'm on the road alot. I'm in a rural area and have to drive 15 miles for a loaf of bread!

The rep is supposed to look at the car tomorrow. The Service Manager said I could pick it up at 3:30. It sounds to me like they are not going to do anything except maybe new tires. That obviously is not the total problem here. I'll keep you informed of the end result.

Walt

KJSmitty

Perfect input XBrian,

Due to wdmn's tires being evenly "bald" across the tire, it would have to be a toe-in/out issue vs a camber/caster. Even a very minor amount would cause significant premature tire wear. You also may never feel it on dry pavement but as described the rear end would/could do strange things on ice..

Also, not that I'm saying it couldn't be but even if the struts were to "freeze-up/stick", it wouldn't case the tires to wear like described.

Hummmmm


Smitty

wdmn

NOX 3.2,

I've been thinking about your friends Vette situation. As I said my car was not towed but now I'm wondering if the transport driver may have tightened the tie downs too much causing the problem.

Smitty,

When I saw the car Friday the alignment was ok for camber/caster. I did not see that they had checked toe in/out. I will call the Serv. Manager tomorrow and see if that has been checked.

Thanks everyone for your help and insight! I felt like I was in this alone but I can see you guys are willing to step up to the plate to help with suggestions, etc. THANKS again!

Walt

Mav

I would buy more then one loaf each time I went...cuts down on the mileage.

wdmn

Further news:

I drove (1 hour) to pick up my supposedly completed and repaired car yesterday and apparently the rep had cancelled and they had forgotten to call me. (I was NOT happy!) They want to keep it another day so the rep could look at it. They still insist that the alignment was within specs but they had "tweeked" it to see if that would help. They will replace the two rear tires.

I also forgot to mention to you guys that the Hands Free Link had also quit working. No one at the dealership seems to understand how it sets up. It will not even boot up. One of the "kids" was going to play with it to see if he could get it working when I left.

I'm getting paranoid about this car. Should I ask for a really good deal on another one to make up for the mis-adventures?

Walt

bluenoser

My rear tires are wearing poorly as well and showing significant wear on the outside (fronts are perfect). This is after only 1,200 miles and I doubt they will last 13,000 miles. The strange thing is I have 3,000 miles on my winter tires and no wear at all (I have a tire guage and measured it), so if it was alignment the snows would worse, due to softer rubber and less stable tread cap. My conclusion is the EL42s have some quality issues or they are dynamically mismatched to the TL.

wdmn

A further update:

I picked up my car yesterday. All alignment was within specs. They gave me two new rear tires and sent me on my way. I am to return within 5,000 miles for them to check the tread depth and see if any further wear is showing.

Walt