Front Tyre Wear (for A Change...)

[martman]

Hi all,

In june i took my IS200 to a local wheel & tyre centre who have a 3d alignment set up. I asked them to set up the car to Tony Bones settings (Big thanks to Tony). I picked the car up and drove away and the car felt completely different. Not right but different. My house is all of 400 yards from this place so i drove home and though no more of it. I then had to go out in the afternoon and again was surprised at just how different the car felt (in fact i went and had brand new tyres put on). Then i tried to negotiate a mini roundabout.... at a paltry 10-15 mph the front tyres were squealing. Oh dear. Unfortunately by this time the shop was closed. I had to go away for work that week and on the drive to work (about 15 miles) even in a straight line i was getting squealing tyres. The following weekend i went back and complained. The shop agreed to have a look. When i returned they told me that the o/s/f wheel was 'way out' and they had reset it. I asked what was way out and they said that the camber had moved. I drove off and all felt ok. It certainly felt much more planted on the road and overall i was feeling much happier. Last week however, i though i should take look at the tyre wear just to keep an eye. I was stunned to see that the o/s/f tyre worn down to its canvas and the n/s/f not too far behind, this with 3,500 miles on the tyres. Now completely incensed i returned to the shop who had done the alignment. They ar first tried to claim that it was my fault, i must have kerbed the car or something. I dismissed that as :tsktsk: as 3,500 miles was a ludicrously low mileage for the tyes to be in that state. He agreed eventually... and agreed to have another look. He once again said that the camber had dropped. and that the car must have a problem with the camber lock. To be honest at this point i was completely out of my depth and had little idea what the camber lock was or how it worked. I understand camber but not the cars mechanism for locking. It also transpired that during the second time they looked at it they set it up to lexus eom specs and not tonys. In other words not what i had asked for. They are dnying any responsibility and seem uninterested in helping any further. I did not have anywehre near this problem before i took the car there, the last set of front tyres lasted about 14,000 miles and wore the inners. Is there anything i can buy that will lock the camber into position? Although i live in Cornwall i am seriously contemplating making the trip to Tony to get this done properly. What mileage should i expect from a properly set up IS200? I do have print outs from this garage but am not at home at the moment, i will upload them as soon as i can. The shop refused to give me a printout for the last time they looked at it so i have no idea what the final settings were this time. Any help or advice would be very gratefully received, i am virtually at the end of my tether! :duh:

[Tony-Bones]

They obviously don't know what they are doing.... Post the printouts and i'll validate them for you, if they are dire then i can write a report on the positions.

[ormi]

their is something major wrong their 3500 miles i think a drifter would see more out of their rear tyres than that.

i have seen some bad setting up before the worst i saw was a garage who did a 4wheel alighnment and didnt know you were to adjust the rear then the front and that made the car handle very bad(i drove it) we set it up and the customer was happy and we gave them a before and after print out the customer went right back and got his money back.

one more thing its rather dodgy that they didn't want to give you a print out on the cars final alighnment figures???.

[martman]

Sorry not that competent with posting.... I think you can right click and save the image then view in full size

[Tony-Bones]

That is some of the worst workmanship i have ever seen! How come some of the angles they couldn't correct before are now ok and some they did correct before are now wrong? I would suggest you go elsewhere because these people don't have a clue.

[dazz32]

Sorry not that competent with posting.... I think you can right click and save the image then view in full size

Thats horrendous..! just looking at my perfect WIM settings on my car and yours....well yours are WAY out.imho...

[DINO]

Hi all,

In june i took my IS200 to a local wheel & tyre centre who have a 3d alignment set up. I asked them to set up the car to Tony Bones settings (Big thanks to Tony). I picked the car up and drove away and the car felt completely different. Not right but different. My house is all of 400 yards from this place so i drove home and though no more of it. I then had to go out in the afternoon and again was surprised at just how different the car felt (in fact i went and had brand new tyres put on). Then i tried to negotiate a mini roundabout.... at a paltry 10-15 mph the front tyres were squealing. Oh dear. Unfortunately by this time the shop was closed. I had to go away for work that week and on the drive to work (about 15 miles) even in a straight line i was getting squealing tyres. The following weekend i went back and complained. The shop agreed to have a look. When i returned they told me that the o/s/f wheel was 'way out' and they had reset it. I asked what was way out and they said that the camber had moved. I drove off and all felt ok. It certainly felt much more planted on the road and overall i was feeling much happier. Last week however, i though i should take look at the tyre wear just to keep an eye. I was stunned to see that the o/s/f tyre worn down to its canvas and the n/s/f not too far behind, this with 3,500 miles on the tyres. Now completely incensed i returned to the shop who had done the alignment. They ar first tried to claim that it was my fault, i must have kerbed the car or something. I dismissed that as :tsktsk: as 3,500 miles was a ludicrously low mileage for the tyes to be in that state. He agreed eventually... and agreed to have another look. He once again said that the camber had dropped. and that the car must have a problem with the camber lock. To be honest at this point i was completely out of my depth and had little idea what the camber lock was or how it worked. I understand camber but not the cars mechanism for locking. It also transpired that during the second time they looked at it they set it up to lexus eom specs and not tonys. In other words not what i had asked for. They are dnying any responsibility and seem uninterested in helping any further. I did not have anywehre near this problem before i took the car there, the last set of front tyres lasted about 14,000 miles and wore the inners. Is there anything i can buy that will lock the camber into position? Although i live in Cornwall i am seriously contemplating making the trip to Tony to get this done properly. What mileage should i expect from a properly set up IS200? I do have print outs from this garage but am not at home at the moment, i will upload them as soon as i can. The shop refused to give me a printout for the last time they looked at it so i have no idea what the final settings were this time. Any help or advice would be very gratefully received, i am virtually at the end of my tether! :duh:

Go and see Tony, I will always go back to him for any car I own. I got 35k out of my tyres after Tony set it up. My front lower arm is being replaced and I will go back to him again to set the car up.

[klexus]

i too am experiencing tyre wear on the inside.

are tony settings for standard suspension or does it matter@

[martman]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the late acknowledment, I have been working away in Ukraine...I guess it will be a trip to WIM for me then. Don't think i want to risk another bunch of cowboys snatching my money and not giving me what i paid for.