Rear tire wear with current setup

pokeyl · 12-24-2012, 01:00 AM

New Coils? Compress during the first few thousand miles, causing a small camber change (not to bad) but also a small toe in change (this will cause quick tire wear) It happened to me with my HKS coilovers.

Get it checked. My tire shop rechecked mine for free after 3K, Goodyear tire store.

They charged me $100, I have camber, trail and toe @ the rear; camber fronts.

The techs love working on the Z, it's like a treat to them.

Z-Girl 12 · 12-24-2012, 07:14 AM

Pokey that is a good idea! I will take it back to my guy and have him recheck won't hurt. Thanks!

Hotrodz · 12-24-2012, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z-Girl 12

Pokey that is a good idea! I will take it back to my guy and have him recheck won't hurt. Thanks!

The shop owner told me to bring my Z back for free check on the alignment once the springs settle. Yup! All the works make sure they say hi and greet me. It's kind of cool getting all the attention and exceptional service!

Fishey · 12-24-2012, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheee!

You are getting robbed. An alignment with a camber and toe kit is super easy. $100 max. Just make sure your car can make it onto the ramp! I drove mine on myself.

To do an alignment right takes time usually over an hour on most machines if you are doing a full alignment even if the adjustments are easy as hell to reach and use. If you have a super badass machine (Reflector/zero runout) it might only take you slightly under an hour to do but also keep in mind that these machines cost upwards over $20,000+ and they don't pay for themselves.

Sure, you can get a $100 alignment at alot of places but your alignment is going to be garbage and your car will handle like garbage. Most techs at firestone/pepboys/tirediscounters know nothing about car setup. They pick your car from a list on the alignment machine and try to hit specs and usually do so without doing any of the work that needs to be done prior to even having an alignment done. (Ballast, Tire Pressure, Check balljoint/bushings/bearings/rack)

Also, your rear tire wear might not have anything to do with rear camber it could also be rear toe. Are you getting any chopping in the tires? If so your problem is certainly toe if not it could still be toe just to a lesser degree. There are plenty of people who run far to much rear toe-in and as a result the inside edge of the tires try to roll over as the left and right try to push the car in both directions at the same time. Anything over .30 total and your going to start noticing it with some negitive camber in the car.

Z-Girl 12 · 12-24-2012, 01:54 PM

My alignment for my G35S was $65 with Eibachs. I used the same shop for my Z and the price jumped to $165. I guess the Z was a bit more involved with the SPC rear kit. At any rate, I have always liked his work. Took him about 1.5hrs...

wheee! · 12-24-2012, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishey

To do an alignment right takes time usually over an hour on most machines if you are doing a full alignment even if the adjustments are easy as hell to reach and use. If you have a super badass machine (Reflector/zero runout) it might only take you slightly under an hour to do but also keep in mind that these machines cost upwards over $20,000+ and they don't pay for themselves.

Sure, you can get a $100 alignment at alot of places but your alignment is going to be garbage and your car will handle like garbage. Most techs at firestone/pepboys/tirediscounters know nothing about car setup. They pick your car from a list on the alignment machine and try to hit specs and usually do so without doing any of the work that needs to be done prior to even having an alignment done. (Ballast, Tire Pressure, Check balljoint/bushings/bearings/rack)

Also, your rear tire wear might not have anything to do with rear camber it could also be rear toe. Are you getting any chopping in the tires? If so your problem is certainly toe if not it could still be toe just to a lesser degree. There are plenty of people who run far to much rear toe-in and as a result the inside edge of the tires try to roll over as the left and right try to push the car in both directions at the same time. Anything over .30 total and your going to start noticing it with some negitive camber in the car. I agree with this statement if you see my previous comments..

I agree with most of what you are saying, however, doing an alignment with the right tools and the right people is easy and quick. One of our members in the Zedmonton Lounge owns a tire shop with an alignment rack. We did about 5 cars in two hours with custom setups and alignment. No problem! Plus we all had adjustable suspension components which helped a lot!! All for the price of a few beers... lol

Hotrodz · 12-24-2012, 06:28 PM

In all things Z, consumer beware. If you do not know first hand about the quality of service you may receive, ask many question, ask for references, so forth and so on. The price of service may or may not be indicative of the quality of workmanship. Also, all Z are not created equal and some need more TLC than others.

Fishey · 12-24-2012, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheee!

