Hi all! Today I noticed that the outside of my two front tires are worn down a ton to the point that I should replace them. The middle and inside of the tires have a ton of tread left. What would cause this? Any of you experience this on your Sonata's?

These are the OE tires with 37k miles on them.

I had the tires rotated so I'm good up front at least for now. I wonder if this is an alignment issue?

Thoughts?

bent axle maybe? i havent had the issue, and my OEM tires have about 45k miles on them (with probably another 20k-30k before they would need to be replaced)

have u ever aligned the car since you got it?
i had the dealer algin mine like 2 months after buying it. (free)

No I have not. I'll make sure to have the dealership look at it when I take the care in for an oil change. Maybe I should take it in sooner thou...

Underinflated tires

it cant be under. if it wer under it wud be worn on both inside and outside. his are just wearing outside.

its probly toe or camber wear/

This post has been edited by alfu: Aug 13 2008, 06:10 PM

It may possibly be the alignment, but my money is on hairy turns. Remember, these Michelins are made for long lasting normal driving. (granny style). Any little bit of enthusiastic driving will eat them up. I know this from experience, I have the same thing, 34,000 miles and the out tread blocks are down to the indicators but the middle and inside are fine. The alignment is fine. The problem is I take turns and they howl worst than a wolf. Even with them inflated to 35 PSI. I will be going to a more aggressive tire and doing a Lus Zero. Going from a 215/60/16 to a 235/55/16. I probably will be getting the Sumitomo HTR H4. Here's a link to Tire Rack.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...re1=yes&place=0

Alfu you are right about it ONLY being on the outside, not the inside. I have upped the tire inflation to 35 PSI from 30 to see if it helps.


I guess it's time of an alignment? I've never hit anything, should a car with 37k miles be out of alignment yet?

Paul

Yes, it's alignment, worn on the outside would be too much positive camber. The alignment tends to get out of spec with time. Alignments are a maintenance issue after like 12k miles. Regular rotation won't affect something like this, you will have to get an alignment. Tire inflation also will not affect this. Just make sure you keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure.

This post has been edited by LilBean: Aug 13 2008, 07:36 PM

Sounds like alignment

My dealer say's hyundai recommends every 15,000 miles but they suggest 20,000 to 25,000 miles

Increasing tire pressure to 35lbs will only give you a harder feeling ride.

if its a gradual wear from inside out its camber if not its mostlikely toe
look at pics below

..and new tires. Do a search here for tire info, lot's of choices and opinions. :thumbsup: Comfort and performance choices abound. :amen:

You say you've never hit anything. How about those concrete parking stop things? Potholes? Etc... These things can throw an alignment out of whack and cause wear like this. BTW what position is your steering wheel in when the tires appear straight?

I live in Arizona and we have good roads so I don't have to worry about pot holes and the like. I did by this used so I can't say what the previous owner did with it.

As far as the steering wheel it seems to be a little to the right of center when I'm driving straight.

I've been reading up on this a bit more here: http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

They state the following:
"On many front-wheel-drive vehicles, camber is not adjustable. If the camber is out on these cars, it indicates that something is worn or bent, possibly from an accident and must be repaired or replaced."

Does anyone here know if the camber is adjustable on the Sonata?

Not sure if it's adjustable but there are references to a +/- in the following TSB. Makes you wonder.

http://sonata.jerrystout.us/tsb/alignment%20specs.pdf

I have a feeling everyone is over analyzing this "problem" .. dude - you are taking corners too fast !!!

At times I could be yes but not regularly to have this level of wear I think. I'm going to take it into the shop next week so we'll find out hopefully!

Paul

This post has been edited by PaulW: Aug 15 2008, 02:29 PM

I can answer this definitively. NO it's not.

:thumbsup: -N-