Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Tue 8 Jan 2013 12:00
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - elsid

The OSF tyre on my Picasso is balding quite badly on the outer edge, even though the tracking has been checked / adjusted on several occasions at my local National Tyres branch I have used for many years. They say it could be the 'camber angle' needs adjusting but they do not have the equipment to test it. The Picasso is almost eight years old but very low 40,000 miles from new.

The strange thing is that I have a very similar problem with my Fiesta which is also showing ware to the outer edge of the OSF tyre, but is balding at a slower rate than the Picasso even though we use it more often. The tracking on the Fiesta had been checked and adjusted a few weeks earlier after also fitting a new tyre due to the ware on the outer edge, but the OSF tyre outer edge on the new tyre was starting to show signs of ware again, so I took it back for a check. The tracking was out so they adjusted it and said it was spot on. They gave it a short road test then re-checked but it was out so they re-tracked and drove it a few yards around the small car park in front of the garage, retested and it incredibly the tracking was out again. They adjusted and told me to bring it back if I had any problems. I immediately drove the car to a Quick Fit garage less than a mile away, they checked the tracking and guess what, it was out again. Can anyone tell me what would cause the problem and how much it will cost to fix.

Edited by elsid on 08/01/2013 at 12:03

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 12:12
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - galileo

Sounds as if you have worn steering ball joints/suspension bushes. Take it to a proper garage and they will tell you what needs replacing and likely cost.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 12:18
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - Peter.N.

Tracking errors will show up as similar wear on both tyres, if the outer edge is wearing it will be towing in to much, if there is no similar wear on the other tyre the fault must lay with the offending wheel, if it was leaning outwards at the top it would give that effect but normally the camber angle is not adjustable.

It could be as a result of damage or wear in the suspension bushes or strut top mounting. You should be able to check by standing the car on a completely flat surface and checking each wheel with a spirit level, they should be almost vertical with a very slight outward lean at the top, only a few degrees, but they should both read the same.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 12:23
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - elsid

Hi and thanks for the fast replies and tips. Im off to look for my spirit level and will keep you posted.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 13:35
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - elsid

Tested with the spirit level and its only very slightly out, but am contacting a garage that has the proper 4 wheel alignment kit that also checks camber.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 14:59
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - bathtub tom

Do you really mean the OSF? That's the RH (drivers side) of a UK RHD car.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 18:47
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - Cyd

I had a Rover 800 which exibited a very similar problem to the left hand front tyre. The bushes wore on the upper front wishbone allowing too much movement. When going round corners this allows the wheel to turn in too much so "dragging" the outer edge of the tyre round the corner. It particularly affected the left front becaus eof our use of roundabouts (lots of turning right).

You say OSF - by this do you mean front right hand wheel? I'm assuming we are talking about a right hand drive UK based car here?

Assuming you are, do you do lots of left turns on your daily commute? You may have worn suspension that's allowing too much movement a la my old 800. Check upper suspension joints / bushes.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Jan 2013 22:34
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - elsid

I’m in the UK so it’s a right hand drive car, OSF is the front right hand as seen from the driver’s seat.

I spoke to a Citroen authorised dealer who said they don’t have the four wheel laser alignment kit that also checks the camber angle. He gave me the number of a local body repair specialist garage they use that has the kit. They told me the camber on the Picasso is not adjustable and the most likely cause is a suspension component worn out or possibly bent. So I’m taking the car in for inspection. The roads in the UK are getting worse. We have lots of roundabouts, speed humps and masses of pot holes. Thank you for the support.

Edited by elsid on 08/01/2013 at 22:49

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 10 Jan 2013 19:14
Citroen Picasso & Fiesta - Front Tyre Wear - Cyd

It might be worth taking it to an MoT station that has one of the new suspension "shakers" built into the ramp (they'll all have them soon). Ask them if they'll just test out the suspension for you to try and find the worn part.

Or get someone to whip the steering left / right quicky whilst you feel for movement.

If you're anywhaere in the area of Rugby / Leicester by any chance I can suggest somewhere.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link