Uneven wear on one tyre, what to do...?

D

Duckham

The rear nearside tyre on our K12 1.5 SVE is wearing really badly. Almost full tread on the inside edge and down to the wear bar on the outside.
All the other tyres are wearing normally and all 4 were replaced at the same time.
The local garage put the car on ramps and can see no signs of damage to the suspension components but I assume something is bent.

Now I could pay for a full alignment check which will likely proves that wheel is misaligned, but there seems no way to make any adjustments, is that right?
If not what is the next step... it looks as if the entire rear suspension needs to be replaced as a single unit.

Any advice welcome!
Joe
 
Yes correct Micra's do not have adjustable rear alignment.

1. The rim is buckled, bent, not round anymore.
2. Wheel bearing issue.

Change the offside to the nearside and vice versa and see if the premature wear stays with the wheel or stays on the nearside.
 
Last edited:
Micratec said:
1. The rim is buckled, bent, not round anymore.
2. Wheel bearing issue
Change the offside to the nearside and vice versa and see if the premature wear stays with the wheel or stay on the nearside.
Click to expand...

Good thoughts. The wheel balanced up OK when the tyres were fitted a few months ago but it could have been damaged since so at least I will jack it up and spin to see if it running out.
There is no play in the wheel I can feel, and it just passed the MOT at a rigorous garage so I wouldn't expect the bearing to be the problem.
Cheers
Joe
 
I would check the rear beam bushes if these are worn as with the rear springs this too can cause problems, I would start with the stub axle personally as the wheel is attached to this through the rear bearing pressed into the rear drum, any tolerances especially if you are carrying weight can force the wheel to "crab" which is the wheel trying to go in one direction other than the direction you are wanting. Don't be taken in with an MOT, I picked up my car with a full ticket only to learn later that the front discs were worn beyond the recommended specs, front nearside spring had snapped and both rear bearing were shot!
 
I reckon a more thorough inspection of the wheel, take it off the car, you may not be able to see the inside of it clearly if you leave it on the car.
Another thing to check is that the drum on that side isn't seized, can that be spun by hand (with the handbrake off) if the handbrake is operating normally that will probably rule that idea out, it's worth checking the drum is seated properly and all the studs are straight.
 
Mach1 said:
yes, basis inspection first, before delving deeper, I think hopefully it should be an easy fix.
Click to expand...
I like that idea too:)
Jacked the car up and there is no play in the bearing, or roughness. Wheel turns freely and handbrake is fine. Clamped a steel bar to touch both the inside and outside rim of the wheel and it runs true. Not sure how much the stub axle would have to be bent but I would have thought this test would also rule it out? Rain stopped me checking bushes but the MOT place is very unforgiving so I'd be surprised if they didnt pick it up. Car is equal height both sides so springs should be OK?
Any other pointers?
Joe
 
Sounds like you have too much negative camber on that wheel, you need a camber gauge on the drum to check both sides and see if it's out.
Screenshot_20200817-184928_Chrome.jpg


Sent from my SM-A505FN using Micra Sports Club mobile app
 
NathanFul123 said:
Sounds like you have too much negative camber on that wheel, you need a camber gauge on the drum to check both sides and see if it's out.

Sent from my SM-A505FN using Micra Sports Club mobile app
Click to expand...

I think you are right, but that was the question back in my first post - if I do have a problem there is no adjustment so if a part is bent it looks like the whole suspension needs replacing. I still need to check the bushes though.
Joe
 
Mach1 said:
Check your rear springs for sagging, they are a cheap replacement and relatively easy to do.:unsure:
Click to expand...
If the car was sagging to one side I would change the springs in a heartbeat, but it is level side-side (and looks fine front - back) so it I don't think they will cause a problem with just one tyre?
Joe
 
glad to hear, just a thought, if all looks OK then tracking will tell you exactly what is going on!, I had mine tracked some time ago as replaced all suspension and steering. ?
 
