Uneven tire wear

[how900]

Hi Guys, a bit more expert advice please, got a 1995 80 UK spec so RHD and its just started giving me uneven tire wear on the front passenger side, the outer edge of the tire, I'm no tire expert but this said wheel alignment needed adjusting, but the local garage said all is ok. I have stiff springs and new OME shocks about 12 months/5000 miles ago. Any ideas what else might be wrong.....I'll get another opinion on the alignment but what do you think.
I'm running standard ride hight, standard rims and tire size. Tires were rotated about 1000 miles ago and have I've only noticed the problem since then. The tire that was on this corner is ok.
The roads I drive are not great, pot holes and I do some driving on unmade road to and from our house each day.
Anyway thanks in advance for any help

 

[woodsman 44]

What brand of tire U running? whats your tire pressure?

If pressure is to low you will wear the outside first...to much pressure you wear the center.

 

[how900]

Michelin all round, wear is only on the outside of one tyre which is why i was thinking tracking and not tyre pressure but I'll check pressures tomorrow and confirm what they are.
Cheers
H

 

[96Cruiser13]

its rare, but some tires just have defects. If you actually trust the shop you took it to, i'd get a new tire... if not, id check out another shop, sounds like a toe issue.

 

[ppc]

Hi Guys, a bit more expert advice please, got a 1995 80 UK spec so RHD and its just started giving me uneven tire wear on the front passenger side, the outer edge of the tire, I'm no tire expert but this said wheel alignment needed adjusting, but the local garage said all is ok. I have stiff springs and new OME shocks about 12 months/5000 miles ago.

You mention stiff springs but did they provide a lift? Lifting the vehicle will change the camber settings to some degree causing the outside edges to wear faster. Normally this is not a big problem. More likely is that the axle housing has been bent. Have you hit any curbs or doing any jumping? The only adjustment that the 80 series has is Toe in/out. Caster correction bushings are available. Offset Kingpin bearings I've understand are available downunder. The alternative is to re-bend the housing or cut and re-weld.

I have the same problem but have found it cheaper to rotate the tires, use a higher pressure and just replace the tires at 60K miles rather the expense and headache of the alternatives.

 

[how900]

Ok today I noticed that the wheel with the uneven wear, (Front Left/Passenger side, it's a RHD) anyway that wheel seems to have incorrect camber, it looks like it is out a little out at the top and in a little at the bottom, looking from one front wheel to the other i think this might be the problem, the tire looks like this camber issue is making it run a little on the outside of the tire. the stiff springs I had put on give the same ride hight as standard so I dont think that is the problem. as I understand it there is no adjustment for this. The roads I run on are not good in Grenada so many pot holes and rough roads but I've not been doing any jumps or anything which I think could have bent the axle. Can anybody point me in a direction of bearing or bushes to look at.
Cheers

 

[lynrick]

Ok today I noticed that the wheel with the uneven wear, (Front Left/Passenger side, it's a RHD) anyway that wheel seems to have incorrect camber, it looks like it is out a little out at the top and in a little at the bottom, looking from one front wheel to the other i think this might be the problem, the tire looks like this camber issue is making it run a little on the outside of the tire. the stiff springs I had put on give the same ride hight as standard so I dont think that is the problem. as I understand it there is no adjustment for this. The roads I run on are not good in Grenada so many pot holes and rough roads but I've not been doing any jumps or anything which I think could have bent the axle. Can anybody point me in a direction of bearing or bushes to look at.
Cheers

G'day.
Just had a wheel alignment done on my 80 series. It had a 2'' lift when I bought it and the caster angle had never been corrected so I just did it myself with castor correction bushes. (Mongrel of a job!) Anyway, numbers came out as follows: Castor: L+5.14 R+5.02 Camber: L+0.59 R+0.07 Toe: L-0.3 R-0.4
I think all these numbers are good except the left camber.
The guy tells me to expect tyre wear on the left front tyre, the same as you're getting because the vehicle will pull slightly to the left.
The bad news is that to correct the camber on the cruiser is a mammoth job involving shims on the front hubs akin to doing the birfs.
Anyone knowing more about this, please post!

 

[IdahoDoug]

I've been sitting here thinking about this "mammoth" job and I disagree. It's actually going to be impossible to do with shims. The camber (how much the tire leans either toward or against the body) is determined by the upper and lower knuckle bearings, which together make up what used to be called a "kingpin" or the shaft the front wheels pivoted on when the wheels were turned. On the 80, there can't be a true kingpin because of the drive shafts it would pierce, so the upper and lower bearings create the same pivot point without a shaft.

To change the angle, the steering knuckle and these pivot points would literally require the current holes be welded shut and new holes be drilled, and all this work would have to be correct to halfs of degrees to accomplish the goal. Then it would take some serious engineering to in fact reshim the upper and lower knuckle bearings so they have the correct preload with the relocated holes.

So I misstated that it is impossible. Perhaps I should have said economically infeasible. It would be cheaper to source a new front axle housing, or bring yours to a big machine shop for it to be bent slightly back into shape. In all likelihood your front housing would have to be bent for camber to change. Unless your knuckle bearings are simply worn and letting the wheel take on the angle you describe. I hope you have checked this before getting everybody all wound up about your camber angle.

DougM

 

[lynrick]

I've been sitting here thinking about this "mammoth" job and I disagree. It's actually going to be impossible to do with shims. The camber (how much the tire leans either toward or against the body) is determined by the upper and lower knuckle bearings, which together make up what used to be called a "kingpin" or the shaft the front wheels pivoted on when the wheels were turned. On the 80, there can't be a true kingpin because of the drive shafts it would pierce, so the upper and lower bearings create the same pivot point without a shaft.

To change the angle, the steering knuckle and these pivot points would literally require the current holes be welded shut and new holes be drilled, and all this work would have to be correct to halfs of degrees to accomplish the goal. Then it would take some serious engineering to in fact reshim the upper and lower knuckle bearings so they have the correct preload with the relocated holes.

So I misstated that it is impossible. Perhaps I should have said economically infeasible. It would be cheaper to source a new front axle housing, or bring yours to a big machine shop for it to be bent slightly back into shape. In all likelihood your front housing would have to be bent for camber to change. Unless your knuckle bearings are simply worn and letting the wheel take on the angle you describe. I hope you have checked this before getting everybody all wound up about your camber angle.

DougM

I declare that I'm no expert. That's why I try to learn from this forum but the guy who did the wheel alignment said to

"correct camber would be 6 hours work per side" which seems very uneconomical to me. I am going to live with my camber!