Having run a set of Stilo 17" alloys and Toyo T1S on my Punto 1.9MJ for a while I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced excessive wear on the inside of the front tyres. By excessive I mean down to the canvas after 5K!
OK, I have quite a heavy right foot and the car is running quite a fruity Angel remap but it's almost as it the camber is WAY off and the only part of the tyre really in contact with the road is the inside 1 1/2" or so. Standard tyres have more grip!
Tracking is spot on - checked on a number of occasions by different garages. Tyre pressures 29psi.
I'm probably going to give up and return to the standard wheels and tyres as it's costing me a fortune. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

When you say you had the tracking done, did they do a full 4 wheel track including camber/castor etc?

Cheers,
Alan

29 psi in the tyres sounds a bit low for 17'' IMO

29 psi is more acceptable for 13'' and 14''

AppleSei said:

29 psi in the tyres sounds a bit low for 17'' IMO

29 psi is more acceptable for 13'' and 14''

Click to expand...

:yeahthat: my mk2 jtd runs at 34 psi on 14"s don't forget you've got a heavy engine

Think its safe to say theres one of the problems, they are terribly underinflated for the size

29 psi is way way to low, at least want 37 front 36 back with just driver +1

I had suspected low pressure but I don't think it's the cause - perhaps contributing but not the ultimate issue; It seems as if there is limited grip with the 17"s compared t the standard 15"'s. It's almost as if you are driving on the inner edge of the tyres ONLY and this is borne out by the wear pattern.
As for alisnment - it was a proper 4 wheel laser jig and to answer another poster - you can't adjust camber on a Punto.

Seriously I don't think it's tyre pressure.

with low pressure you are driving on the edge only.

rule of thumb is increase pressure by 2 psi per inch bigger than standard wheels, but i find 37 front 36 back works fine with just me +1. i also have tracking set to a slight tow in, factory setting it dead straight

Under inflated tyres ware on the outside edges and can cause heavy steering.

As you can see from this pic posted, it shows both over-inflated and under.

I went through a set of front tyres in around 3k miles and that wasn't driving my Mk2 like I was on a track.

When I had new front tyres fitted I got them to check the car. They put it on what they called an Optiline machine and then adjusted the tracking. The tyres have been wearing evenly since.

Running 29psi would not cause your tyres to wear out like that.

If you had a 4-wheel alignment check, what settings did they find? You should have a print-out. If they don't give you a print-out, take it somewhere that does.

Forget the low pressures argument.. that would give you wear on both shoulders, not just the inner. Bung more air in there but that won't sort the fundamental problem.

Wear to the inside edge of the tyres occurs if the tracking is out or if the camber settings are out.

You may not be able to adjust camber but you should still measure it. If your car has been spanked once (especially if one corner wears worse than the other) then the repairers may not have straightened it all out properly. If you have the camber readings you can check them with what the manufacturer recommends.

Make sure that you get the right settings for your car.. a lot of these tracking places just have a chart and they may be using the wrong settings (yours could be adjusted as a Grande Punto, for all you know).

Wider tyres exaggerate any suspension problems, so if the "original" wheels don't show so much of a problem then that's just because they're narrower so will scrub less.

Has your suspension been lowered? That's always guaranteed to throw your camber out.


Ralf S.

Im getting this on my mk2b Sporting with 17"'s on. I havent got my alighnment done yet so thats my first port of call . If that doesn't work im going to stick 15"'s back on.

I had this on my JTD with 16's. As Ralf S said, when they checked the camber, it was out. yes, it cant be adjusted, but it was due to a worn bush on the wishbone, which was alowing the camber to go into the negative when under load (ie braking). Its worth getting it checked.

a1ant said:

I had this on my JTD with 16's. As Ralf S said, when they checked the camber, it was out. yes, it cant be adjusted, but it was due to a worn bush on the wishbone, which was alowing the camber to go into the negative when under load (ie braking). Its worth getting it checked.

Click to expand...

Ahh! would a worn bush cause a knock when going over certain bumps?.

Oh yes!! Thats exactly what mine was doing. Only noticed the inside ware on the tyre when investigating what the knocking noise was!!

Oh, and the bushes cant be replaced seperately, you have to buy the whole wishbone! However, they are only £54.95 each and you will notice a big difference to the handling of the car if they have been going for a while.
And you can do it yourself too!

dont powerflex or no one do bushes?

ive got adjustable camber on front of my punto :nerner:

dave said:

dont powerflex or no one do bushes?

Click to expand...

yep but only one set, i've been thinking of getting them do you know anyone whose tried them

Yea they do, but its only the front bush. The rear one is integral in the wishbone, which in my case was the one that had gone!

Thankls everybody!

I didn't think it was tyre pressure!

I've had the alignment checked at three different garages. Can't remember the settings but suffice to say they were for the correct vehicle. I believe it to be camber - somebody said they had adjustable camber - how?! Can you point me in the right direction?

Not sure if it's bushes - the car has done 40K and the first set of tyres went on at 9K when I bought it and lasted about 6K!

It has not been pranged at all and the alignment checks were spot on for toe etc.
I'm back on the 15"s and the car actually feels an awful lot better - much more responsive and better economy - I saw 61mpg the other day on the run to an from work as opposed to 56 with the 17"'s. The suspension works so much better as the wheels are lighter and it has much crisper turn it.

Personally I think I'll stick with the 15's unless this is an easy fix! I'm more interested in how it drives than how it looks!