I agree with most of what you are saying, however, doing an alignment with the right tools and the right people is easy and quick. One of our members in the Zedmonton Lounge owns a tire shop with an alignment rack. We did about 5 cars in two hours with custom setups and alignment. No problem! Plus we all had adjustable suspension components which helped a lot!! All for the price of a few beers... lol

So one person by themselves checked tire pressure, then thoroughly checked all suspension bushing, balljoints and wheel bearings? Also looked at the condition of tie-rods and steering rack? Then properly ballast the cars to suit the drivers needs? A custom setup with coil overs/tie rod ends certainly adds more to the setup but clearly dont know how many of those cars might have coilovers but it can add significant time.

That being said I have my own alignment rack and machine for my shop. Certainly there are faster setups but I own what I do for accuracy without spending serious money on a reflector setup.

I am curious as to what type of alignment machine/rack was used for these alignments.

axmea? · 12-25-2012, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlawlessZ

I recently got megan racing springs (1.5 drop all around) + 18x10 18x12 enkei wheels...Im running hankook RS3's so I dont want to wear them wrong and I assume I need the camber bolt kit. I tried getting the alignment today took it to 3 shops everyone wanted to charge me like $160-$200 for the alignment. Firestone considered the Z an "exotic" and raised the prices, American tire depo said they cant even touch my camber setting since my car is lowered...this is just a pain in the A$$$.

I think im going to get the bolt kit, install it and just take it to a local recommended guy that will probably only charge me $100 for alignment.

Vick -- go to Valley Suspension in Canoga Park. Shop's been around for a while and do good work.

roy'sz · 12-28-2012, 12:40 AM

hey z girl, post up your allignment specs. The mileage you are getting imho is WACK! From the sounds of it you have way TOO MUCH camber in the rear. Also you could be running too much camber/toe together. I got 22k out of my stock tires because they were feathered to all shyt. I installed a pair of upper control arms to make it adjustable and went with almost no toe. I have 21k on the re760's right now and so far so good. The rears are shot due to the fact that I do power through turns a lot. I need to back out of the throttle a little bit and actually know that it is only 3 corners on my daily drive that are killing me. So yeah post up some info on your allignment specs and maybe I can point you in a better direction for extended tire wear. good luck

wheee! · 12-28-2012, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishey

So one person by themselves checked tire pressure, then thoroughly checked all suspension bushing, balljoints and wheel bearings? Also looked at the condition of tie-rods and steering rack? Then properly ballast the cars to suit the drivers needs? A custom setup with coil overs/tie rod ends certainly adds more to the setup but clearly dont know how many of those cars might have coilovers but it can add significant time.

That being said I have my own alignment rack and machine for my shop. Certainly there are faster setups but I own what I do for accuracy without spending serious money on a reflector setup.

I am curious as to what type of alignment machine/rack was used for these alignments.

it was indeed a reflector setup. And all the cars were spring drops, not coils so you are right, it was faster. The bushing were all visually inspected and all the tie rods/camber arms etc were checked, aligned and torqued. Here is the pic with me in the drivers seat for better balance as well... hope that satisfies the curiosity!

one of the others...

enough proof? oh! and the alignment sheet too..

FlawlessZ · 12-28-2012, 10:32 AM

I'm taking mine into a recommended shop this Saturday...I decided to not run camber arms or bolt kit and just tell him to take as much camber out as possible.

What exactly should I tell them?? I don't mind camber since I plan on tacking and I canyon run often and performance wise a little camber is preferred.

Also, my stock advans wore like a MF! A little over 7k and my rears are almost all gone (wore perfectly evenly tho).

Red__Zed · 12-29-2012, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishey

To do an alignment right takes time usually over an hour on most machines if you are doing a full alignment even if the adjustments are easy as hell to reach and use. If you have a super badass machine (Reflector/zero runout) it might only take you slightly under an hour to do but also keep in mind that these machines cost upwards over $20,000+ and they don't pay for themselves.

.

Say what? Alignments are trivial and take less than 30 minutes on the Z if you have any idea what you are doing.

wheee! · 12-29-2012, 11:36 AM

is that the alignment you had to do after Steve trashed it?!

Z-Girl 12 · 12-29-2012, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy'sz

hey z girl, post up your allignment specs. The mileage you are getting imho is WACK! From the sounds of it you have way TOO MUCH camber in the rear. Also you could be running too much camber/toe together. I got 22k out of my stock tires because they were feathered to all shyt. I installed a pair of upper control arms to make it adjustable and went with almost no toe. I have 21k on the re760's right now and so far so good. The rears are shot due to the fact that I do power through turns a lot. I need to back out of the throttle a little bit and actually know that it is only 3 corners on my daily drive that are killing me. So yeah post up some info on your allignment specs and maybe I can point you in a better direction for extended tire wear. good luck

I definitely will! Thanks Roy'sz!