Have you checked the type of wear on the tyre cause that may tell you what's the cause.

I'm going to say since you can't see what is causing it,might be the damper...
Reason for me saying that is you can't see visual problem. The tyre has unevenwear pointing to what could be a shock/damper that is over worn.
With this the wheel bounces along the road, Rather than being kept on the road.
You can find out if its this by checking them on the car breaking heavy would show what the car is doing such as a nose dive or the rear might rise more than it should.

If this isn't the problem keep looking
And good luck with finding the cause.




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Rear dampers can be another problem, when I changed rear springs as they were badly corroded I also discovered that the dampers were seized with no tell tail signs that anything was wrong and it had passed its MOT with them like that! removing just the bottom anchor bolt allows you to check if the damper is going up and down correctly without having to strip them from the car.:unsure:
 
It is good if we can notice what's being missed. On important MOT check ups especially this year with some vehicle owners missing there maintenance check ups in some cases.
Its also good to share this with others as its one of the most overlooked and important safety features along with brakes.
And we all want to be able to stop properly when needed.
So its really a lot more than our tyres being worn if we don't have decent functioning dampers.

Sent from my ASUS_T00P using Micra Sports Club mobile app
 
With the busy roads as they are, and unpredictable driving behavior of some, keen brakes and reliable suspension is vital.
 
I'm not following this...how would a faulty damper / dampers cause this type of tyre wear on just a single tyre, ie tapered from outside to inside but the same all around the circumference?
 
Micra is very susceptible to minor changes in suspension which I have found, my advice is check the rear dampers as out lined earlier, that will eliminate that side of things at no cost, whilst the car is up you can check for play in rear axle. If all is well move on to a tracking test, this will then hopefully give you an answer to your tyre problem??
 
If tyre wear is on outside edge all the way around on one wheel on a beam / solid axle I would suggest the axle has taken some damage such as losing control on a bend sliding the back end into the kerb, there wouldn't necessarily be any body damage, maybe by a previous owner, in the old days the original minis used to often have similar damage. As mentioned earlier a simple check with a Camber gauge on level ground checking both rear wheels should soon confirm.
 
Yes that's what I thought at first, but I think checking the suspension is a no cost option at the moment and as with all these type of problems its a case of a process of elimination until there is only one thing left and either a new rear axle or what NathanFul123 suggested earlier!!:unsure:
 
Mach1 said:
Yes that's what I thought at first, but I think checking the suspension is a no cost option at the moment and as with all these type of problems its a case of a process of elimination until there is only one thing left and either a new rear axle or what NathanFul123 suggested earlier!!:unsure:
Click to expand...
Sometimes it is possible to actually see if it is out by either following the car or looking carefully from behind stationary. As a basic test, if parked on a level piece of flat ground checked with a spirit level, a plumb bob weighted bit of string, check from near the top of the rim down to the ground compare with the other side . If the tyre is wearing on the outside edge it would be "positive camber" which an impact on the base of the wheel could account for bending the suspension in at the bottom. I know it is a pain if the axle is bent but at least if you know for sure then you can make a decision.
 
Thanks for the advice folks, as the car is now 100 miles from me I cant do any more checks so I'm getting the tyre replaced and the garage will do an alignment check at the same time, will make a decision at that point !
 
Duckham said:
The rear nearside tyre on our K12 1.5 SVE is wearing really badly. Almost full tread on the inside edge and down to the wear bar on the outside.
All the other tyres are wearing normally and all 4 were replaced at the same time.
The local garage put the car on ramps and can see no signs of damage to the suspension components but I assume something is bent.

Now I could pay for a full alignment check which will likely proves that wheel is misaligned, but there seems no way to make any adjustments, is that right?
If not what is the next step... it looks as if the entire rear suspension needs to be replaced as a single unit.

Any advice welcome!
Joe
Click to expand...
Tracking first. I had a similar problem with my passenger side front and the tracking was way out. Only cost £30 to put it right.
 

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