outer wear on front tires

**anchlo** · 08-28-2008, 02:34 PM

Im noticing that both front tires have wear on the first 2 inchec or so... bad enough that its almost bald... I've searched this problem here and found that it could be an alignment problem, maybe? The Camaro is a stock 02 SS A4 mileage about 28K.

Also, Im hearing what sounds like a clanking noise coming from the front end maybe? not loud, but noticeable when going over small bumps or down a slight hill...

Would like to get this resolved before I buy new tires... What do you guys recomend I do/purchase?

**5150** · 08-28-2008, 03:23 PM

Take it to a competent alignment shop. If there is something loose or not right they should catch it.

**Y2KPewterSS** · 08-28-2008, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by 5150

Take it to a competent alignment shop. If there is something loose or not right they should catch it.

**Goldcuffs** · 08-28-2008, 03:40 PM

Too much positive camber. The clanking could be lower ball joints, sway bar links, or possibly sway bar mounts.

**2000silverbullet** · 08-28-2008, 07:41 PM

had the same probelm...my tie rod was messed up.

**slade8200** · 08-28-2008, 07:55 PM

I just had alignment done a few days ago at a GM dealer. They charge $100 and I figured they are as competent as anyone else if not more. My left front tire had pretty bad wear on the first inch or two, like you mentioned. My right front was OK. I got the before and after printouts of my alignment and the camber was fine, but both front tires had too much toe. I think the specification for the toe-in is +/- .05 and mine were at .18 and .24 (and mine only has 19K on it). As far as the clunking, just look under there and see if anything is messed up.

**konigandy6** · 08-29-2008, 02:42 AM

Are you rotating your tires? Outer tread wear on the the front is the first signal that tires need to be rotated more frequently.

**vetteemt** · 08-29-2008, 03:58 AM

Its either or both of too much positive camber or to much toe in. I had the same problem when I bought my SS. The alignment was not set correctly from the factory.

**stephen02ws6** · 08-29-2008, 06:59 AM

get the front end aligned and then rotate the tires

**2002 WS6 KILLS** · 08-30-2008, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by stephen02ws6

get the front end aligned and then rotate the tires

**Eugenio_SS** · 08-30-2008, 08:57 AM

stock alignment is shit...
GM puts positive camber, so that you'll lose traction in the front, so they don't get sued.
\-----/ this is what positive camber looks like
/-----\ this is waht negative camber looks like

Just get an alignment to these specs:
camber: -0.5' or the most negative you can get, if you can't go that far (some cars don't)
toe-in: 0
castor: +4.5'

**blackbirdbrain89** · 08-30-2008, 09:01 PM

sorry but not to piss off a mad ort any thing but gm runs cars on a track to set alignment. thell run a car and test and campare the heat on the in side and out side of the tires and adjust till its close to even... and the stock camber is set to -0.1 to 0.9. i did my own alignment and set it to.0 and my toe is also at.00 camber is 4.3-5.3 mine is set at 5.0 and i still have the out sides of my tires worn in

**konigandy6** · 08-31-2008, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by blackbirdbrain89

sorry but not to piss off a mad ort any thing but gm runs cars on a track to set alignment. thell run a car and test and campare the heat on the in side and out side of the tires and adjust till its close to even... and the stock camber is set to -0.1 to 0.9. i did my own alignment and set it to.0 and my toe is also at.00 camber is 4.3-5.3 mine is set at 5.0 and i still have the out sides of my tires worn in

How often do you rotate tires?

**Eugenio_SS** · 08-31-2008, 05:57 PM

the problem with 0' camber or positive camber is the following.
Let's assume 0' camber.
that means that when you are on the highway just in straight line, the wear will be good.
But whenever you turn, the tires will wear on the outside more than on the inside.
Note that tires wear more when cornering than when not being strained and going in a straight line, so you'll want negative camber, so that when going in straight line, it will slightly wear more on the inside, but when you're cornering, it'll wear more on the outside (wears more because of the load, but you turn less times)... that's why I recommend -0.5' for street use.
For a bit of racing applications and street use, -1.0 to -1.5 is good.

**nuttyprofessor** · 09-02-2008, 05:54 PM

I had similar wear on my front tires...changed camber to -0.5 and wear disappeared. I rotate my tires every year as I only put around 5-7k a yr.

**Mean Green Z28** · 09-03-2008, 01:10 PM

good info here!!!

**GatorSS** · 09-27-2009, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS

the problem with 0' camber or positive camber is the following.
Let's assume 0' camber.
that means that when you are on the highway just in straight line, the wear will be good.
But whenever you turn, the tires will wear on the outside more than on the inside.
Note that tires wear more when cornering than when not being strained and going in a straight line, so you'll want negative camber, so that when going in straight line, it will slightly wear more on the inside, but when you're cornering, it'll wear more on the outside (wears more because of the load, but you turn less times)... that's why I recommend -0.5' for street use.
For a bit of racing applications and street use, -1.0 to -1.5 is good.

Yes, great "rule of thumb" that is often overlooked. Short, simple and straightforward--makes it easier to remember. I wound up having slightly positive camber on my left wheel causing too much wear on the outside edge of the tire. I halfway remembered reading this last year, before I had to go away on a project for a while. I'm glad I searched for this and re-read it. It only took a few minutes and saved me a good deal of time. It was an easy adjustment to do myself.

How many of you here on ls1.com do wheel adjustments yourself?

**mpfranks** · 09-27-2009, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by GatorSS

of you here on ls1.com do wheel adjustments yourself?

i did mine myself. needed set after i lowered my car. it was over a year ago, so i have no clue what i set it to, i do remember setting some neg camber. i have my print out in my folder with all my car info. i only put on about 2k miles a year, so i havent noticed any uneven tire wear. and my BFG's only have about 2-3K on them.

but im sure not too many people set their own since you need access to an alignment machine, unless youre old school and do it with strings.

**mrr23** · 10-02-2009, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by blackbirdbrain89

sorry but not to piss off a mad ort any thing but gm runs cars on a track to set alignment. thell run a car and test and campare the heat on the in side and out side of the tires and adjust till its close to even... and the stock camber is set to -0.1 to 0.9. i did my own alignment and set it to.0 and my toe is also at.00 camber is 4.3-5.3 mine is set at 5.0 and i still have the out sides of my tires worn in

yep, but it doesn't mean it'll be the best for tire wear. these cars exhibit a fair amount of camber roll in turns. positive camber with high positive caster causes this. to offset this, you either lower camber, caster, or both. best alternative it to lower camber first. set it to what eugenio ss said and it'll alleviate the outside tire wear.

i do my own, seeing as i own an alignment shop.