Tires cupped, how to fix?

[jumpn]

I rotated my tires yesterday, (Bridgestone Potenza G009's) and found that the tires on the rear of my Jetta were cupped on the inside. There were no visible signs of baldness, or tread problems, but noticeable when you run your hand around the shoulder of the tire. I took the car into the Firestone dealer that sold me the tires. I originally thought it was just one of the tires, but turns out that both the tires that were on the rear had this problem. I think it had a 4 wheel alignment about 42000 miles ago. Tires have 30,000 miles on them. They want to do 4 wheel alignment and 2 new tires. Also the rear tires look like this from the back /-----\. Evidently, there is no rear camber adjustment for this? Please let me get your opinions on this. New shocks, alignment and tires? Anything else? thanks, Jumpn

 

[myke_w]

Regular rotation, correct air pressure, proper alignment. One or more must be lacking.

 

[Joe_Meehan]

Sorry, but I don't believe there is any fix. What you do want to do is to make sure you fix the alignment problem that usually causes them to cup or the other tyres will end up the same way.

You might be able to get them shaved, but I doubt it it is going to be a viable option as it will likely mean taking down too much tread.

 

[eb2143]

The tires were on the rear...if the front show no signs of irregular wear, can this not only be attributed to the non-adjustable rear axle?

I hate how much camber (wrong term?) the rear wheels have. They tilt in at quite an angle, and you can't do anything about it. It looks weird.

I haven't had any wear issues as far as I can tell though.

So how'd you get a four-wheel alignment on the Jetta?

 

[dzl_nator]

Typically this is caused by underdamping of the rear struts and loose wheel bearings. I have mitigated this, but not solved it entirely, by tightening the wheel bearings so that no noticeable play is there and by replacing the rear struts. Start with the wheel bearings.

However, I have adopted another approach. I rotate the tires at each oil change (10K miles) and I put 34 psi in the rears.

 

[speed185187]

I have the same problem with my rear tires. Perelli 3000's. I just keep rotating them every OCI and dont worry about it. All the different tires out there, they all do different things on everybody's cars.

 

[kwong7]

After installing my H&R Dunebuggy coilovers, I've noticed the front and rear tires wear pretty evenly. I haven't rotated in the last 40K miles and the wear patterns were very similar. However, I've noticed that inflating my Michelin Pilot Sports to 42/44 PSI resulted in the center and shoulders(inside and outside) of the tires to wear first. I've been known to corner very fast and have slid the rear of the car out a few times on the track (explains the shoulders wearing). I believe I over-inflated the tires over the last 30K miles and hence the abnormal wear. My tires looked more like a less exaggerated version of this: _-u-_

 

[auto_tech]

for those who have the rear tire wear situation, how are your rear axle bushings? Just curious if this could have an affect on alignment at all?

 

[jumpn]

I think what I will do short term is put the cupped tires back in the back, run them at 34-36 psi (currently run at 38) and look at shocks in the near future. I figure I don't want to screw up all 4 tires, just keep it at 2 for now, and watch them until I do new shocks. Koni reds, anyone?