Camber/castor

[Paradoxx]

I have had a problem with the camber/castor of the front suspension apparently for quite a while, as I had to replace my tyres on friday with very umeven wear on the fronts. The front left was almost down to the steel on the outside (about 2 inches) of tread. The rest of the tyre was still quite legal (which is great after 40000km, dunlop sp3000). The right hand tyre wasn't as bad, but had the same wear pattern on the INSIDE of the tread.

So I spent up on 4 new tyres... NEXEN brand (??) looks like a pretty good tread and seem to grip nicely. Got the wheel alignment and all fitted and balanced for $625. Went for a drive and it's still pulling to the left slightly so I'm constantly holding the wheel slightly to the right to compensate, which must be putting uneven strain on the tyres. It seems my uneven wear cause hasnt been fixed with a wheel alignment.

I took it back to tyrepower and said it's still not quite right and they tell me it needs to have the camber/castor shimmed so it sits right. I said ok I'll take it to ford.

Went to the dealer and told them what's been happening and what has been done to try and correct the problem. From what I can tell it's a problem that's obviously been happening for quite some time if not from the factory (there really was plenty of tread on the fronts except for the worn bit).

Apparently according to the service consultant this sort of thing is not covered by warranty. They consider a camber/castor fix an "adjustment" just like a wheel alignment is an "adjustment" and therefore not covered by warranty. No vehicle that I have come across has had to have the camber/castor adjusted due to normal driving conditions. I have only ever heard of this being adjusted when something is changed ie ride height, damping etc. This is set at the factory and shouldnt need to be touched EVER (unless it breaks).

What's the go here? Should I jump up and down to get it fixed? Should I contact Ford directly? This was a fairly expensive exercise for me so I would like to get this fixed so I dont need new tyres due to uneven wear, and I'm not happy with holding the wheel slightly right to compensate.

Anyone here working for Ford who can give me a difinitive answer?

Cheers,

Steve

[Dagabond]

I Remember a topic about this that no one seemed to have issues with....

[Paradoxx]

Did you fix it?

[ZAP]

XXX,

If you have not lowered your car then you should not need a camber kit. The standard suspension height will not require additional ajustment from the camber kits.

Your wheel alignment place should have told you that they cannot ajust the car to spec and the reason they suspect a problem.

The type of wear you have described could be caused by Negative camber or toe in/out, but it can also be caused by bad subframe/chassis alignment.

If Ford or a alignment place cannot get the car ajusted to spec, then Ford will need to look at the cause of the problem and if it is a faulty part, then it would be a warranty item. Ford's claim on weel alignment not being part of the warranty is correct, but this is the settings only, not if there is a faulty part.

Hope this helps.

[Paradoxx]

Okay so it's a bit of a catch 22... I would need to take it in for an alignment which might involve the use of shims and I would imagine a couple of hours labour, and if they can't get it to the proper specs then they look for faulty parts? My problem is the fact that this should be set from the factory and not need adjusting as it should be within tolerances. I have never heard of another car needing adjustment like this. I guess it's gonna cost me either way.

[ZAP]

XXX,

While I can understand your view, you need to remember that many things could cause the alignment to suck.

Hitting potholes, turning the wheel against the gutter and even turning the wheel while the car is not moving can affect the alignment.

Get a second opinion and get them to make sure there is nothing bent.

Your car is 1+ year old, so there could be many causes, hopefully its an easy fix.

[Paradoxx]

Fair enough. Thanks for the advice

[DadWontLetMeDriveIt]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to post a warning.

My dad had some issues with braking not feeling right this afternoon. He went to look at the brakes and wheels, and because the front wheels were turned in towards the curb, he saw steel on the inside of the tyres. Both the tyres on the front and one on the rear were worn down to the belting on the inside, even though they looked as good as new on the outside.

This is with a stock car (and on the standard dunlops although this is the second set I think) and he hardly hoons it.

Slightly worrying as we are heading to Melboune in a couple of hours (from Adelaide) to see some people for Easter.

No pics sorry as he had them replaced straight away. The guys at the tyre place told him that his wheel alignment was way out... although he had that done at the last service 6 or so months ago.

So check the inside of those tyres.

[Chooka]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to post a warning.

My dad  had some issues with braking not feeling right this afternoon. He went to look at the brakes and wheels, and because the front wheels were turned in towards the curb, he saw steel on the inside of the tyres. Both the tyres on the front and one on the rear were worn down to the belting on the inside, even though they looked as good as new on the outside.

This is with a stock car (and on the standard dunlops although this is the second set I think) and he hardly hoons it.

Slightly worrying as we are heading to Melboune in a couple of hours (from Adelaide) to see some people for Easter.

No pics sorry as he had them replaced straight away. The guys at the tyre place told him that his wheel alignment was way out... although he had that done at the last service 6 or so months ago.

So check the inside of those tyres.

←

Hey Mate,

Wheel alignment can be put out really easy, all you need is a pothole in some cases!

and as you said, it's a good idea to have a look at your tyres every week to look for abnormal wear as it does not take long to wear them out if the alignment is out

Chooka

[Paradoxx]

I still have the problem in my car, and a wheel alignment will NOT fix it. Even getting brand new tyres and a wheel alignment that is perfect, they will scrub out more on one side. There NEEDS to be an adjustment on the camber...