BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

I installed the Daizen UCA/LCA bushings recently, and at the same time I did the lower ball joint and the outer tie-rod.

The car drove fine but felt a little 'darty' at times, nothing extreme.
I ended up putting maybe 50-80 miles on the car before I could get the alignment done.

As I was under the car investigating an exhaust leak, I just noticed that my very inner tread of the front tires is pretty bad looking. Almost like you would get from some extreme negative camber, but, I didn't have that at any time on my car.

Here's the stats on my alignment as I drove it after the bushings, and their final settings from the alignment shop.

Also, for giggles, I'll post a picture of my front tire wear.

The car seems to have what could be described as more "tram-lining" now....or even a bump-steer effect than before the bushing swap.
I don't think it's the current alignment settings, but I want more experienced advice on it from the board before I take it back to that shop to make sure it's still in alignment.
I'm curious if it's 99% probable that the toe caused the tire wear in those 50-80 miles, or, by looking at the specs below, is something else going on? I don't remember any wear like this before the bushings and alignment. (not that the bushings could have caused this, I love the bushings)
Also, the car didn't used to have this little inability to hold a straight line or be affected by road irregularities like it does now.

BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

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BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

double mandatorybutuseless text entered here

chuckb

that one p-zero is looking pretty rough. I doubt 50-80 miles did that......

BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

you're right chuck, the second pic is pretty bad and that has me concerned.

oh, I forgot to mention that another reason I made this thread was that someone else recently mentioned that toe-in/toe-out will wear out a tire very quickly. I had no idea. I think it was Dave_GS400.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Your probem is the toe. Your "before" alignment measurements indicate you had an EXTREME amount of TOE out (-0.48 to -0.58) The ideal alignment is to have somewhere in the range of +0.06 to +0.08 toe IN.

I have seen inner tire wear similar to yours with toe out as little as -0.10, but it takes several thousand miles for wear to show.

In your case the toe settings are wayyyy more than -0.10, so it may seem amazing to get inner tire wear so quickly, but you have shown it is possible.

So yes, the problem may have occurred after your bushing install, but don't blame the bushings; it is the alignment that was changed after the install that has caused this tire wear.

The tie rod ends were disconnected, so it is also possible (and most likely) that the installer did not return the tie rods back to the original settings, contributing to the excessive toe out.

Recommendation: Always get an alignment immediatey after a bushing install or tie rod change. Otherwise, it's just a roll of the dice as to whether the alignment will still be good or not.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i agree with rmmgs4. the SUPER excessive toe out is what completely killed the tires. you were literally scraping the tires on the road when it moves

BA_GS400

iTrader: (1)

Thanks to the both of you.

Yeah, RMMGS4, I agree with your mention about the bushings not being a problem. For any others', it should be 110% clear that mal-alignment is virtually expected when you rebuild so much of your front suspension at one time. Also, an alignment is ABSOLUTELY NEEDED after a rebuild like bushings, tie-rods and ball joints.

I had just never seen this kind of tire wear unless it was camber-related, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I needed 245's up front anyway.

Thanks again!