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Uneven wear on my tyre

R

rhkumar

PCGB Member
Member
Hi All,

Just picked up my car from where I purchased it a couple of weeks ago as they had done a small paint job to repair a scratch....On the way home whilst driving I noticed the steering vibrated abit more than it had in the past so I drove to my local tyre place as I thought the front tyres needed re-balancing.

When the front drivers side tyre was taken off they immediately noticed fairly uneven wear on the inside edge.... the difference in tread depth from the outside was considerable (5-6 mm on he outside and 2-3 on the inside).

Tomorrow, I'm taking it to check the wheel alignment but they said it was too severe to be an alignment issue, more like a bush, balljoint or suspension issue, the passenger side was not too bad.

Anyone had anything similar?... Will speak to cridfords on Tuesday to report back as I only purchased the car 3 weeks ago and it's been with them for half of that time.

Whilst the whole thing has been a bit of a pain they've been pretty good addressing the few things that I've bought to their attention...Hope it stays that way!

Thanks

Roy
 
Most likely the alignment. Too much negative camber, I should think. The other possibility is not enough toe-in, but that would likely make the car feel very twitchy at the front.

It might be a wishbone bush or coontrol arm bush, but they are normally accompanied by knocks and clonks.
 
Many Thanks Richard! I hope it's just the alignment as there are no clunks or noise... Will report back tomorrow after the alignment check.

Rgds
 
Hi guys, reporting back. Had the alignment check and they said that whilst the alignment was out a little it wasn't enough to cause the tyre wear that unevenly. They said that the inside had up and down wear on the inner side like the tyre had been skipping on the road. They think it may be a worn shock absorber but it's difficult to say. They also asked if the tyre was new or if it was a part worn in which case we're chasing a problem that may not exist. Will ask Cridfords on Tuesday I guess. Oh well.

Abit confused with next course of action.
Roy
 
None yet, spoke to Cridfords and they said they would have a look at it but went on about ABS kicking in and a possible dodgey tyre causing uneven wear...nothing about possible suspension issue. I think I'll hand it back to Cridfords for them to sort out and prove that it's OK.

Small things I know but not really enjoyed the ownership experience yet... Hopefully soon . Will report back. Also speaking to Chris at Centre Gravity who was extremely nice even though he was really really busy.

Thanks
Roy
 
I guess tyre replacement would be a good start. Having a closer look at the suspension has the be part of the job. CG or WIM would b worth a visit.
 
Hi Magic,

SPoke to Jeff at Cridfords and he said that he thinks the tyre is faulty and maybe needs to be changed. Awaiting his call this week. Also spoke to Chris at COG who was really helpful and gave me a few pointers. Cridfords said that if it did need to go on for a geometry test they would have it done at Porsche Byfleet. Will report back. Not really driven it much as I'm not enjoying it currently. Back in my volvo 850R for the moment. Hopefully all will be resolved this week.

Cheers
Roy
 
Sounds like it is moving in the right direction. Hope they sort it soon, so you can on and enjoy the car.
 
I know exactly how you feel; I bought my car from Porsche Reading some years ago and on the drive home I had front wheel vibration that made the car undrivable above 60 MPH. Take car back to Porsche where lots of excuses later they rebalance the front wheels and all is OK. Few days later I notice the front offside tyre is heavily worn on the inside but as a new to Porsche "Virgin" I believe the "full geometry check before delivery of an approved car" will have fixed any issues. I was wrong and a a subsequent geometry check showed the camber setting on the offside to be well outside spec. The 996 is a great car but nneeds to be set up properly and maintained by people who care about the car and their customer. My experience with the Reading PSC would indicate otherwise. Have now got a great indi for servicing and CG for any geometry issues. Make sure you get your tyre issues resolved by the seller and find out who locally can care for your car.
 
Hi Toals

Assuming that you are local to Reading Porsche PSC, which indi specialist in the area gets your nod of approval?

Also just taken delivery of car and have noticed very slight increased wear (1mm or less) on inside of all four tyres.
 
