Wheel Tracking

[BOSHER1950]

Can anyone help ?? my front nearside tyre is wearing on the outside and drifting to the left, i have in the past few months had my tracking done 3 times at 3 different places yet the car is still drifting to the left and tyre still wearing on the outside ?? it's really pi--ing me off ! i'd be greatfull if anyone has any suggestions as to what it could possibly be that's causing the wear. many thanks in advance.

[alavahalf]

Has the car been involved in an accident where the suspension was damaged ?

[Linotype]

Oh boy, sounds like you need to change your front end tyre garage ... you don't state mileage or indeed the car, but it does sound like a FWD (front wheel drive). Any decent tyre alignment specialist would first check out if steering joints/suspension taken a hit; then badly adjusted/worn out wheel bearing, etc. Could be a multitude of 'sins' causing the problem ... but again a reputable tyre/front end specialist (ie: one that's recommended*) company should be able to pinpoint the problem – especially when you tell them this is the fourth time you having troubles. *Can't help you directly, for my sins live in Cape Town ....

[ToraToraTora]

you need more than tracking, tyreland do a full geometry check, that is they check all 3 planes of motion. Also has the car been in an accident? how did it get out of line, was that sudden or slowly over a period of time.

[derekpara]

Sounds as if there is a steering geometry problem, and that could account for the tyre wear, but aren't cars designed to drift slightly to the nearside anyway ?

[tonyav]

but aren't cars designed to drift slightly to the nearside anyway ?

Thats because there is a slight left camber on our roads ( British ), derekpara.

[Iggle Piggle]

Rubbing or hitting a curb can throw out the alignment, unless the 'track rod arms' are actually bent the garage should be able to adjust them to correct the tyre wear. A decent garage will check to see if a wishbone bush has collapsed, this can also cause tyre wear (and usually a clonking noise).
While parked with the steering straight, grab the tyre/wheel at the top and try to rock it into and away from the car, does it 'clonk'?

[tonyav]

Gotta love Scotty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulA-P9c20sk

[bhg481]

In my experience faulty tracking usually causes BOTH front tyres to wear, not just one of them. The fact that only one is wearing points to a problem with the bushes/shock absorber etc at one side only. I think you need to get a reputable garage to examine the whole of the front suspension/steering gear. In other words, don't just ask for the track to be checked.

[BOSHER1950]

Hi, and many thanks for those of you that were kind enough to answer my message, i should have said but forgot to mention that YES the car has been at some time involved in a CLASS C front end accident prior to my buying the vehicle which is an old 2002 diesel Mondeo, but when i first drove the car i did notice that the nearside front tyre was slightly low and so put the drifting to the left down to that, won't make that mistake again ! now looks as though it needs to go into a specialist to sort out the problem, more bloody expense ! once again many thanks for all the replies and advice , very much appreciated .

[bhg481]

The video recommended by Tonyav is interesting but remember that some tyres are directional ie, they have a preferred direction of rotation, so they can't be swapped from left to right. Such tyres usually have an arrow on the sidewall showing the direction of rotation.

[Iggle Piggle]

in that case I would get the wishbone replaced on the affected side but get the garage to do some pretty accurate measuring between fixed points and bolt holes first to save throwing good money after bad. If the chassis is bent where the wishbone bolts to, it won't be worth sorting, if it's just that the wishbone is bent/distorted this could solve the problem and be fairly cheap.