Whats Up With My Car.....

[robtheman]

strange one ,

Both front tyres are wearing uneveningly on the outsides (just replaced)

The front left brake pad wears quicker than the rest (just replaced and clalipers have been greased up)

It pulls to the left abit

The steering wheel is offline slightly when going in a straight line

All this and yet my tracking has been tested and is fine......?????

[UK86_MarK]

Hey mate,

Have you had the wheels balanced after the new tyres were put on? Usually this is done, but its the only thing that would explain the sudden uneven wearing, if the tracking is fine! (Oh and where did you get the tracking done? The reason i asked is because, i used to have a focus and had the tracking done, took it to anther garage and they said it needed tracking, i told them id just had it tracked and they actually showed me how far the tracking was out. I went back and got my money back from the first garage!) You really have to watch were you take your cars :( Thats why i only ever go main dealers now i have the CTS :D

Cheers

Mark

[robtheman]

Hi Mark,

i dont know to be honest, dont think so.

i bought the tyres online and took them to the guys.

i had this problem before though even before all the old parts were replaced

[Bos]

If the car is pulling to the left it is usually a sign that the brakes on the left are sticking on, maybe the caliper is sticking and not releasing enough !!

The tracking has been checked, but was the camber also checked ? Perhaps that is a bit out.

Another thing to look at is the bearings, they could be loose and allowing to wheel to turn in, thus wearing the outside edges.

[robtheman]

ah nice one, calipers, bearings, chamber.

any one of thoose sound expensive??

[Bos]

Not necessarily.

The calipers can be easily checked. jack the car up and see turn the wheel. It shold turn without any friction being felt.

While the car is jacked up try 'rocking' the wheel side to side and top to bottom to see if there is any play in the bearing. If there is it might just need regreasing and tightening up !!!!

The camber can only be checked on a machine, but I don't think its that expensive !!

[robtheman]

cheers bos,

i checked earlier and wheel did spin but not that much only couple times and sounded like the pads were griding on the disk a bit....

[T600]

Sounds like tracking or camber is still out. Did you have a full 4 wheel align?

Did they show you what changes they had made? It shouldn't pull, though of course the camber of the roads can have an effect, and if you brake is binding that will too, but wouldn't expect it to cause wear on the inner edges of both wheels, that is far more likely to be an alignment problem.

Four wheel align costs from £50 to £100 (had mine done recently on the MR2 and MrT and it was £70). That's about the price of one tyre, so well worth doing if you've any doubts about the alignment that was done previously.

[rolley]

Sounds like tracking or camber is still out. Did you have a full 4 wheel align?

Did they show you what changes they had made? It shouldn't pull, though of course the camber of the roads can have an effect, and if you brake is binding that will too, but wouldn't expect it to cause wear on the inner edges of both wheels, that is far more likely to be an alignment problem.

Four wheel align costs from £50 to £100 (had mine done recently on the MR2 and MrT and it was £70). That's about the price of one tyre, so well worth doing if you've any doubts about the alignment that was done previously.

I suffer from this as well! Not the car pulling to one side! But the excessive wear on out side shoulder of the tyre! Many people have told me its down to cornering hard! Which in all honesty I know of a few junctions and corners that I literally have the car on edge, or wheel spinning! So that probably justifies my problem! If thats the case you'll never have perfect tyre wear!

I have also been told that Traction Control can scrub tyres, but can't see the logic in that one at all! If anything it should be the other way round! Anyway thought I'd add it in cause not sure if it is valid!

As for pads! Its highly unlikely that your pads will all wear evenly! They should be with in a few mm of each other say about 5mm! As a guide anymore I would suggest a possible problem! Under inflated tyres can cause excessive brake pad rub during braking! Another thing to watch is the caliper slider that the pads sits in! When you take the slider off to fit new pads check that the rubber mounts are not perished and they are free to move! Check this post as I had this problem! Gives an indicator to where the problem is and if they are how to solve it!

If all possibilties have been looked at and you don't tear ***** it round to scrub tyres (like i do, lol) I would suggest tracking/alignment! You can't do a four wheel alignment on the CTS as rear axle is a beam! But take it to a place that does laser alignment/tracking! I think they are more accurate! Things to watch out for! If you have different suspension or coilovers the standard settings for the car will be wrong! so go to a competent garage that will adjust to what they think is best! And one last thing... When i had excessive wear on the inside of the front tyres I went to get it tracked. The bloke who did my tracking said because the tyre was wearing in the way it was, it will continue to wear in the same fashion because the tyre has been forced into that shape! So as a rule of thumb when fitting new tyres your best getting it tracked at the same time to prolong its life!