There are two indies in the Reading area, Wrightune are in Wallingford and I have been using them for servicing for the past 3 years. It is owned by Tony Wright who does the service work and pretty much everything else you would need himself. He has another man called Joe who was an apprentice and now is fully up tp speed on the newer cars to assist. To give you an idea what its like to have Tony looking after your car as opposed to a PSC, I had a very odd problem with temperature fluctuation in that it would reach normal operating temp and then if you gave it the welly the temp would drop back to 60C and then take forever to recover. I had the OPC investigate this issue and after several attempts the problem was still there; finally they changed the thermostat which they said was sticking. Not really a suprise but the problen was still there.
When I first visited Tony for a major service, I described the symptoms to him and he said he would do some digging as he had not seen this before and that he would give me a call. A few days later he rang to ask if I could bring the car over as he had an idea where the problem might be. Basically the Tiptronic cars have a cooling radiator which is connected to the engine cooling system that is opened and closed via vacuum operated valves. The main vacuum pipe to the actuator was broken off just behing the alternator so nothing was working. Tony and Joe spent an hour diagnosing the problem and even had the right connector to repair the pipe. It may just be a coincidence but this problem first arose around the time the OPC replaced my alternator under warranty ! My experience with Wightune has been a pleasure compared to Reading OPC.

The other indi in Reading area is Northway Porsche near Theale. I have not used them but there are others here who will be able to comment.

P. S. If you only have 1mm variation across the tyre, I would not worry about it if the wear is on the inside.
 
I have heard of Northway as my father uses them for his car, they seem well regarded, interesting about Wrightune as had not heard of them before, they sound very thorough however, I don't think you would get that level of service from many main agents. My car was serviced before I collected it, including a laser geometry alignment check, the settings were within tolerance but not perfect so they made very slight adjustments. I wasn't too bothered to be honest but thought I should try and get as much done as part of the "˜deal' as possible.
When the annual service is due (although I believe mine is listed as only requiring service every other year I will have it done annually) I will give Wrightune a call, thanks for the info.
 
+1 For Tony at Wrightune. I've met him several times and he is a no nonsense guy who absolutely knows his stuff. He used to help run a 996 cup car at the Britcar racing and owns a 3.2 Carrera - so has a good depth of knowledge of all things Porsche.
 
Ok folks so this is the latest. Spoke to Cridfords and the technician said that my alignment was not off enough to cause the wear in the tyre so have concluded that the tyre is the problem. They have given me a new pirelli n4 to put on. Just about to go and have that put on and then onto my alignment guy with settings very kindly given to me by Chris at CoG.

Will report back. Roy
 
Depending on the wear on the other side, you might want to consider changing both. If one side is worn considerably more than the other it can cause the PSM to throw a wobbly, as one wheel is rotating faster than the other when you are travelling in a straight line, for example.

I spent the day at GC on Thursday having Chris do some fine tuning on mine. It is amazing what subtle changes he can make to the handling of the car by small changes in geometery, working within the limits of Porsche recommendations. No doubt there are others who can achieve this, but Chris is obsessed with accuracy and can really make it work. To me, the difference is that I get a bespoke setup for my driving conditions and style, rather than a generic one-size-fits-all setup that Porsche provide.

Chris mentioned that he had spoken to you. My advice would be to take it to Tognola for the setup, rather than a non-specialist. Chris speaks highly of Peter.
 
Hi Richard, thank you for your advice. Am looking to take it into Chris when I can get the time off from work. Took it to my local place and the car feels like a completely different car. Feels great. Will post my new set up when I figure out how to do it. Looking at going to see Chris in aug as I know he has an approx 2 month waiting list.

I am based in Hounslow in west London. Is there any chance you could take my car for a drive and tell me what you think?

Rgds

img030.jpg

 
With that much toe-out before, it would have felt very nervous. I'm not surprised you noticed a sigificant difference.

I'd be happy to take a look for you, but if it feels right to you now, it most probably is. Email if you want me to take a look.
 
Looks like you are getting there with this. Wheels in Motion set up both of ours and the C4S was the one that benefitted most. Used to dive around quite a bit, affected by the road surface. Much better now.
 
Mine felt exactly like that a bit twitchy, darted around a lot and followed the road a bit too much. Now it feels like the car isn't fighting against me and goes where I want it to go and not where it wants to go [:)]
 
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