flan
Veteran Member
i put it up on the lift, shook everything, inspected bushings. can weak shocks do this? I figured springs is what sets the ride height? Inside of my tires are cupping due to this.
Yes and no, if they were that worn, your wheels would be wobbling and you'd have this god awful grinding noise or the whum whump whump sound.Would bad wheel bearings cause it?
Could be sagging springs. Springs can get permanently compressed if overloaded.i put it up on the lift, shook everything, inspected bushings. can weak shocks do this? I figured springs is what sets the ride height? Inside of my tires are cupping due to this.
Directional tires suck on a FWD car. Rotation depends on if the tires cup, but usually, I cross rotate the fronts to the back, this flattens them out, then the backs go straight forward. If you have cupped back tires from alignment, lack of rotation or whatever, then I X them. Belt shift is nonsense, this comes from the old days of bias ply tires,.I went 9k. The car came with directionals too. I understand they are not the best on this car. As far as rotation pattern I hear much debate about that. If you do anything other then swap the front to the back belts can shift, etc
~~~~~~~~~i put it up on the lift, shook everything, inspected bushings. can weak shocks do this? I figured springs is what sets the ride height? Inside of my tires are cupping due to this.
How is the camber on your '02? Mine '02 wagon is like this:/ \ @ 229K miles. Any recommendations?Alignment on my wagon is in spec. However, it destroyed a set of Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires. Chopped them enough so they got very noisy when only half worn. I do rotate them, but they're directional so I can't swap side-to-side. Lesson learned. No more directional tires on MKIV cars.
/ \ isn't exactly a measurement. Last alignment (three weeks ago) rear camber is -1.73 left, -1.34 right. Left is slightly out of spec, minimum is -1.62. But I have the original rear axle bushings which do need replacement at 306K miles.How is the camber on your '02? Mine '02 wagon is like this:/ \ @ 229K miles. Any recommendations?
Correct, the OE's and everyone wants the good tires on the rear because there isn't much weight back there, so subsubstand tires will make the back want to oversteer unexpectably and most drivers have no clue how to react and correct when that happens. I taught my wife how to correct oversteer. In snowy conditions, I'll put sandbags in the rear of van's or in the truck of FWD cars to help keep the back end planted.I'm curious about this, that you put new tires on the front. The big tire shops say that new tires go on the rear (their policies).
Tire shops also advocate "rotating" tires. I'm sure that this allows them to spot potential sales, but on the other hand it sure seems like it's quite a bit of work doing all those rotations for free.
Lastly, given that tires are really only safe for like 5 years or so, leaving any pair on your car longer than this, even if there's still a lot of tread left, presents a safety issue. I spent a fair amount on truck tires for a truck that gets limited use (farm truck); knowing this aging issue is a factor then makes me wonder whether I shouldn't just look to get cheaper tires?