Uneven rear tyre wear

[Doggy]

About 6 months after I bought the dogmobile, it developed a vibration felt mostly through the steering. Eventually it was cured by changing the o/s/r tyre, which seemed to have a fair amount of tread, 'till I took it off and found the carcass peeking through close to the inside shoulder.

New tyre on and running perfectly again.

30k on and I have a similar problem, only this time the tread wear is completely even, about 3-4 mm left all over, but if you run your hand round the tread, close to the inner shoulder, you feel a high spot every 4 or 5 inches.

I had thought the resulting noise was a wheel bearing or similar, but having swapped the spare on, it's silent and the little bit of steering shake I had is gone too. All good news, but obviously I don't want to repeat the problem a bit further down the road.

I know the rear camber is adjustable, but I don't think that's the issue here, the tread wear is too even. Some stuff I read on the coupe forum suggests the rear tracking is also adjustable, so anyone know what adjusts it and how to set it up correctly. (By which I don't mean letting Kwik Sh1t or similar blunder around making it worse, or allowing the Pug dealer to recoup some of the money they haven't been able to extort from FAP-equipped owners recently).

[jasper5]

I guess (without seeing the tyre) that you are a victim of pothole damage causing the inner bracing of the tyre to break up and form the high spots.

The only other thing I can think of is a possible shock absorber fault....you can get uneven wear in sections around the tyre caused by the shock absorber not working properly and allowing the wheel to bounce off the road wearing the tyre in patches.

My money is on pothole damage, your tread wear is too much even for any tracking/camber problem.

[Doggy]

Thanks, jasper, I'm sure you're right - just have this horrible feeling it won't be third time lucky.

I'll leave the spare on for a bit, then invest in some more front tyres, moving the existing fronts to the back.

[Welly]

I thought of a worn shocker at first, it'd be a good idea to get someone else to drive it whilst you follow (are you a good runner? ) and look very carefully at the wheels' reaction over rough surfaces. I've followed many cars with bouncy wheels, it's quite alarming.

[teamster1975]

Is there any chance the wheel arch liner is fouling the tyre doggy? I spotted this on my car some time last year, wierd fault!
Quick heat up with the hot air gun to straighten it out and all sorted.

[Doggy]

I've followed many cars with bouncy........

wheels, it's quite alarming.

Thought I was reading a Staffordshire Post for a minute there - will check asap.

Is there any chance the wheel arch liner is fouling the tyre doggy?

Don't think so, but I'll make sure.

Thanks, all.

[steve_earwig]

If you can't spot anything perhaps it's time for 5-wheel alignment. you probably should tell them what's going on so they don't change anything but it might tell you what's bent.

[Welly]

You might wanna explain why your car has 5 wheels too

[plod]

Obviously a conversion for towing an artic trailer

[Doggy]

Can't be - it's a manual.

[Blackbob]

Bet you a cup of tea it's a buckled wheel. Just replaced a wheel on Stepson's Corsa, when you spun the offending wheel with it jacked up there was about an inch of runout (is that the word?). Goodness knows what he's hit, no visible damage to rim or tyre. He maintains he got that wheel from the scrappy.. Hmm.

[Doggy]

But the wheel's done this with two different tyres, both of which were OK for the first 20,000 miles.