[Shop-talk] 2008 Mustang Tire Wear

[pethier at comcast.net]

If you are running a lot of negative camber, toe OUT actually inproves tire wear.  It also contributes the kind of darty handling that autocrossers enjoy.

In the olden days, car makers enhanced stability with a lot of toe-in which they balanced for tire wear with positive camber.  Not so great for cornering.

Phil Ethier West Side Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1973 Triumph Stag LE22439UBW "uncle jack"
2004 Suburban 8.1
2005 Lotus Elise
2007 Saturn Ion 3 2.4
pethier [at] comcast [dot] net
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http://www.triumphtransamerica.org.uk
http://www.mnautox.com


----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Andy" <marka at maracing.com>
> To: "Shop-Talk" <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 9:46:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] 2008 Mustang Tire Wear
> Howdy,
> 
> On Sun, 19 Jun 2011, Bob Spidell wrote:
> > I have a 2008 Mustang GT (Bullitt model). To my surprise, the front
> > tires seem to wear more on the inside than the outside, which is
> > unexpected since I try to spend as much time on the outside of the
> > tread
> > as possible (if you get my 'drift').
> >
> > Anyone have similar car with same issue? Is this more common on
> > 'modern' cars? My other/previous vehicles always had more wear on
> > the
> > outside of the tread. Is this car biased towards more negative
> > camber
> > in turns? I do rotate regularly (front-to-back, rear crossover).
> >
> > The wear seems consistent on both sides, and there is no cupping so
> > I
> > think alignment is probably OK (but I'll get it checked when I
> > re-shod
> > the car).
> 
> Its been a while since I've played with Mustangs, but what you're
> describing sounds like you have some negative camber and toe (in or
> out).
> 
> Find out what you're current alignment actually is and you can adjust
> from
> there, but absent actual data like that, I'd start somewhere around -1
> deg
> and zero toe for the street. I'd keep the toe near zero as the most
> important thing from a tire wear perspective.
> 
> Mark
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