Tire wear front

[jzf0fk]

I noticed that the front tires are wearing out unevenly on my 2010 Passenger Sprinter. The first time it happened (at 9000 miles), i had them aligned and rotated. now at 14,000, it appears to start wearing unevenly again (ones that were in the rear that moved to the front). We do mostly local driving.

The tires are wearing out on the outsider side on both fronts

Is it me or is this consistent with your experience.

As for tire pressure, I keep them at 49 pounds.

Also, if i were to unmount the tire and reinstall it the other way (so that the worn out section is now on the inside), is that OK?


Thanks...

Richard

[autostaretx]

Sounds like excessive toe-in.
Have your alignment checked.
--dick

[Eric Experience]

Richard.
The information that tyre fitters use to align front ends on Spriners in the USA is not correct.
The data shows a figure for tow in but does not show that the tow in varies with ride hight.If you do not have access to a Sprinter specialists the best way to get it right is to load up the vehicle or unload it until the camber is zero on both sides, then set the tow in to zero. Eric.

[talkinghorse43]

If no feathering (tread block leading edge rounded, trailing edge sharp - like an eraser that's been used too much in one orientation), then the camber is off. If feathering, then too much toe-in. If not feathering, then could be you don't normally carry enough load to get the right camber. I believe camber on yours is adjustable and I know toe is.

[autostaretx]

Originally Posted by Eric Experience

Richard.
The information that tyre fitters use to align front ends on Spriners in the USA is not correct.
The data shows a figure for tow in but does not show that the tow in varies with ride hight.If you do not have access to a Sprinter specialists the best way to get it right is to load up the vehicle or unload it until the camber is zero on both sides, then set the tow in to zero. Eric.

Thanks for that...
So that leads to a couple of questions:
if the van is lightly loaded, do we end up with excessive toe-in, or toe-out?

This is Seattle, so it's raining outside, making it unpleasant to crawl under and look at the geometries involved....
If the steering rack and knuckle are above the wishbone pivot point, then a light load should cause toe-out (as the wheel drops away from the rack), but the swing-in of the wishbone should invite toe-in.
If they designed it "correctly", the two factors should cancel each other out.

In my own case, i always run lightly loaded (99.95% of the time).
thanks
--dick

[Eric Experience]

Dick.
The design is spot on, the alignment is correct at all loads once set up correctly. What we have to do is to try to stop tyre fitters in the USA from" adjusting" sprinter front ends. Eric

[talkinghorse43]

I can see (when jacking) that the camber does change dramatically (tire bottom moves toward the center of the van) as the front suspension moves to its travel limit, but I don't know how much it might change with vehicle load. However, since it does change so much when jacking, it seems reasonable to me to expect at least some change with load. My own van's alignment has never been touched, but the first set of tires wore heavily on the outside (lasted only 90k miles). Now, the tire wear is even across the tread. Something changed for the better on its own. My guess is that the front of my van is riding lower than before due to some components wearing, deforming, settling, etc. Based on what I observe when jacking, a lower ride height should result in the bottom of the tire moving away from the center of the van, thus changing the camber and distributing tire wear more evenly.

[Aqua Puttana]

Originally Posted by talkinghorse43

...My guess is that the front of my van is riding lower than before due to some components wearing, deforming, settling, etc. ...

I do know that my personal "settling" has made it harder to get to weight before regattas. In my case I just can't figure out why? ___


Sorry... couldn't, I guess more appropriately, can't resist. vic