Do the rear wheels on the Focus estate (1999) have any adjustment on them for tracking or alignment like front wheels normally do? I've heard this might be the case with the Focus rear suspension set up, and one of my rear tyres is worn more on the outside than the inside.
Yes they do, I had this problem on my 1999 Focus when I bought it brand new. The Ford dealer said they were in tolerance when I pointed out the tyres were wearing. A few months later the tyre was well down and they then adjusted the tracking. They also adjusted the front even though there was nothing wrong here before they touched it. Eventually after three goes and a new set of tyres they finally got it right.
Hope this helps - Mike
The Focus estates/wagons are well known to be difficult to get good rear alignment on. You have to shop around and locate a facility with state of the art alignment equipment and plenty of experience with this vehicle type. In my own experience, I have found this rules out most Ford dealers :(
Rob
---------------------
"Mike2" wrote ...
I got this done on my '01 wagon couple of months ago. the service tech said that it needs to be done regularly. the fact that this had never been done on my car surprised him a lot since it was not still out of specs after 4 years of driving. they used some fancy computer stuff and it was very cheap! $12 addition to my service bill.. However, I have to say that I get tire rotation twice a year when I take my car in for regular service. The car still has original tires (Michelins) with ~%50 life left on tires.
ahmet
Turkey
'01 wagon 1.6 liter 37K Kms on the clock
Semi-on-topic, ahmet's point: I just took my "new" 2004 (US) in to the dealer for the 6,000 miles (nothing but the oil and filter change, really... ) But they wanted to rotate the tires. ... Seemed silly, in a way, and I turned them down--this time ... Any point to it, every 6k miles? Any point in not doing it, every 6k ? (Very trustworthy dealer, but all I could imagine was some unlikely screw-up on the part of some mechanic -- the regular human oversight -- who happened to be in a hurry ... My superstition about such things happening, probably.)
(And, oh yes, I learned my lesson years ago about my not ever, ever, ever loosening the bolts -- on another car, when I had an unexpected flat. What fun :( So am not against rotating them, at all. ... But does every 6k help, hurt, or not make much difference at all?
Dave
superstition
Well Dave, I think that rotating tires often does help because all 4 tires on my car are evenly worn. The place where I live is quite hilly and I have to use the brakes a lot making the front tires worn faster than the rears. By rotating them, I get pretty even wear on all 4. Also, the Ford dealer I go to does this for free!! They put the car on lift for oil change and take the tires off for free brake inpection and dust cleaning.. Since the tires are off, why not rotate them? However, if you use you car for mainly highway driving, you may not need to rotate them often. Hope this helps.
Ahmet
Turkey
I had the rear tire ware issue on my 2001 Focus Wagon. Left rear tire started wareing bad and making noise. Three alignment shops aligned it and said it was fine, even Ford took a shot.
The tire ware got bad, the noise got bad and finally I stopped at Twin City Tire in Bloomington MN and had a new set of tires put on and an alignment done by an alignment guy who told me, "don't worry, I can fix this car". Bottom line - with the new tires and alignment the car drives and handles like never before. I cannot say enough about the cars handling now. The alignment guy did know what he was talking about, the car does NOT jump sideways anylonger either, another issue that no one could solve. I am very happy, very happy with my new tires and alignment. The rear tires on the Focus can be aligned if you find someone who knows what he's doing.
Gene
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.