Tire wear

[HgBlues]

I'm not surprised that my rear tires are bald, but has anyone else worn the tred off the fronts in only 23,000 miles? The inside treads on both front tires are completely gone. The dealer said the alignment was ok, and that uneven wear is unavoidable when the tires cannot be rotated. Has anyone else noticed this same type of uneven wear?

[MAD-3R]

This may answer your question.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3717

[MMManic]

HgBlues- This is not the first thread I've seen commenting on front tire inside wear. I'm only at 1300 miles so I can't relate. I'm curious if you challenged the dealer about the alignment being "ok" and if they would do any research (I know- I'm dreaming). Sounds like the specs are off or else they used Gran Marquis specs.

[TripleTransAm]

I noticed some 'cupping' on the inside (and slightly on the outside) edge of the front tires. This *usually* indicates improperly designed spring rates... the MM's wheels and tires are a HEAVY combo which leads to a lot of unsprung weight. I'd be interested in knowing if those who chose the Eibach route (front springs-wise) will see less drastic front tire wear.

[Thomas C Potter]

The negative .7/.8 camber is the likely culprit, ask shop to set to neg .25 or 0.

TP

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by Thomas C Potter
The negative .7/.8 camber is the likely culprit, ask shop to set to neg .25 or 0.

TP

That's got my vote. Ethier that or too much toe in + too much - camber...it would account for the cupping.

I wouldn't set it to 0 though. The car would corner like a ricer and the tires would wear evenly - but faster.

[B-26]

:bounce: I only have 14,000 miles and the left front is down to the wear bars. The rest are as usual rears bald in middle etc.
I'm not surprised that my rear tires are bald, but has anyone else worn the tred off the fronts in only 23,000 miles? The inside treads on both front tires are completely gone. The dealer said the alignment was ok, and that uneven wear is unavoidable when the tires cannot be rotated. Has anyone else noticed this same type of uneven wear?

[mtnh]

:bounce: I only have 14,000 miles and the left front is down to the wear bars. The rest are as usual rears bald in middle etc.

The factory specs make the car do this to the tires. Also, the toe is set to negative, meaning that the tires point away from each other. A tech on the board has revised settings, which he claims is going to be much better for tire wear, and I have brought those settings to my dealer and had them implemented. I will also be changing the front tires in a couple of days, to start a whole new wear observation process.

Claude, a mechanic in Fla, who also owns a MM, has specified -.3 deg camber, and 0 deg toe, leaving the caster set to factory specs. I don't notice any diff in handling. Too bad the idoit who aligned my car to these specs forgot to tighten the camber adjusting bolt nuts, they were hand tight and the steering wheel got cocked so badly that the radio controls were at 5:30 clock position 3 weeks later. Was I ever p-ed off when I took my wrench underneath and found the nuts hand tight. I brought it back, specified the settings again, and left them the directions from the manual. I got it back and looked at the data sheet off the alignment machine, and saw that they set it back to factory specs! Note that I wrote down the correct modified settings on the work order. They did it again, the next day, and I brought it home, went under it with my torque wrench, and found the camber and caster locking nuts at spec, but the tie rod nuts were loose, one of them a whole turn away from contacting the tie rod end! All this required that my snow tires were back on the car, as this dealer has not provision for aligning with 18 factory rims.
The other dealer in the area is much worse, they scratched my paint with a belt buckle doing a courtesy underhood fluid check, then tried to pick a fight with me for proving that they did it. The service manager said, "I spoke with my tech, and he said that he checked all your fluids from the front, not the side. I nodded and as I was turning away, I asked him to look at a panther underhood next time he sees one open, and explain how he would A: get the transmission dip stick out, and B: put it back in; from the front. The dust from the winter was still under the hood, and the line in the dust lines up perfectly with the fender scratch from checking the (cold) transmission fluid; as if checking a transmission's dipstick when cold is even worth the effort!

Mike

[Marauderman]

:bounce: I only have 14,000 miles and the left front is down to the wear bars. The rest are as usual rears bald in middle etc.
Well, for those who did not read my post from this past Sat . trip to Alt,Ga.-- I too had my left front wear to the inside core..pixxed off --had to use spare to get home--am now reading thru all last years post on tire wear to decide what to do-
1. Put all same size all around
2. if all same size --which size- help anyone!!
3. find a place to align it correctly
4. find out what the specs should be so as to take w/me to alignment shop cause they surely won't know.

After reading so much said on this topic, I conclude that most front tire wear is like mine and between 12/14k to 20k..and but wear should have gotten me to 20k not 14k---thus no warranty claim..

But either way--I must get new tires --guess the best bet is to initiate same size all around--I'm leaning towards the rear for all four corners--to keep the speedo the same if for nothing else--and maybe be cheaper-

.....and comments from others...........Thanks....... ..Tom

[MICA Racing]

I would try rear tires on all 4 corners, try those new alignment settings (.8 to .9 is pretty radical for a street tire - we ran .8 - 1.2 on my open wheel race car, and toe-out will make the car 'darty' over uneven pavement), have the alignment done by a good, reputable independent shop (what a horror story by mtnh), and run 36psi in all 4 tires, then tune about .5 psi at a time front to rear until you're happy. Then rotate the tires religiously every 5k miles, and you've done about everything you can to extend your tire life. Good luck, and anyone else with thoughts on what I'm suggesting please chime in + or -.

[Marauderman]

I would try rear tires on all 4 corners, try those new alignment settings (.8 to .9 is pretty radical for a street tire - we ran .8 - 1.2 on my open wheel race car, and toe-out will make the car 'darty' over uneven pavement), have the alignment done by a good, reputable independent shop (what a horror story by mtnh), and run 36psi in all 4 tires, then tune about .5 psi at a time front to rear until you're happy. Then rotate the tires religiously every 5k miles, and you've done about everything you can to extend your tire life. Good luck, and anyone else with thoughts on what I'm suggesting please chime in + or -.
Thanks Michael- I guess the larger size for all four corners is what I'll do--but I don't quite understand the specs as yet-sorry--

What do they need to be? Cause are specs different cause it's a "Marauder" and if so, then doing the larger tire on the front,,.. will that cause the specs to be different or that they will need to be different cause of that and iif so --to what spec....hope that wasn't confusing..Tom....

help anyone....