Car Causing tires to wear prematurely?

[Briant73]

I just got my car serviced a few days ago and they found a bad strut mount and axle boot. Both of which they fixed under warranty along with an alignment too. The next day I got my Dunlop sport a2 tires rotated (5,000 miles finally on them). The fronts were worn way down so I asked about it to the store manager where I bought the tires. He claimed they're scalped (I believe that was the word he used) and that is caused by bad alignment or problems with the suspension. Now when I got the tires (5,000 miles ago) I found out I had a bad tie rod and had that fixed under warranty with a toe-in alignment and all done. But I always felt the car wasn't driving right but the Dealership where I have my work done said it was fine. The car would get real jumpy at times on the highway, or loose even.

My quesiton's are these:

1) Could the bad strut mount have caused the tires to wear/scalp as the tire store suggested?

2) Would the torn axle boot cause any problems?

3) If one strut mount is replaced, should the other be too?

4) Were the perceived ride problems indicators of suspension problems?

Thanks

-Brian

(glad the forums are back up - good work!)

[black99gt]

ANYthing wrong with your suspension and it could cause tire wear of course.

The torn axel boot really wouldnt cause a problem. Just would cause stuff to get inside the axel and might get dirty and such.

[Weem]

I agree with black99gt. Absolutely anything wrong with your suspension and your tires will wear poorly.

Another thing some people don't realize is that stiffening the suspension with lowering springs, STBs, etc. also will make your tires wear faster.

[dac6705]

ya know, my dad once told me that, and I thought he was full of BS cuz he didn't want me to lower my 98 GA GT...

so it is true....darn ole' dad was right again...

[2Dambad]

I wore out the last set of tires with the help of a bad tie rod, hopefully if there is anything still wrong with my suspension, it will show up on these tires so I can get it fixed before I actually pay for new tires

[Weem]

Originally posted by 2Dambad
I wore out the last set of tires with the help of a bad tie rod, hopefully if there is anything still wrong with my suspension, it will show up on these tires so I can get it fixed before I actually pay for new tires

I THINK remember some people said that they felt an unbalanced wheel but it ended up being a tie rod. Did yours feel this way? The reason I ask it I have been getting a small wiggle in the steering wheel once I get over 65mph and I've been telling myself that I need to go get my tires rotated and wheels balanced. Just wondering if it could be a tie rod.

[Briant73]

Thanks for the responses. I wanted to make sure that what the tire store guy was telling me was legit before I took any further action.

-Brian

[2Dambad]

Originally posted by Weem


I THINK remember some people said that they felt an unbalanced wheel but it ended up being a tie rod. Did yours feel this way? The reason I ask it I have been getting a small wiggle in the steering wheel once I get over 65mph and I've been telling myself that I need to go get my tires rotated and wheels balanced. Just wondering if it could be a tie rod.

It did feel like a tire out of balance, but only at alot higher speeds (90-95) when I drove on it knowing my tie rod was shot. It could be the onset of a tie rod going bad.