Recently I have noticed that the steering wheel is not quite in line with the wheels (i.e steering wheel is "slightly" left of centre to travel in a straight line)
Up to recently tyre wear have been exactly even, but I have just noticed that the left tyre has less tread than the right (maybe a couple of mm difference) - tyre wear across an individual tyre is even.
Is this normal (i.e left tyre does more miles - roundabouts etc) or could there be a problem with tracking etc?
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Is the car front wheel drive? Note, not mentioned!!
Generally a front wheel drive will wear the left front tyre more than the RHS one. The driveshaft is shorter on the left, hence easier to dump the power onto that wheel than the right one. Also the left wheel is always in the carp and sawdust that's left on the sides of the road and take an extra battering.
therefore I would say it's perfectly normal.
As for the steering wheel being slightly out of alignment, it's probably had it's tracking adjusted at some point and the lazy mechanic only adjusted one track rod arm and not both to keep the steering wheel central.
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DD is probably right about the steering wheel and tracking, if it has been like that since the last time it was checked. But if it develops by itself, I've invariably found that it is an indication of something wearing, usually a steering joint or a track rod end.
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Car is a Mercedes A160 which is FWD.
Alignment has never been adjusted and the last set of fronts were worn equally on left and right sides. The current front tyres are the same make/model as the last set (cont ecocontacts)
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The driveshaft is shorter on the left, hence easier to dump the power onto that wheel than the right one.
My local Ford dealer once tried to bamboozle me with that explanation when I complained that my brand new XR3i pulled to the left when accelerating. I retaliated by pointing out that one shaft was solid and the other was hollow and of a different diameter, resulting in both having the same torsional stiffness. And then I proved their theory to be erroneous by swapping the front wheels side to side ~ lo and behold the car then pulled to the right. In the end they swapped all five Firestone tyres for a set of Michelin X ~ problem resolved.
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Very interesting theory DD. But my Mk3 V6 Mondeo is wearing more on the right front than the left front. Both tyres correctly inflated (33 psi) and wearing more on the edges than the centre (wierd)?. Also wearing slightly more on inside edge on fronts and outside edge on rears, had 4 wheel alignment checked last September and have not kerbed it or anything since. the fronts have only done 7000 miles and it doesn't look like I'll get another 7000 out of them and at £125 a tyre I'm getting a bit worried. Should I have it checked again at a different garage ?
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Going round roundabouts is what makes the front nearside tyre wear quickest, it has on all my cars.
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Sooty, you will have to be more convincing than that. Cars turn left as well as right on roundabouts, though I suppose if you habitually scream round them you might wear the left front more than the right. But what about all the normal left turns, which are tighter than normal right turns because of driving on the left?
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