Got an alignment, but inner front treads still seem to be wearing fast
 

I have an '08 TL-S 5AT. I got an alignment done and tires rotated around six months and a little over a thousand miles ago. My rear treads feel great all around, but the front treads are consistently wearing on the inner edges. I actually had to replace my old front tires a couple years ago to pass state inspection because the inner edges were worn to the threads. How does this alignment by the the Acura dealer look?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...509b4bae75.jpg

That alignment isn't great. But its probably not causing your tyre wear. Why did he leave toe out in the back?

As far as your tyre wear goes....you might have worn compliance bushings. The car may be toeing out when its moving.

What kind of tires you got on?

^^^^^+123456 on what tires OP got?

Continental Extreme Contact DWS seem to have been pretty widely recommended, so that's what I've been using.

are you maintaining proper air pressure in the tires?
how many miles on the suspension?? could possibly have worn bushings

If you are only wearing the inside edges of the fronts...the rears are fine....and your alignment is in spec, something else in the suspension has issues. Good chance this will be the LCA bushings being shot allowing for movement.

If both edges were worn, I would point at either low air pressure or bad tires.

Rear toe is not in spec, but not sure how/if that would affect the front. While front toe is in spec, does having one side negative and the other side positive lead to tire wear issues?

Why is front caster out of spec? It's not adjustable, so that would seem to point to front end collision /damage.

I'm so spoiled. My alignment tech always zeroes out my toe all around so I'm sad when I see non-zero out toe. Call it OCD..


also nice catch nfn, what's up with the caster?

zero toe is just barely "in spec" for the rear. Ideally, Acura/Honda wants +0.08 in the rear. The rear spec is 0.0 to 0.16, or 0.08 +/- 0.8.....

i've seen a few people mention this lately. every alignment sheet i've ever seen for the past 8 years was put at 0 +/-.08. do you, or anyone, have acura evidence of what the true spec is? the shops always try to get me to 0 toe

OP's post even shows the same and that's a different alignment shop than firestone, which is where i go (i've been to 4 different firestone shops all with the same database specs)

same. I've never seen the .16

@Roland_Bluntzs has mentioned this too

i just looked it up in the Acura service manual and it says the rear toe is 0 +/- .08.
so the .08 +/- .08 is wrong and not sure where you guys were getting that from. i can put up a screen shot if you want

I got you bro :thumbsup:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d286674b8b.png

Hmm...I forget where I got my spec from. IIRC, it was a shot of the owner's manual.

Anyone have theirs handy?

This is from the 2004-2005 SM clearly showing 0.08 +/- 0.8:

Attachment 41876

Edit: was there possibly a TSB that changed the rear toe spec?

owner's manual doesn't have it either from what i remember. i checked mine the other day

we got our values from a service manual for 07-08 including type s, maybe it was different for the earlier years and then they changed it via TSB for those and had the 07-08 manuals with the updated spec?

Man...0 (+/-) 0.08 seems like a typo for the rear. Idk if any manufacturer allows rear toe out (negative value).

0.08 (+/-) 0.08 allows from 0 to +0.16. That sounds much more like typical spec.

In either case...rear toe out is a potentially dangerous thing to unleash on some unsuspecting person.

Most of the time I'm able to keep the tire pressure above spec, at least 35 in the front and 32 in the rear. During the cold of the winter the front tire pressure did get to be around 30, but I didn't let that go on for more than a few weeks. And after checking both the front tires, they're both wearing on the inside treads.

Is there any other explanation for the front caster being off? I've owned the car for nearly 3 years now and I've had very minimal issues. The Carfax came up good as well as the prepurchase inspection, and all the times I've had the car looked at since I've owned it no one has ever suggested collision damage.

You've checked the front compliance bushings?

How long did you drive your car on the before specs? Your toe is pretty out of whack on the before sheet. That would definitely contribute to inside wear. The overall toe was -0.43.

I do alignment at a speed shop where the techs all drive dumped Civics, they know the value of a good alignment. They explained that the tiny bit of toe-in for the rears improve gas mileage since the rears will follow and the car would track more straight. I had a more negative camber in the front before I changed out all the bushings and lower ball joints for my 07 Accord V6. After changing out the lower control arms with 3 new bushings and the lower ball joints, the front of the car raised by 0.25", which corrected the more negative camber I was getting. This might be your issue. Also, the front struts might be bad. How long have you been on the current spring/strut setup in the front?

Toe in or out does not improve MPG. Any toe means that you're dragging the tyre sideways by the degree of toe you have.

I understand static vs dynamic toe would be the reason one would toe in the FRONT tyres. The principle being that the tyres are slightly toed in until the car starts moving...and theoretically, they go to 0 toe at that point.

Rear toe in is for stability

OP has rear toe OUT.

That was the first time I got an alignment done on the car, and I had it done a little over two years after I bought it. I've gotten the tires balanced a couple times, for whatever that's worth. I have a short commute so I've only put on about 10,000 miles in nearly 3 years of ownership, and the car now has about 94,000 miles total.

I had the rear struts replaced last September since a couple different mechanics suggested one of them was leaking, but nothing has ever been said about the front struts. While the dealer was installing my rear struts they called to ask me if I wanted to get the timing belt or serpentine belt replaced since they said these parts were worn, so they were looking for things to fix.

Between the bushings, ball joints, controls arms, and other suspension parts, what's best to get done all at once and what's a ballpark price to expect? I intend to buy parts online at a discount and then get the labor done at an Acura or even Honda dealer.

I appreciate all the help so far!

I did all of the following front end components all at once, including an alignment. Labor + alignment was $450, parts about $525.

- OEM front upper control arms with ball joints already pressed in
- Raybestos front lower control arms with all new bushings + 2 new bolts that go through the compliance bushings
- Timkin wheel bearings -> since the whole knuckle was out anyway and I've hit some pot holes
- OEM front lower ball joints
- Moog outer tie rods with grease fittings

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...bf25937aa6.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...49bf92adc5.jpg

as you guy can see the smaller number is the tolerance for the rear toe, both of my 07 TL alignment has done at Acura dealer so i can confirm the 0 toe for the 07-08.

Like OP, I've got inner front tread wearing
 

I was changing the 3rd & 4th gear pressure switches this weekend when I noticed that the inner treads on my front tires are wearing disproportionately to the rest of the tire. I get my tires rotated at every oil change and since I have a lifetime alignment and balance at Firestone, I have them check those every second or third oil change. I haven't paid a ton of attention to the tire pressure since I ask them to check it at every oil change, too. When I checked it yesterday, it was 4 lbs over so I let some out.

Was hoping someone could review my alignment report (attached pdf) and confirm things to check (and how, if possible). Also attached photos of the two front tires. Several people on this thread have mentioned that the compliance bushings could be to blame. Not sure if the attached pic of the pressure switches gives enough detail, but would be happy to take some more with any suggestions on how to best expose them.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

^^^^^^^^^^^ Bump