There was an earlier thread about nearside front tyres wearing quicker than the offside, but it's now a fair way down the screen so I decided to start a new thread.
A few theories were expounded, and there seemed to be general agreement that the nearside fron does wear quicker (David Lacey and David Woollard). Roundabouts were mentioned as a possible cause.
What about road camber? Wouldn't this cause a slight extra load on the nearside? Many years ago I read that Morris Oxfords were fitted with different leaf springs on each side at the rear in an attempt to make the car steer neutrally.
If camber is a contributor to the problem then, presumably, left hand drive cars (i.e. those driven on the right hand side of the road) would suffer premature wear on the right side. Does anyone know if this is the case. Andy Bairsto, you live in Germany, has this been noticed over there?
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Road camber is virtually negligible now, compared with the days of Morris Oxfords. That is why excess rainwater accumulates in large sheets, instead of draining into gutters and ditches.
I presume the reason for the change is to let people drive faster round corners.
Cliff Pope
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Interesting thought Ian.
You might be right Cliff about the lack of camber on most roads but in the rural fens it is a major feature. As I look out of the window here the white line is about at eye level (sitting down) and there is a huge fall away each side.
When I'm testing a car that may be reported to pull or suffer some other handling fault I find a deserted stretch of minor road and straddle the white line to equalise the camber before checking for faults.
A car that is camber sensitive can be quite unpleasent to drive out here.
David
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Personally I don't notice any difference between wear on off and nearside tyres.
But I do suspect IMHO that buses (and hgv's) have something to do with it. Where I live there are lots of buses and the nearside of the road, where they run, is atrocious, loads of potholes and uneven surface, must ruin tyres.
The rest of the road is not that bad, so it must be down to the buses with heavy loads.
Jonathan
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yea and bad road design, a la milton keynes
i noticed recently some great road design in reading, where the zig zag lines one side of a pedestrain crossing had been replaced with a bus stop box!
now with a bus in the stop the visibility for all drivers/pedestrians is non-existant, and there is plenty of space for a bus stop a few yards up the road...
I suppose as ever when inevitably there is an accident it will be the drivers fault, couldnt possible have anything to do with the idiots who marked the road up like this ?
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And what, pray, has this to do with uneven tyre wear?
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well crap road design in milton keynes apart from causing accidents also ruins tyres (a step up from knackering your suspension as most speed bump crazy authories manage)
think of how many more tyres this is costing people...
and if you dont believe me ask a tyre fitter in mk
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I wonder whether it's to do with us driving on the left, and when turning left, the NSF wheel turns through the greatest angle, as the radius of the bend is sharpest. When we turn right, we have a wider arc to take usually. The old ackerman principle is not what it was.
Mike
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Mike
What do you mean about the ackerman principle not being what it was? I thought it was one of the main foundations of chassis design, like having round wheels, and still current today. As I understand it, Ackerman's design was based on the track rod being either shorter than the distance between the king pins if behind the wheels, or longer if in front, causing the inside wheel to turn more sharply than the outer.
Please explain.
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