Re: tire wear

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Tracy;

    The most probable cause is poor wheel alignment. After major suspension
work the car must be properly aligned and your dealer may have missed the
boat. Since the critical front end components have been replaced, the tire
wear points to improper alignment. Give the dealer another chance to get it
right (at their expense) before you buy new tires - in fact, they should be
willing to make an adjustment for you on the tire wear their presumed
ineptness has caused.
    I had a similar problem with my first '86 5ktq - the dealer's 4 wheel
alignment wore out my (admittedly old) front tires in two weeks. They
apoligized, re-aligned the car, and gave me a good deal on 4 new V rated
Continentals. The downside was the Contis were the worst tires I've ever
owned and I spent the next several years wishing they would wear out! Alas,
they were still on the car and in good shape when it was totalled.

HTH

Fred Munro
'91 200q  263k km
-----Original Message-----
From: TRACY.M.FINNEGAN@monsanto.com <TRACY.M.FINNEGAN@monsanto.com>
To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: Wednesday, December 09, 1998 1:34 PM
Subject: tire wear


>     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?
>     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
>     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.
>
>     Thanks
>     Tracy M Finnegan
>     tmfinn@monsanto.com
>     89 200 Turbo, Non-Quattro, 184K miles