Bad Alignment?

Approximately 3000miles ago I gave my car an alignment, balance, and rotation. My car is lowered 2 inches with "real" lowering springs, and has brand new KYB Shocks. I took my tire off the other day to due some work and I noticed that my tire is real messed up. I know that I have a degree of negitive camber so the inner edge of the tire wears more than the rest of the tire but this is not the problem. It has a strange wear that can be explained by running my hand over the tire one way and it is smooth, but if I run my hand over it the other way, the tread is sticking up and catches on my palm. Did the people that did my alignment mess up? Is there a standard that garages use to align cars based on the "stock" make and model's suspension setup?

Sorry if this explaination makes you ask, "what the hell is he talking about?".

Mine was the same way its the alignment, check your control arm

It has a strange wear that can be explained by running my hand over the tire one way and it is smooth, but if I run my hand over it the other way, the tread is sticking up and catches on my palm. Did the people that did my alignment mess up? Is there a standard that garages use to align cars based on the "stock" make and model's suspension setup?

I dont understand the tire wear, but most shops due not have the specs to align a lowered car under 1.75". Find a shop that deals with performance suspension or a specialty alignment shop. Also anything under 1.75" needs a camber kit

The tire wear you mention above is called feathering, you will get this if you have a lowered vehicle, whether you get an alignment or not, because most shops only adjust toe in toe out and steering alignment. The more your lower your car the more negative camber is produced making the tires mostly wear on the inside, causing this uneven wear. Shops can only fix so much negative camber, the only way to really fix it is with camber kits. Just keep rotating you tires regularly to distribute the wear evenly to all tires.

Sounds like cupping which can be a couple of things:


old bushings
too much toe in
bad wheel bearing
lugs are not tight enough
something loose on the suspension at the side of the car


If the tires are directional I would get them flipped on the wheel. So now the front right tire is a front left tire and vice versa.

Thanks a lot guys. I think I'm just going to go to the shop and bitch. See if I can't get some money out of the deal. P.S - Yeah, I know I need a camber kit. I'm just super poor right now, (school), and I'm hoping the tires will last until this summer so I get some beans to replace them, and get a kit.

Originally posted by loesch8102
Thanks a lot guys. I think I'm just going to go to the shop and bitch. See if I can't get some money out of the deal. P.S - Yeah, I know I need a camber kit. I'm just super poor right now, (school), and I'm hoping the tires will last until this summer so I get some beans to replace them, and get a kit.

Acually most people think they need camber kits when all it is is just an alignment problem. Many places just go with factory specs, but if you want your tires to last longer get 0 toe front and rear.

Originally posted by CivicSiRacer


Acually most people think they need camber kits when all it is is just an alignment problem. Many places just go with factory specs, but if you want your tires to last longer get 0 toe front and rear.

I'd have to agree with this.

But something I'm wondering about, how long should it take suspension to settle in, and can camber worsen itself over time even if nothing is adjusted or messed with suspension wise? I ask because I didin't get an alignment till like over 3 months AFTER I got me Teins, ("2 drop) and of course the toe was WAY off as was evident in the wear pattern when I got my tires/wheels rotated shortly before the alignment. My rears showed almost NO signs of camber wear with about 2500 miles on them since the Teins had been installed. The fronts were bad from the toe being off. Now almost a year since having the Teins, my rears (haven't been rotated since that time) are showing some moderate camber wear. Why wouldn't it have shown it when I got them rotated, but show it now? I'm really only seeing the camber wear with the rears, not really any with the fronts. I'm wondering if my driving style and auto-x'ing has anything to do with the showing of the camber wear...

New suspensions usually will settle in the first few weeks/months depending on how the car is used. Settling is very minor, some people think the will get anothe .5" in the their drop which isn't true.