How many miles before a wheel alignment is needed. I ask because I noticed uneven tire wear on the two rear wheels. Passenger is worn noticable more on the inside than driver's side. I have gone approx. 10500 miles on rears. Anyone have any suggestions? Car has approx. 40k.

 

Some S2000's need alignments when they roll off the boat! I've always felt a few months lets everything settle. All cars can go a pretty long time once set up correctly, but 40k is probably past due. I've also heard that passenger wear can be a little quicker than driver's side due to the slip differential.

 

Not a bad way to go. I would also run less toe in on the rear of the car for longer tread life. Your wear sounds like too much negative camber.

Jim

 

Ok I will get the alignment checked. I have gone to Goodyear and they did a good job on my civic, but the S is a different story. Where would you recomend, the dealer?

 

I've just got to put in a plug here for Jim@Tirerack's suggested alignment specs for my s2k to cut down on tire wear. 4mm toe in on rear, 0 toe in on front, and dial out some negative camber on front (my dealer took her down from .45 to .36). While it's too early to quantify any savings in tread life, I can say that the car handles better than ever ---- like it's glued to the road. No need to correct for changes in road crown. Great on-center feel. And (this may be significant to tread life) less tire road noise.

Now, both Jim and my dealer (who did the alignment gratis) warned me about oversteer. So, to get a feel for it, I did something I hadn't done before and won't do again --- took an off-ramp with no other cars around that was marked 35mph at 80mph. No problem. Like on rails.

Thanks again, Jim
Richard

 

dolebludger: Didn't you also get new tires at the same time you had the alignment done?

 

mas:

No I didn't get new tires yet. My concern over matters of tires and alignment began when I noticed my OEMs were down to an average of 4/32 at only 8.7k miles, were a little more worn on the rear (though evenly) and the fronts were more worn on the insides. In the course of reading and writing posts on this issue, I read one from Jim who said up to 20k can be had on the OEM rears with the right alignment. Since the rate mine were dying was near twice that, I decided to get Jim's recommended specs, have them set in, and monitor what future tire wear rate I experience to determine if the new alignment is slowing the rate of wear, and by how much. I want to see if future treadwear rate on the S02's can be reduced to a rate I can accept better than the wear-out at 10k - 11k miles I was headed for. If so, I may consider new S02's. If not, I'm going to have to sacrifice some dry grip for longer wear. Right now, we're just in the experimental stage.

Thanks,
Richard

 

Thanks dolebludger, I am just a bit curious why you find the new alignment to handle better? Do you know if the old alignment was according to the factory specs?

 

mas:

I'll try to explain this, though Jim could do better at it. S2k alignment specs are pretty broad (too broad if you ask me). For example rear toe in specs are 6mm, plus or minus 2mm. Jim recommended the minimum or 4mm. Ditto with the minimum of 0 toe in on the front. And my negative camber on the front was reduced from -.45 to -.36. So my car tested "within specs" both before and after the new alignment --- just at the opposite end of a broad range. I've been told (but can't prove) that all s2k's don't roll out of the showroom with Jim's suggested specs because some drivers say they have too much oversteer with them. I most certainly don't.

As I said once before, this isn't my first car where alignment specs were an issue. My 1997 Cadillac Catera didn't "burn tires", but it felt numb, had little "on center" feel, and pulled too hard with road crown. Last time I took it to the dealer for alignment, the service manager said "Oh, GM has just issued new alignment specs for your car, and I think you'll like them". Well, I did, as the car handled like a BMW 5 series.

So, I'm learning something. Alignment specs don't seem to be either an exact science or "set in concrete". And sometimes they can be right (by the book) and still be physically wrong.

Thanks,
Richard

 

mas:

P.S.

I find the new alignment to handle better because the car is more immune to "pulling" with road crown and irregularities, it has a better on center feel, more immediate steering response and recovery, and less tire noise. In the understeer -- oversteer range, I would describe the pre alignment as very mild understeer. Now I'd describe it as dead neutral. All this with the same old tires.

Hope this helps,
Richard