12-24-2012, 01:00 AM	#16 (permalink)
pokeyl Track Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: DFS Posts: 900 Drives: ??? Rep Power: 55	New Coils? Compress during the first few thousand miles, causing a small camber change (not to bad) but also a small toe in change (this will cause quick tire wear) It happened to me with my HKS coilovers. Get it checked. My tire shop rechecked mine for free after 3K, Goodyear tire store. They charged me $100, I have camber, trail and toe @ the rear; camber fronts. The techs love working on the Z, it's like a treat to them. __________________ It's not my fault I'm old, I was born a very long time ago!

12-24-2012, 01:54 PM	#20 (permalink)
Z-Girl 12 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Florida Posts: 4,105 Drives: Spirited Rep Power: 11717	My alignment for my G35S was $65 with Eibachs. I used the same shop for my Z and the price jumped to $165. I guess the Z was a bit more involved with the SPC rear kit. At any rate, I have always liked his work. Took him about 1.5hrs... __________________ 2012 Z-SOLD 2014 Nismo #565 Fast Intentions CBE/HFC/Swift/SPC/RJM/H&R-15/20mm/Z1 CAI/Headers/Intake Manifold w/Uprev Tune 328.31whp/263.64tq

12-24-2012, 06:28 PM	#22 (permalink)
Hotrodz A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: NW, AZ Posts: 9,330 Drives: 10 Nissan 370z Nismo Rep Power: 2684385	In all things Z, consumer beware. If you do not know first hand about the quality of service you may receive, ask many question, ask for references, so forth and so on. The price of service may or may not be indicative of the quality of workmanship. Also, all Z are not created equal and some need more TLC than others. SouthArk370Z likes this. __________________ *Fast Intentions TT Installed and Tuned by Seb at SpecialtyZ 610whp 560tq:\|Fast Intentions 3" TT-TDX*\|SpecialtyZ/Fast Intentions 72 Row Oil Cooler\|SZ 6 Puck Clutch & Flywheel\|3GsCustoms\|Z1\|Wavetrac\|Hotchkis\|Whiteline \|Blitz\|Fortune Auto 500\|Fujimura\|SPL\|H&R\|TK\|TWM\|RPM Rollbar\|Sparco\|Next Level Performance\|TrackSpec\|AeroFlow Dynamics\|Pioneer\|

12-28-2012, 12:40 AM	#25 (permalink)
roy'sz A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: palmdale, ca Posts: 1,299 Drives: 2010 nissan 370z Rep Power: 16	hey z girl, post up your allignment specs. The mileage you are getting imho is WACK! From the sounds of it you have way TOO MUCH camber in the rear. Also you could be running too much camber/toe together. I got 22k out of my stock tires because they were feathered to all shyt. I installed a pair of upper control arms to make it adjustable and went with almost no toe. I have 21k on the re760's right now and so far so good. The rears are shot due to the fact that I do power through turns a lot. I need to back out of the throttle a little bit and actually know that it is only 3 corners on my daily drive that are killing me. So yeah post up some info on your allignment specs and maybe I can point you in a better direction for extended tire wear. good luck Last edited by roy'sz; 12-28-2012 at 12:45 AM.

12-28-2012, 10:32 AM	#27 (permalink)
FlawlessZ Track Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: SoCal 818 Posts: 595 Drives: 12 PW 6MT Rep Power: 15	I'm taking mine into a recommended shop this Saturday...I decided to not run camber arms or bolt kit and just tell him to take as much camber out as possible. What exactly should I tell them?? I don't mind camber since I plan on tacking and I canyon run often and performance wise a little camber is preferred. Also, my stock advans wore like a MF! A little over 7k and my rears are almost all gone (wore perfectly evenly tho). __________________ 2012 PW - 6MT \| Meisterschaft CBE w/ ECV \| EVO-R Front Lip \| Enkei SP3-RS JDM Wheels \| Sticky Hankook RS-3's \| Megan Racing Springs \| Hot Shift Knob \| JDM Brake/Fog Light

12-24-2012, 07:14 AM	#17 (permalink)
Z-Girl 12 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Florida Posts: 4,105 Drives: Spirited Rep Power: 11717	Pokey that is a good idea! I will take it back to my guy and have him recheck won't hurt. Thanks!

12-29-2012, 11:36 AM	#29 (permalink)
wheee! A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mod Capital of Canada Age: 58 Posts: 7,354 Drives: cars. lots of cars. Rep Power: 40182	is that the alignment you had to do after Steve trashed it?! __________________ H&R / Stillen / Berk / HKS / Swift / Michelin / UpRev / SPC / Amuse Rep / Seibon / Fringe XVO / TWM / more... My Journal

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