2001 Oldsmobile silhouette rear tire wear.

[Samcar87]

I.have a 2001 Oldsmobile silhouette and both my rear tires wear on the outside and are completely bald with in 3 months. I have replaced the wheel bearings because I was told that would fix the problem. My boyfriend keeps telling me I'm over reacting and its a normal wear for a mini van since I have no weight in the back because the spare tire is missing and the tow hitch is gone. When it rains, snows, or is icy my back end slides all over the place and I'm sick of buying tires. He just wants to buy tires put them on and release some of the air out of my air shocks. I just want to fix it and stop wasting money on experiments that aren't working.

[shorod]

A proper 4 wheel alignment should involve aligning the vehicle with the as-driven weight. So if you have had an alignment performed since the spare tire and hitch were removed, the alignment should take that in to account. I'm guessing you have not had a proper alignment performed. You also should make sure the tires are properly inflated per the placard in the door jamb rather than per the tire sidewall.

A proper 4 wheel alignment, while not inexpensive, will still most likely cost less than a new set of tires.

-Rod

[Samcar87]

That's the problem I took it to have an alignment done and they told me they can not do an alignment on the rear end so the front was done, but not the back my boyfriend just started yelling at me again because he says it's a no brainer I let the air out of my shocks put weight in the back and my tires will wear evenly it dint help that it's showing and I slide all over the road. This is not my first mini van but it's my first time having this problem so I keep saying I shouldn't have to alter the vehicle away from manufacture specifications to make it operate properly.

[MikeCStig]

This sort of thing definitely a symptom of poor weight distribution, which a lot of minivans have anyway. Now that some weight has been removed that will just make it worse.
Think about it this way: over the front wheels is the engine, transmission, differential, driveshafts, etc. Since your van is front wheel drive, basically everything that makes it go is right there... that's a lot of weight. Over the rear wheels, what is there? A third row of seats, which make very little difference if no one is sitting in them, a spare tire, and if equipped a tow bar/ trailer hitch. It sounds to me like what you need is more weight over those rear wheels if you want your van to be more stable. Get a spare tire... hell get 2! mounted on some nice heavy rims and carry them in the back, that's a start anyway. Maybe get a trailer hitch, even if you're not towing a trailer, just for a little more weight.
I know people who have pickup trucks and suffer a similar issue, so they load the bed with cinder blocks, bags of sand or something heavy when the roads get slick. They say it makes a big difference. Letting just a little air out of the rear tires might help too. They'll probably wear out just as fast, but at least they'll grip better.

[CapriRacer]

First, the shop that told you that they couldn't do a rear wheel alignment is wrong. What they probably meant was that there was no factory built in adjustability - AND they refuse to takes the steps needed to allow for adjustability. Put another way, they were just too lazy to take the steps needed to do a rear wheel alignment. Please take note that doing a rear wheel alignment MIGHT require shims or eccentric bolts or a strut plate to get the needed adjustability - and that means more cost to you - but it can be done.