I would have own my ap2 1 year from this may 22nd. I had an alignment problem with my front wheels in november of last year where it seemed to tilt to the right a bit. I took it into the dealer and they did a realignment and it seemed as if it were driving normally. So of course i figure everything is fine and i drive it normally for the next many months or so. While i was washing my car about 2 weeks ago, i notice that my front wheels were balding in the inside. I mean both the left and right of the front wheels were balding together at about the same rate. If you look from the side, it looked as if i had about 60% tread left but the inside were just gone way past the bars.

I took it to the same dealer and showed how bad it is, they tell me that i need two new front tires. I was pretty pissed that i already needed front tires when usually the rears wear out quicker and i have only 14000 miles on the car. They would give me a free alignment due to "good will" but it doesn't solve the front tire issue. What do i do? My rears are in good condition but my front's are already balding. Is it my fault? or could the dealership messed up my first alignment? Or does this just happen sometimes?

 

If you are down to the wear bars on the inside you need new tires. Buy tires from Tire Rack and go to a reputable alignment shop for your alignment. The dealer has already demonstrated incompetence in this area.

 

MaoGuy,

The wear on your front tires is logically due to your alignment settings, namely the toe and camber. When you received your alignment they should have given you a before and after sheet showing the specs front and rear for camber, caster, toe, etc. If you didn't get this before, get your new tires and make sure you get it this time.

More negative camber will wear the inside of your tires; as will more positive toe. From my experience my MY 04, I was able to get approx 15k miles on the rears, and 31k miles on the fronts, just for reference.

If you need new front tires, well then I guess you have to fork over for them. On the plus side they are cheaper than the rears. I think Tire Rack had a sale on the Potenza RE050's a month back.

Regards,
Christopher

 

If you own an S2K, you will notice that inside tire wear (front and back) is the norm even if your alignment is within specs. As mentioned previously, it's due to the negative camber which helps our car to be more stable and handle better than most other cars. Since we can't rotate our tires, the only alternative is to have the tires broken down and installed on the opposite wheel. This will even out the wear and make the tires last longer if you want.
That being said, 14K for the front tires seems unusual. Mine are worn out on the inside at 27K. I have probably 50% left on the rest of the tire (middle and outside).

 

You guys get a lot of mileage out of your tires. You may have a problem but I get 10k on the fronts and 8k out of the rears on S02's. My last set was down to the cord on the inside.

 

I guess i should spend some money on some tires huh. Thanks though guys