Home News Models Alternatives
 
Smart Car of America - America's Largest Smart Fortwo Enthusiast Community   Smart Fortwo, smart car, smartcar
HOME FORUMS GALLERY

Go Back   Smart Car of America Forums > Smart Car Technical > Smart Car Operation and Maintenance

Notices

» Supporting Partner
» Recent Threads
Music Game
5,607 Replies
Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-14-2009, 11:56 PM   #1 (permalink)
 
Location: Santa Cruz Mountains
Tire Wear

I commute in the mountains on windy, hilly, roads. I've noticed uneven wear on the front tires. Both my FourTwo's are wearing heavy from the inside of the front tires.

Is this an alignment problem? Is this a terrain issue? As it stands, I don't expect more that 20K miles unless I reverse the front tires on the rims.

Anyone else see this?

Bryan

bware is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2009, 12:02 AM   #2 (permalink)
?*?*?
SCOA Club
 
NCC1701's Avatar
 
Location: Panama City, Florida
Drive: 2008 smart cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
I'm not qualified to answer you. But, I saw from your introduction that you're driving 450s. That might be relevant, or not. But, I think you should mention that fact when you're asking members for information.

NCC1701 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2009, 01:57 AM   #3 (permalink)
 
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by bware View Post
I commute in the mountains on windy, hilly, roads. I've noticed uneven wear on the front tires. Both my FourTwo's are wearing heavy from the inside of the front tires.

Is this an alignment problem? Is this a terrain issue? As it stands, I don't expect more that 20K miles unless I reverse the front tires on the rims.

Anyone else see this?

Bryan
Get your alignment checked. This is not normal.

sunnyokanagan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2009, 08:00 PM   #4 (permalink)
 
eqwalker's Avatar
 
Location: Arkansas
Drive: 08passion,09Brabus
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Originally Posted by bware View Post
I commute in the mountains on windy, hilly, roads. I've noticed uneven wear on the front tires. Both my FourTwo's are wearing heavy from the inside of the front tires.

Is this an alignment problem? Is this a terrain issue? As it stands, I don't expect more that 20K miles unless I reverse the front tires on the rims.

Anyone else see this?

Bryan
I fully understand what you are saying. I have 24k miles on mine and the front tires are wearing very noticeably on the insides of the tires. I plan to have the alignment checked when I replace the tires within a couple of thousand miles (if they will last that long). They must be out of alignment.

eqwalker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2009, 08:21 PM   #5 (permalink)
JOIN SCOA..YOU'LL BE GLAD
SCOA Club
 
jetfuel's Avatar
 
Location: in the garage
Drive: modified 65 stang conv
My SCOA Gallery
...don't wait too long to check it....if indeed is a toe or camber issue the extra stress put on the steering system will damage bearings, rod ends and ball joints...my 1c

jetfuel...join SCOA...you'll be glad you did

jetfuel is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2009, 11:07 AM   #6 (permalink)
 
a2jack's Avatar
 
Location: Annarbor, Michigan. (a2)
Drive: 09 Suzuki SX4 . 08 Smart
Tire damage is just now starting to pop up on a few 08 451's ours included... Read this thread. A2jack.
Almost Too Late at 20k !

Last edited by a2jack; 01-16-2009 at 11:12 AM..

a2jack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2009, 01:39 AM   #7 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
ExonicJay's Avatar
 
Location: Pittsburgh
Drive: Vespa PX200
My SCOA Gallery
Talked to a guy last week that has two Smarts.
Both were having uneven tire were at 6,000 miles.
He had an alignment shop check the alignment.
The shop told Him there is no way to adjust the camber on His Smarts.
The camber is fixed at the factory.
Toe-in is the only adjustable that can be made.
Can anyone confirm this?

BTW: The toe-in was way out of alignment causing the uneven tire wear on both cars.

ExonicJay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2009, 03:24 AM   #8 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
Old smart's Avatar
 
Location: City of Williamsburg, VA
Drive: fortwo premium coupé
Correct - toe only, not camber. Mis-adjusted toe can cause wear; camber has no effect on wear.

Old smart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2009, 06:39 AM   #9 (permalink)
 
Padawan's Avatar
 
Location: Smartville, NJ
Drive: Silver BRABUS Cab "Smoky"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old smart View Post
Correct - toe only, not camber. Mis-adjusted toe can cause wear; camber has no effect on wear.
I wouldn't go so far as to say camber has NO effect on wear, but toe is certainly a much more direct influence.

Padawan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2009, 06:42 AM   #10 (permalink)
 
Padawan's Avatar
 
Location: Smartville, NJ
Drive: Silver BRABUS Cab "Smoky"
By the way, I definitely encourage everyone to have their alignment checked. I had been experiencing a slight wandering on the highway and a steering wheel that was a bit off centre ever since I took delivery of All Ball. Expecting it to be a simple issue, I took it in to the dealer and this was the result.

Some surprising (and upsetting) news today...

Padawan is offline   Reply With Quote
Today
 


This ad will not be shown if you are logged in.

Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
tire troubles

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Flat Tire Fix MaryG Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 17 01-16-2009 04:24 PM
Tire roar eqwalker Smart Car Wheels & Tires 54 01-05-2009 11:25 AM
Wanted: One 175-55-16 Tire jonnysan Smart Car Parts Marketplace 4 11-10-2008 11:07 AM
Front tire and rim foyfarlow Smart Car Wheels & Tires 7 10-29-2008 04:26 PM
leather wear retiltxet Smart Car General Discussion 17 09-30-2008 04:07 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0.1

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:26 PM.


Smart Cars of America, LLC is not affiliated with, authorized by, associated with or have any connection with G&K, Zap, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Mercedes-Benz McLaren Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, smart Canada Division, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler LLC, DaimlerChrysler AG, Maybach, smart gmbh, a division of Mercedes Benz LLC, the manufacturer of SMART automobiles, smart USA Distributor, LLC, a division of Penske Automotive Group, Inc, the exclusive authorized U.S. importer and distributor of the smart vehicle or any of their official dealerships


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0
Ad Management by RedTyger