excessive tyre wear

[Craig70]

Hi All,

New to the forum and have a 2020 model STX. I live in the hunter Valley NSW and most of my driving is highway driving.
About 8k on the clock I noticed the outside of the front tyres was starting to wear, by the time I did anything about it the tyres needed replacing at approx 12k. I replaced them and had a wheel alignement done and now at 28k both the front tyres are wearing again on the outside. In all the cars I have owned I have never had this issue before. Has anybody else experienced this or know of any issue? I spoke to the dealer but they just say it needs a wheel alignment which I dont want to be getting every 3 months.

 

[Old.Tony]

My local tyre guy has a clever cookie doing the wheel alignments and he told me that there was not enough adjustment in my front suspension/steering so I needed to replace part of the gear (I can't remember exactly what the name of the part was, but I have new front wishbones). Pedders Suspension did the replacement work and it appears that they didn't supply the right gear - so I wouldn't use them. Their own wheel alignment guy was hopeless, my local guy has done a far better job.

However, the 2020 STX will have entirely different suspension up front to my 2009 model. If you go visit the dealer you're either going to get a canned response because they really don't know (particularly if it's Maitland Nissan, I can't believe they still call themselves a service department) or you're going to get a vaguely correct response for the suspension and wheel alignment of a 1920's unicycle.

I would take the car to an independent business (although I'd steer clear of Pedders) and get them to have a quick look. My local guy charges me about $40 to do a wheel alignment, and I wouldn't expect anyone to charge you even that much to just have a look at it.

 

[[email protected]]

unfortunately you need someone who knows what they are doing if need be install adjuster kits. have had same problem myself , found the best place 3rd time . nissan should take responsibilty ,, the front left is the one that gets hammered, mainly caused at round abouts and is impossible to get 100% correct , tyre swap helps . in severe cases dont swap you will ruin the whole 4 tyres. have the offending tyre turned ,change direction on same rim before to much damage ocurs

 

[ShortyNavros]

Actually I think you'll find the np300 and the d40 use the same upper control arm wish bones iirc (don't quote me). Is the vehicle lifted? Often once the vehicle is lifted above normal ride height it's very hard to get a correct alignment. Aftermarket upper control arms will allow greater adjustment and could be an option.

 

[pol327]

This is as I understand the problem to be, and as explained and shown to me by a friend who is a wheel alignment specialist with 30 plus years experience.
With a lot of 4WD and SUV's with similar independent front suspension setups, it is specifically the design to achieve greater suspension travel and a more comfortable ride and the effect that this has on the suspension geometry.

The end result is the that the toe settings is affected as the suspension travel changes. The toe should not change as the suspension travels up and down however with the majority of these vehicles it does and this causes tyre wear. The softer suspension is the result of manufacturers trying to get 4WD's to travel as comfortable as possible and under normal driving conditions the suspension travels further.

I have personally witnessed this on the wheel alignment machine. The toe was set to the manufactures specification and then we physically moved the suspension up and down we watched the toe readings change.
I have a HT panel van that we put on the same machine, carried out the same movements and there was zero toe change as the suspension travel was altered.

I was told that on 'some vehicles' this can be improved (case by case as not all can be) by spending significant time making specific adjustments to try and correct the toe changes. The problem is the amount of time that it takes and the majority of people not wanting to pay $400 plus dollars to achieve this.
My own experience as well as being a mechanic and having owned a number of 4WD's is to swap the tyres front to rear every 5000km's to try and achieve the best possible tyre life.

 

[Erick]

It can be a good idea to sit in the drivers seat either during the alignment if the mechanic will let u or when it’s done but still on the machine. See how everything looks then. Makes a significant difference on most newer vehicles with softer suspension and independent systems.