Bad alignment led to corded tires??

[Jstang23]

Hi all!

So I had my car aligned by ford at 1000 miles when they did a tpms sensor replacement for me(wheels and tires were off of my last mustang with about 10000 miles on the fronts, brand new backs). When I went back for my 5000 mile oil change they noticed the front two tires were corded only on the inside quarter inch (both tires). To me this suggested that it was a bad alignment and had a ton of negative camber. I decided to get another alignment just in case. After putting the new tires on they came back and told me my alignment was "Hammered" (pretty far out of alignment). They told me the South Carolina roads just do this to cars, totally normal. I just need some advice here. One, is that total BS for a car to get out of alignment in 4000 miles (one mountain drive and no autocross, just highway driving to work and no noticeable pothole experiences)? Two, if it is BS who should I talk to, not sure how I would prove it was their fault? I am also worried that this new alignment is bad as well(just a suspicion, car drives straight). I have also scheduled an alignment to be done next week by my local race prep shop to be certain its good. Thanks for y'alls advice!

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[StangTime]

Too much TOE shreds tires. Negative camber, not so much.

 

[Jstang23]

Too much TOE shreds tires. Negative camber, not so much.

Either way, how could the alignment get bad enough to shred tires in 4000 miles? My knowledge of alignment and suspension is not very deep so I may be missing something.

 

[NTXChris]

Factory alignment specs allow for a wide margin of error and will still show "good" on the equipment. Your alignment most likely did show good when the dealer did it originally, but was still off enough to cord the insides of the tires. There's also the possibility that the tech doing the alignment rushed through the procedure, or didn't correctly mount the fixtures to your wheels when aligning the car.

Your best bet is to find a local independent place that specializes in alignments and even better, one that's done a handful of S550s. These cars are very sensitive to toe in relation to tire wear. Any amount of toe out eats tires very quickly.

 

[Jstang23]

Factory alignment specs allow for a wide margin of error and will still show "good" on the equipment. Your alignment most likely did show good when the dealer did it originally, but was still off enough to cord the insides of the tires. There's also the possibility that the tech doing the alignment rushed through the procedure, or didn't correctly mount the fixtures to your wheels when aligning the car.

Your best bet is to find a local independent place that specializes in alignments and even better, one that's done a handful of S550s. These cars are very sensitive to toe in relation to tire wear. Any amount of toe out eats tires very quickly.

Do you think waiting until next wednesday to have the alignment double checked is okay? Or would the tires be shredded that quickly (~500 miles until my appointment) that I should go tomorrow?

 

[NTXChris]

If I read correctly, you put new fronts on. If that's the case, I'd say you're ok for a little while. The sooner the better, though.

 

[GTP]

If you're a DIY kind of guy, you can do your own string alignment with the Caliper Garage kit. I went back and forth with shop alignments and then tried the kit. It was time consuming at first because I had to buy and cut 3/4" poplar dowels. But my alignment is now more accurate than a shop's and I no longer worry or fuss over it.

 

[Jstang23]

If you're a DIY kind of guy, you can do your own string alignment with the Caliper Garage kit. I went back and forth with shop alignments and then tried the kit. It was time consuming at first because I had to buy and cut 3/4" poplar dowels. But my alignment is now more accurate than a shop's and I no longer worry or fuss over it.

I'll look into that! Thank you!

 

[Beaujangles]

Had the same issue on my 19 Bullitt but it took 25K miles to cord both fronts....we attributed it to excessive negative camber and did the camber plate upgrade (along with a lot of other stuff on both ends of the car) now with just over 5K on the new sneakers there is no abnormal wear showing....the alignment and chassis setup work was all done at a local shop, Central Florida Racing to Steeda alignment specs..
Car handles like "the stripe on the street"

 

[WItoTX]

As StangTime said, its due to too much toe, either toe in or toe out. It doesn't matter, both will wear out tires quick. Camber doesn't matter, which is good because you can't adjust it on the front anyways on factory cars.

Did the shop give you the alignment numbers before and after? Its customary to print this for the customer.

 

[jmagnus87]

So i can't find the thread on factory alignment specs. I thought it was a sticky but maybe not??
Anywho, does anyone know the acceptable range for Toe adjustment in the front and rear? My alignment from a week ago has -.05 left front and 0.10 right front. Are my tires going to shred lol

 

[GTP]

There are a lot of posts on alignment. Lots of opinions too.

I run about 0.06 degree each front wheel. Maybe 0.1 each rear wheel. Factory specs are probably a little higher.

Your car needs a just little more steering attention when you run low toe angles.

 

[K4fxd]

-.05 left front and 0.10 right front.

It's in the green but unacceptable to me. Find a better shop.

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