Tyre wear

bainbridge

bainbridge

bainbridge

Soldato
Joined
9 Dec 2009
Posts
5,488
Location
Bristol
Hi Motors

The front tyres on my MX5 have worn on the inside edge but still have plenty of meat on the main surface bit with the wear indicators.

I poly bushed the suspension suspension last year and replaced some adjustment bolts that had seized. As a result the alignment guy had a full range of alignment options and he set up the car on a 'fast road' basis with quite aggressive camber.

The tyres themselves are about three years old anyway, but I usually run them right down to the the wear indicator before replacing.

Any thoughts?

PXL-20250422-163407387.jpg
 
Yeah that's exactly what aggressive camber does to tyres so all working as you intended.

If you're running tyres with anything more than like 1.0 degrees of camber you'll wear out the edges of tyres unless you're driving everywhere cornering on the door handles.

Unfortunately you can't have bonus handing without a trade off
 
@sovietspybob Thanks for replying. Looks like I'll need to replace the tires then, as were doing a big road trip in June.

I imagine that if I leave em the cords will become exposed with tread still left on the main part of the tyre.

Cheers.
 
If they aren't asymmetrical/directional then technically you could have them refitted the other way out on the rim, but probably not worth the cost of a tyre fitter to do, vs what you'd get out of them.
 
Simon said:
What toe. Camber doesn’t kill edges. Toe does
Click to expand...
Oh it does, as it is the inner edge taking all the weight when going straight. My BMW X6 used to eat rear tyres because of the aggressive rear camber but went round corners much better than something that size ever should.
 
The tyre will deform and spread the load to the centre. The inside edge will run hotter but the tyre will soon cone anyway. That picture is classic tyre scrub.

Anyway everyone’s an expert jumping in to say I’m wrong but I’m still interested to know the toe on the OPs car. Poly bushes will mean less dynamic toe changes (no bush deflection) so needs to be accounted for
 
Last edited:
Yeah I'd say that -2deg of negative camber is too much for your general driving style going off the tyres wearing like the photo's. Maybe dial it back a little next adjustment and your tyres should wear more evenly.
 
Armageus said:
But yet you haven't provided any more than anyone else and a "it's not camber it's toe, trust me brah" :confused:
Click to expand...
I asked for the setting and never said trust me brah. My s2000 had no issues on 2-2.5 camber. And my e92 m3 is fully rose jointed with 2 front and 2.5 rear. Both run zero front toe. Completely even tyre wear so far but that includes track where the tyre is flat and running the right pressure. Again no suspension bush deflection

The x6 with rear inner edge wear is known for worn bushes causing it as toe changes under power so creates toe in as the bushes deflect.

Seems like setup is ok. What tyre pressure is OP running ? Suggest cornering harder otherwise but still it’s very extreme edge wear. Are there any bushes that are rubber that may be moving? Are both sides equal wear?
 
Last edited:
The tyres on my Volvo do the exact same thing, on the fronts only, inside edge.

Maybe not quite to the degree of those photos.

I've had the alignment/tracking checked several times and fine.

Hang on I'll get a photo in a sec.

Edit: it's not the best photo because the worn bit is in shadow on the right side as the photo, but you can see the edge wearing.

It's about now I really have to keep an eye on them because once they start going they go quickly, although I reckon I got a few months on those depending on how much driving.

PXL-20250424-062421707-MP.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone for responding, and lots of good points raised.

Regarding tyre pressure I run the tyres at 28psi all round. That might sound a bit low, but higher pressures make the suspension feel harsh and crashy. It's a light car and there is a fair consensus in the mx5 community that 28psi is the sweet spot, which I agree with.

I think the camber settings are at maximum negative, so after the tyre change I might get him to dial the camber back a bit.

Every rubber bush on the suspension has been replaced with polyurethane, so I'm confident that the geometry is more stable than the old worn rubber bushings.

The car has never handled better. Turn in feels instant, the suspension loads up quickly and is super stable in corners, but having said that I've not done as much track driving as I anticipated.

Thanks all
 
bainbridge said:
Thanks everyone for responding, and lots of good points raised.

Regarding tyre pressure I run the tyres at 28psi all round. That might sound a bit low, but higher pressures make the suspension feel harsh and crashy. It's a light car and there is a fair consensus in the mx5 community that 28psi is the sweet spot, which I agree with.

I think the camber settings are at maximum negative, so after the tyre change I might get him to dial the camber back a bit.

Every rubber bush on the suspension has been replaced with polyurethane, so I'm confident that the geometry is more stable than the old worn rubber bushings.

The car has never handled better. Turn in feels instant, the suspension loads up quickly and is super stable in corners, but having said that I've not done as much track driving as I anticipated.

Thanks all
Click to expand...

Was the photo in your original post the front right tyre? And have both tyres worn exactly the same? Got a photo of the other side?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom