integras tire wear question

alignment. struts don't make that kind of wear on an integra because of the wishbones.

check the bushings as well. ball joints would have to be /well/ gone to make a difference.

jim beam wrote in news:D8adnZ_6Tu08x_vZRVn- snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

The car is a 1994,not hit any potholes or any thing that might knock out alignment,mileage is 56,000 mi.,car lived entire life in Florida heat. I do like to corner hard.

I could see bushings getting old considering the heat here.

are you sure it was never done by the tire shop? no joking, i must have had my civic aligned 7 or 8 times before i finally found someone who could actually use the equipment properly. 4-wheel alignment on this kind of suspension seems way beyond most people.

and apparently, the rear alignment spec is missing from a number of the reference books used by the alignment shops - as evidenced by the last guy that did mine. i was very specific about what i wanted and he came back to say he couldn't do the rear like i'd asked because the book said it was not adjustable. i knew the spec and showed him what to do, and he did an excellent job after that, but seriously, if he was just following the normal "book" alignment procedure, i'd have left the shop with yet another bad alignment just like before.

now, i have great alignment, great handling and most important, even tire wear. honda knew their business - these cars line up just great when done right. oh, and one last thing. make sure the front is lined up "both wheels straight ahead". good for tire wear and slightly better cornering. i swear some shops like to give excess toe to increase tire wear and get you back again sooner.

Is it lowered? Aftermarket or cut springs perhaps? Doing that without properly compensating will create enormous negative camber and cause that kind of nasty inner tire wear.

Jim, Definitely sounds like alignment problem. If the wear is equal all the way around the inner circumference of the tire (no hills and valleys so to speak), then one or two adjustment angles are out of specs. Either camber (top of tire leaning in toward the car too much) or toe is too far out. You didn't mention any handling quirks so I would assume that camber is the problem, predominately. Another check is to closely examine the tire wear and look for "feathering" toward the outer edge of the tire. Caused by the tire sliding while it is rolling. This would indicate a toe problem. I would have thought that you would have felt some steering and handling problem if this was the case however. Time for an alignment. Be sure the shop thoroughly inspects the front end for worn, wearing, or damaged parts before doing the alignment. Cheers.

Dave D

Matt Ion wrote in news:9Wv9g.159898$P01.141471@pd7tw3no:

suspension is as stock as it was the day I brought it home from the dealer. the back tires look new,only 20K miles on them,the fronts have about 3" of bald area on the inside,outside is worn to the wear indicators. I'm going to get the front suspension looked at.

Sounds like a definite camber problem... and definitely time to replace the tires anyway, if you're down to the wear indicators. Get the alignment checked and new tires put on all in one shot.

Oh, and despite the apparent good wear condition of the back tires, you'll want to MAKE SURE they do a four-wheel alignment; it costs a little more, but is critical on cars with four-wheel independant suspension to ensure alignment is correct all the way around. Also, you should consider rotating your tires on a regular basis, as front and rear tires tires WILL wear differently, especially on a front-wheel drive car; regular rotation will prevent one set from wearing out significantly faster than the other, and give you more overall tire life.