Help! My new tires are wearing way too quickly on the outer edges at the front (and inner edges too, but not as much), and to some extent, at the rear as well. I have had it aligned three different times by three different shops (the second was the Volvo dealer). The last guy told me to inflate tires to 40 PSI or so (can't recall exactly what he said for front vs rear). I have read posts where others have inflated their tires and gotten better wear, and others who say this will beat the car to death. I understand that there must be a trade-off, but would rather wear out tires than hurt the rest of my car. I also was just told I had a bad ball-joint and strut bearing when having my oil changed, and this was just weeks after I had inflated the front tires to 40 PSI. The car had around 144,000 miles at the times. Could these higher air pressures have hastened the life of the ball-joint and/or strut bearing, especially if I had hit a pothole or something? BTW, I am running 225/55-16 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. Worse comes to worse, next time it might be better to get a tire that's not uni-directional, so I can at least flip them around to try to even out the wear if this trend continues.

 

Hello, No way did higher inflation pressure cause your ball joints and strut hardware to wear prematurely. This is normal front end part wear. By the way, is 225/55-16 the original tire size? Just wondering-never owned an AWD. Also, what made you select uni-directional tires? If you dig driving, maybe your right foot hastened the death of those front end parts. Ask around and find a good front end shop. At 144K the hardware atop your struts will be part of replacement anyway. Kira

 

Yes, those are the size tires for that car. Just happened to choose tires that were uni-directional. I wasn't specifically looking for them.

 

can you quantify "wear out fast"? Like how many miles. Quality tire? do you have your specs from the last alignment?

Lack of rotating tires. Excessive or borederline toe in. Excessive or borderline positive camber and call cause tire wear.

I used to align cars for a living. There are great disparities between alignment techs. just because someone works at volvo or xyz does not make them good. Search for someone local that comes highly recommended. try an Indy shop where you can meet the tech at your car and drop him a $20 and ask him to make sure everything is centered on spec...not just in spec. Get your pre and post printout. Watch them do the work. You can make a car in spec by pulling/pushing on the laser head and having someone hit print. Seen it done a gob because in that buiz you are paid on flat rate. More you get done quick the more $$$ you make.

All that being said when you corner the outer edge of the wheel takes more of the cornering force. If you corner hard a lot it will wear out the outer edge of the tire. 40psi will help this. You will NOT see appreciable ball joint wear from a few lbs increase. Keep your balljoints lubricated and they will last forever. Most worn out joints are dry and that is when all the damage takes place. If you really drive like a nut have your alignment guy add a slight bit of negative camber. You will then wear the inside of the tire but when cornering the tire will stand up and center and wear the entire tread pattern.