04 XC70 front wheel scrubbing, tight turns

[BlackBart]

I’ve noticed on tight turns or U-turns the outer front wheel really scrubs - you can hear the tire scrubbing the asphalt or digging the gravel.
I was used to my 850 and thought it was just one of the quirks of P2’s and maybe the FWD geometry - I read their turning circle is much wider than the P80.

The other day I heard it louder, checked the front tires, and the outer row of tread is wearing fast.

It has newish struts, new HD ipd control arms & ball joints, new drop links. I can’t imagine I did all those and didn’t align it after.

Maybe my wife hit a curb stop at work..?

So does that sound like caster, toe, camber?

Thanks -

<EDIT> Akerman steering angles? Tie rod end / toe adjustment?

Y’know what this reminded me of - turning an old school 4WD (early Bronco) with the front hubs in, on dirt or pavement (very bad for the gears and U-joints!). The outer front tire will really scrub because the fronts are locked together and have to rotate the same speed.

[jonesg]

i use 4 milk crates and string, set equal distance from the string to the wheel center caps.
measure from the rear of the rim to the string, then the front of the rim to the string.
i can get it near dead on.

[scot850]

P2's do wear the outside of the tires harder I find. However the reason for outer tire wear is either the front of the tire is toe-ing outwards or the camber is off with the top of the wheel leaning outwards from the car. If you replaced the front suspension parts as listed, maybe you forgot the alignment, especially if it is on the outer sides of both front tires?

Neil.

[BlackBart]

LF tire.
Note that the fronts are getting close to the bars - I’m swapping these to the back and using them up until putting the snows on.

I can see maybe some underinflation and wear at both edges?

RF - which is where I think most scrubbing occurs with u-turns, etc.

[Blacklab467]

I’d agree with scot850, looks like a positive camber issue, you can check real quick with a carpenter’s level. There’s a small amount of camber adjustment on the strut mounts that can be achieved easily with the two bolts 18mm head and 21 mm nut. I usually push the wheel top as far in as it will go, resulting in about 1/2 degree negative camber, this is a good baseline or you can get an alignment shop to get it exact. This should also clear up the scrubbing. Are those tires the correct size? I had a worn out set of winter tires that were about an inch shorter than spec that caused the scrubbing effect that you describe that was resolved with a correct height new set of tires.

[BlackBart]

Yep, stock size.

I have to find my records folder to see when I aligned it last.

[scot850]

How old are those tires? They look as bad as the 13 year old ones on the 02 I am working on! They look to have cracks appearing between the treads in your 2nd last picture.

Neil

[BlackBart]

OK.....let's talk about 10 yr old tires... 25th and 26th week of 2014. Hmm. Hankook all-seasons, 215/65-16 96T. These came on a spare set of alloy wheels I bought for snow tires. The seller was supposed to take them off but shipped them mounted. They weren't bad so I decided to use them up. I also had a set of Michelins with even less tread, and even older, so I tossed them. These looked fine when I put them on in the spring.

We have an 1800 mile trip to Colorado in October loosely planned. The rears have a lot more tread if I swap them.

[jimmy57]

Plastic wheel liners on all makes shrink and distort with age. One area where is happens regularly is the space where forward edge of tires turns in at full lock. I know when those liners were new on P2 models, they almost touched the subframe. With age they are an inch or more away.. Jut treat it as an audible indicator that wheel has reached full travel. It is a harmless noise and at worst a spot wears through that is harmless. if it bothers you beyond this then a heat gun and a good glove will allow you to heat it and push the scraped area back. That will draw in an adjacent area in all likelihood but the shape changing without tire rubbing is without a consequence.

[BlackBart]

This is tires scrubbing on the pavement on very tight turns, as if the toe is out of whack. I have no tire contact with the car itself.
Thanks.

I have an alignment scheduled next week.

Question for everyone - if you have the car set in a medium turn, the weight is transferred to steady state cornering, and you feel a tug or pull on the wheel as if one tire has some play - would you look at tie rod ends? Where else would the play be? Or it could be tramlining on pavement ridges, but I've felt this a couple of times and noted it as odd.