wear tire noise away

[Peter6605]

2010 Dodge Caliper. Toe adjustment only on front and rear wheels. 2nd set of tires in 75,000 miles. Original tires went 35K then one scalloped and feather edge on inside. Tire got loud and you could feel the feather edge all around the indie edge of the tire. I replaced the tires with Michelin HydroEdge "directional" tires, 90,000 miles. After 35k miles the noise came back. One bad tire in four. Tires have been rotated every 5,000 miles. car has been aligned 5 times in 3 years. Noise starts getting bad at 55mph and gets worse from there. My question is how can i wear the bad tire on the inside edge to smooth out the scalloping? Tire has good tread left on it. It is the rear driver side position that is causing the initial trouble.

Peter

 

[CapriRacer]

First, I think you need to get at the source of the problem - the alignment.

In spite of the fact that the factory didn't provide adjustability, it can be adjusted. It may require an eccentric bolt or a camber plate, but it can (and should be done).

I am of the opinion that published factory alignment tolerances are too wide - by half. Put another way, the alignment needs to be within the inner half of the tolerance to insure good tire wear.

Also, any time there is over a degree of camber, the risk of tire wear issues escalates.

So looking at the alignment specs for a Dodge Caliber, I notice that the alignment tolerances are the usual - too wide - and they specify a camber that is near a degree and could be over a degree with the allowable tolerance. So I think you need to have the camber dialed out as best you can.

But to answer your question: Have the tire dismounted off the wheel and remounted inside out. There is a strong possibility that even that will not cause the tire to wear back evenly. What is more likely is that a new wear pattern will be worn on top of the old wear pattern, but not erase the old one.

 

[NormPeterson]

If the scalloping isn't too deep, maybe the tire should be shaved as part of the "flipping" effort.


Norm

 

[Peter6605]

When you say dismount and flip the tire on the rim, I assume you are saying to flip two tires as my tires are directional and if I flip it on the rim I will have to put it on the other side of the vehicle so it rotates in the correct direction.

 

[CapriRacer]

I am not a fan of directional tires - and your last post is just more confirmation.

Yes, you will have to swap 2 to get the whole thing to work. Just be aware that unless you fix the alignment, you'll be generating more tires with problems.

 

[Peter6605]

Today I had the dealership flip the tire with the rear passenger. They did an alignment and got me in spec. Caster is right on, toe in is within the middle 50% of the range. Camber is borderline acceptable. I am tempted to try a camber kit and see if I can move the camber myself. A good machinist level should get me middle range. I have not taken a look at the camber kits to see if they are going to affect caster and toe.

Camber front -1.0
Camber Rear -.8
toe front total .16
toe rear total .18
caster all around 2.6