Inner side of passenger front tire bald.
Discussion
Hi all I’ve had my 2014 Fiesta ST-2 for a few months but and recently had the wheels off to do the front brakes and noticed that the inside of the front left tire was bold. I had the car in for alignment after a new tire but the alignment was showing that everything was fine. Can anyone give me any clues as to what’s causing the uneven tire wear. There’s also an annoying squeak that occurs when the car is rolling under its own speed. When I’m accelerating it won’t squeak but when I come off the accelerator it squeaks it sounds like it’s coming from the left side.
Any alignment system is only as good as the person using it.
I’d check all suspension bushes and ball joints in the front suspension. If it’s all good then get new tyres and get it aligned somewhere with a good reputation. If you post where in the country you are I’m sure someone on here can give recommendations.
Edit. Check your wheel bearing on that side too.
I’d check all suspension bushes and ball joints in the front suspension. If it’s all good then get new tyres and get it aligned somewhere with a good reputation. If you post where in the country you are I’m sure someone on here can give recommendations.
Edit. Check your wheel bearing on that side too.
Will watch this thread with interest. On a recently acquired 2014 Fiesta and the MOT history showed that one front tyre was defective, both had been changed for the MOT before it was sold.
Looking at the car it is obvious that the front right has positive camber and the left has very slight negative. Looking at the suspension there appears no way of adjusting the camber, only the toe is adjustable. Presumably that is the same on the ST version.
Because the upper fixing is in the inner wing at the top of the strut and the lower is a wishbone/control arm arrangement the only obvious way (assuming nothing is bent) that the camber can be different on each side is if the entire subframe is not correctly located with reference to the top mounts. I see that some people are selling bolts with an adjustable cam profile to replace the standard straight part which suggests it may not be an uncommon problem.
If you park your car on a level surface with the wheels straight ahead do both appear to have the same camber ? A sprint level against the wheel is a good test if you have one. I would guess if the toe was incorrect on your car it would be wearing both sides equally.
With the noise you report I have read else where that a batch of cars had noisy bushes fitted and they were replaced under warranty by the dealers, wouldn't think that was connected with the wear however.
Looking at the car it is obvious that the front right has positive camber and the left has very slight negative. Looking at the suspension there appears no way of adjusting the camber, only the toe is adjustable. Presumably that is the same on the ST version.
Because the upper fixing is in the inner wing at the top of the strut and the lower is a wishbone/control arm arrangement the only obvious way (assuming nothing is bent) that the camber can be different on each side is if the entire subframe is not correctly located with reference to the top mounts. I see that some people are selling bolts with an adjustable cam profile to replace the standard straight part which suggests it may not be an uncommon problem.
If you park your car on a level surface with the wheels straight ahead do both appear to have the same camber ? A sprint level against the wheel is a good test if you have one. I would guess if the toe was incorrect on your car it would be wearing both sides equally.
With the noise you report I have read else where that a batch of cars had noisy bushes fitted and they were replaced under warranty by the dealers, wouldn't think that was connected with the wear however.
I've corrected Fiesta's with this issue. It seems to be a real problem judging by the amount of people complaining of this issue online. Assuming it's the same issue as I've seen then there is probably too much camber on the LF corner. This can be sorted by using camber adjusting bolts and an alignment. I don't know whether they were set unevenly from the factory (unlikely) or its just the way the car wears / settles over a few years but it seems to be a common 'feature'.
Interesting that you say it is a common problem, in a way that is good as there will be a solution.
In the case of our car, carefuly tracing the profile of the lower suspension arms reveals they are slightly different. It looks like the one on the positive side is slightly deformed.
Have seen the “camber adjusting bolts” but preferred initially to understand the problem rather than mask it. Also a bit nervous about replacing the original stress rated bolt with some bit off the internet. The loading on that part must be considerable.
In the case of our car, carefuly tracing the profile of the lower suspension arms reveals they are slightly different. It looks like the one on the positive side is slightly deformed.
Have seen the “camber adjusting bolts” but preferred initially to understand the problem rather than mask it. Also a bit nervous about replacing the original stress rated bolt with some bit off the internet. The loading on that part must be considerable.
The solution is to use the camber bolts, either that or to replace all suspension items in the hope of accumulative wear being fixed will correct the issue.
The bolts are perfectly safe for use, it's what they have been designed and engineered to do. They are just a bolt with an eccentric cam to increase or decrease the camber by turning them. They are used by people looking to modify camber on lowered cars, cars unable to have camber adjusted like the Fiesta's and by the crash repair industry when they can't get a repaired car aligned within spec on fixed bolts. A solution on some cars is to use adjustable top mounts, however I don't think these are readily available for a Fiesta (not that I can find anyway.)
The bolts are perfectly safe for use, it's what they have been designed and engineered to do. They are just a bolt with an eccentric cam to increase or decrease the camber by turning them. They are used by people looking to modify camber on lowered cars, cars unable to have camber adjusted like the Fiesta's and by the crash repair industry when they can't get a repaired car aligned within spec on fixed bolts. A solution on some cars is to use adjustable top mounts, however I don't think these are readily available for a Fiesta (not that I can find anyway.)
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