Hope I've helped!

Rolley

[robtheman]

ah yer, the link you gave with details about the slider parts of the caliper had seized on mine also but the other slider on the same caliper was fine, so this had worn down the pad alot on one side and not much on the other. also like yourself i managed to prize it away from the disk and oiled it up (hoping it wold solve the problem).

however whilst pulling hard on the caliper i may have knocked the steering alignment out/tracking??

as the steering wheel is off center now when going straight.

[angelbird]

sorry new to all this....but have you had the wheel alignment(sp) (not the same as tracking) checked??...we had this problem with the old honda prelude (FWS only) we had...had all tracking/brakes ect checked but never thought of the alignment...anyway went to get it checked (free check) and it turned out that both our back wheels where very slightly turned to the left..this wasnt visable to the naked eye...cost us just over £40 to be put right.

[RUNXZ]

Hey guys you can check too see what your tyre pressure is and maybe it may help with the wear, i know down here they always put 28psi in tyres no matter what size. This is stupid because it depends on the tyre so your tyres may be underinflated causing wear on the outside. If its too hard the middle wears. Its worth a check. I usually run 36 psi front and 35 psi rear.

[robtheman]

cheers giys

i will double check the new pads arent rubbing again via the caliber again and also get the trackiing and allignment checked.

fingers crossed

[Armz]

Hey guys you can check too see what your tyre pressure is and maybe it may help with the wear, i know down here they always put 28psi in tyres no matter what size. This is stupid because it depends on the tyre so your tyres may be underinflated causing wear on the outside. If its too hard the middle wears. Its worth a check. I usually run 36 psi front and 35 psi rear.

Wow isn't that alot of pressure? I usually do 32psi, i think i got that tip from somebody on the boards here, infact what pressure do the majority here use? 35-36psi and i imagine the car would be bouncing down the road. lol

Armz.

[hullupelle]

I also noticed uneven wear on my front tyres too. The first thing I thought was that it was under inflated! Even though it says 28psi in the manual, I know for sure that is too low as my company car (astra sxi) has similar size tyre and that is at 31psi. So I inflated mine to 32psi. No problems so far.

[T Sport 1978]

I also noticed uneven wear on my front tyres too. The first thing I thought was that it was under inflated! Even though it says 28psi in the manual, I know for sure that is too low as my company car (astra sxi) has similar size tyre and that is at 31psi. So I inflated mine to 32psi. No problems so far.

I have EXACTLY the same issue with my front tyres... 20k miles and i am into my 2nd set of fronts because the outsides were worn.

I am going to try 35psi and see how this set gets on.

[Captain Weirdbeard]

I don't know how you are getting 28 psi from your manuals unless you are in a hot climate or something. I'm pretty sure that both of ours, the CTS & CTScompressor are specified at 32 psi or thereabouts in the Toyota hand-book. Certainly, running consistently at that pressure has caused no abnormal wear or other problems.

The compressor has just been re-shod with standard Pirelli rubber. The old Pirellis were worn but otherwise fine. Possibly a bit premature at 11,000 or so miles from new but then this car was a demonstrator for its first 9,500 miles.

[Armz]

I don't know how you are getting 28 psi from your manuals unless you are in a hot climate or something. I'm pretty sure that both of ours, the CTS & CTScompressor are specified at 32 psi or thereabouts in the Toyota hand-book. Certainly, running consistently at that pressure has caused no abnormal wear or other problems.

The compressor has just been re-shod with standard Pirelli rubber. The old Pirellis were worn but otherwise fine. Possibly a bit premature at 11,000 or so miles from new but then this car was a demonstrator for its first 9,500 miles.

Exactly my thoughts, 32psi is what should be used. Or as one poster said on these boards in a very old thread, if they have 2 'heavy' passengers sitting in the back then 33psi for rear. I keep 32's all round on standard Bridgestone on standard alloys.

I haven't had to change my tyres since buying it 11 months ago. Tyres have plenty of tread and all even. I think my sister whom i bought it from had changed the tyres 9 months before i bought it and since then it's done about 11k miles up to now. Probably another 5k or more miles to go before they need changing.

Armz.