Re: tire wear

[Wallace White <wallace@remdesign.com>]

TRACY.M.FINNEGAN@monsanto.com wrote:
> 
>      About 32K miles ago I had new outer tie-rod ends, new struts, strut
>      bearings, and strut rubber stop all replaced by the dealer.
>      Immediately after I had new D60A2's installed.  After the repairs I
>      felt the car did not handle as it once had.  The alignment is strange.
>      The car follows the grade of the road.  Driving in the left lane makes
>      the car pull left, driving in the right lane makes the car pull right?

I think that your car is trying to head downhill. The crown of the road
is in the middle, so that rain will run off; the left lane then is
usually on one side of the crown (or the peak), and the right is on the
other. 

My car likes to turn towards downhill, too, though not as noticeably.
It's pronounced when traffic backs up on an on- or off-ramp, and I'm
moving very slowly on a banked curve. I had a four-wheel alignment a
couple of days after I bought it (six months ago) at Matthews-Carlsen in
Palo Alto, CA (which I understand does good alignments), and I don't
know how it's supposed to behave. It appears that the front tires are
wearing more on the outside, as well.

>      Also, making very tight, slow turns (parking lot stuff) the wheel
>      seems to "hinge", meaning it is not smooth throught the turn radius.
>      None of these problems were present before the intended improvement.
>      The tires now show considerable more wear on the passenger side.  The

Haven't noticed any of those things--though I would have to check the
left vs. right front tires to be sure.

>      car has been to the dealer several times, but they don't seem to fully
>      comprehend the situation.  Any ideas, I need to replace tires again
>      and want to try to avoid wearing these prematurely as well.

I would appreciate a diagnosis of Tracy's situation--and mine! TIA.

- Wallace
  '87 5kcstq 151k