[s-cars] Tire Wear - Lowered S6

[RubEric at aol.com]

The subject is my treasured S6, chipped w/digital boost gauge. I have 18 inch 
Avus wheels with SP 9000 235-40x18 tires and big reds. I installed Eibach 
springs and Bilstein shocks lowering the car about 1-3/4 inches. (The Bilstien's 
were harsh - the car rode as if the tires had 100 lbs of air - so I removed 
them and reinstalled the original equipment shocks. The resulting ride is 
wonderful.)

With slotted strut mounts, the car aligned with camber at -1.5 deg L and -1.2 
deg R. Specs are  - 1.1 deg to  -0.1 deg. I realized this was out of spec but 
it was not FAR out, was it? My plan was to monitor tire wear and to replace 
the camber plates if wear became evident.

Well, I watched for unusual tread wear but none appeared so I concluded that 
I had avoided the expense of a caster/camber adjustment system and was okay.

Well, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!  I was looking in the wrong place! The tread did 
not show evidence of excessive wear - the wear was taking place on the inside 
shoulder of the tires.  I have never seen such wear. The inside shoulder was 
actually worn concave and the steel belts were showing along about a foot of the 
circumference! (Pics available, if of interest.)  This was after about 8,000 
miles!

Well, I ordered four new SP 9000's and 2Bennett's camber/caster system. 
($O,uch)  I am very impressed by how beautifully made these plates are. 
Installation was very easy. Thanks very much for the group purchase. That really helped. 

Alignment with the 2 Bennet System yielded -0.8 deg Left and - 0.5 deg right, 
about in the middle of the spec, with everything else within specs. 

I did not think being only so 'slightly' out of spec would result in such 
spectacular wear and I wonder if it there is some other problem. Altho I now seem 
to be within spec I will monitor tire wear, especially on the inside 
shoulders, much more carefully. 

My thoughts:  If you're gonna' lower, you gotta' change the plates!

Good Luck, 

Eric
95 S6
Olympic
RT 10
XK 120 (Hers)
Mk IV (Hers too!)
FLHR
FLHRC (Hers)
Chry CQ
Some trucks.