[Ian-F]

I am or was the proud owner of a 06 plate bought a week before the 56 plate came out.

I went for a 2.0l TDCI Ghia with a load of optional extras (what the heck my Dads Ford Privleidge looked after a lot of them)

Having completed 12,500 trouble free miles bar one fuse in the leather all electric drivers seat giving up, It was service time. The serivce offered by PEOPLES in Speke Liverpool was poor. confliciting information and a manager who threatened me that he knew more about cars than me when I aksed a few simple questions of the serivce! when he said his skilled technicians had indentified the front tyres as being scrap! The dealership tyre tech explained that the tyres were Ok and I had a good few thousand miles left in them and that a 2.0L is heavy on the front end excuses excuses etc etc, resigned to the fact that I would now keep more of an eye on them I carried on about my buisness.

So this Saturday having just completed a 100 mile drive down the M6 I set out on a local trip and pop bang the driver offside tyre burst, luckly at 5mph and it was a big screw. On changing the tyre the inner face was destroyed and down to bare metal in the trye wall (tyres are optional 17" 205 conti sports)

I had no issue or warning as regard possible tracking errors and would feel happy to let go of the wheel at speed and know the vehicle would not veer any which way. I have not driven the vehicle at the extremes and currently get about 41mpg which I dont think is bad overall with a mix of regular city and motorway driving.

What really upset me was the reaction of the Kwik Fit fitter when he had seen both wheels, it was a look of total shock and I am more than able to hold my own in the areas of one up man ship. I have not had to over brake and or hit anything. Kwik fit commented how neat and mark free my alloys and tyres bar the obvious were.

I am due to go back to the dealership who sold the car and from neighbours advice they reckon it could have had this fault from day one Anyone else had this issue?
Edited by: Ian-F

 

[catangel]

oh my god Ian,just read your tale,good job you were only doing 5mph when it happened!! Really hope you can get to the bottom of it! All the best.
On a much lighter note,I grew up in speke,lived there till i was 15,lived in a corpie house on Alderfield drive,and went to st Ambrose infants and junior school,plus we was always at st Ambrose church,sigh!! I lived opposite Fords halewood plant Bright Blessings

 

[2ndtimer]

Hi IanF,I had a 1.8TdCi Zetec which wore out it's front tyres after 13000 miles, 1000 of which were towing 1250kg of caravan. However, the tyres were worn evenly side to side. The original standar tyres were Conti SportContact, changed to Conti EcoContact, I think. I lost the car at 17000 miles, a victim of the Oxon floods in July. Currently waiting for a replacement 1.8TdCi Zetec C-Max, (company car).

 

[Ian-F]

That sounds alarmingly like my epsisode minus the caravan, so sounds like it maybe worth a shout to Conti!

They said my tyres were ok and that can be epxected at the dealership, And would never feature as a warranty repair, Kwik Fit did the tracking and said each of my tyres were out by 3 units (degrees?) which seems high to me and for them both to be the same somewhat suspicious to say the least, Conti's at £150 each seem somewhat poor in longevity.

Ian
Edited by: Ian-F

 

[dcs12]

I've a 1.6 diesel style model (06 reg). Front Conti Sport Contact 2's down to 2mm at 16k so had them replaced. Had tracking done at 11k when the front inners were wearing notably quicker than rest of tyre. Confusingly, the guy said whilst tracking was out it wasn't by much (I think he said half a degree). Will be keeping a close eye on the wear of the new tyres (Maloya's, made by Vredestein).

As regards tyres, try websites mytyres.co.uk or etyres.co.uk, both of which are quite cheap. At the moment the former site can supply my size, 205/55/16's, at £42.10 each including postage. This is for Fulda's which have wear rate as good as a Michelin and came highly rated in this year's test of tyres by Which magazine (March edition)

Mpg: am getting 50/52 average without trying (I have 90 bhp model) so very pleased. Regularly add Millers additive to keep injectors clean (after reading good write up by HonestJohn in Telegraph motoring section)

 

[jona]

ive had the same problem with my front tyres,conti sport contact 2 .they were worn right down on the inside but still had 3-4mm left on the outside.the mileage is 20000 but i dont know if the tyres are the originals as ive only had the car 4 months.

 

[Maxer]

Get your wheel alignment checked. There's a chance it's been whacked off a kerb or something. It should only cost twenty quid or so and would give you peace of mind that you can rule it in/out.

 

[Ian-F]

I have had what could be another development and could be some part towards my overworn tyres.

I had a letter from Ford with a recall on a brake valve which has meant the back brakes have been heveaier than the front my simple non mechanics logic would suggest that an extra force could have been present on the front tyres pushing them in and down?

I think in my case wheel alignment of 3 units is still excessive and the old wacked out by a kerb when with 17" sports alloys I have avoided like the plague

3 units I have been told by a mate who works in the trade in a new vehicle equates to hitting a kerb daily at 40 mph or something silly like that, simply our roads arent the best but I were ever possible avoid pot holes and the like.

I think there are still issues to be resolved either with the build of the car or the tyre quality!

Ian

 

[2ndtimer]

Hi Ian. I now have my new carwhich has Michelin Primacys. I will be watching the wear very closely.You seemto have suffered the same old 'Whatever it is the customer did it deliberately' treatment. It reminds me of a customer service training film starring John Cleese, I think it was called 'Who Sold You This Then?'

 

[Tembo11]

On a note about brands has anyone got any Goodyear NCT 5's fitted in the 205/55 R16 version?.

I've had the NCT in different versions on several previous vehicles and found very reasonable life.

The brake valve or G valve is there to reduce the pressure to the back brakes (primarily discs with the greter efficiency than shoes) when the vehicle is unladed. The brake force is below the centre of gravity and is what causes the nose to dip as the weight transfers forward. If the valve were not operating properly there is a chance that the back brakes may lose sufficient weight to prevent them locking up and presenting the dangerous possibility of a rear wheel skid (there are a whole set of complex calculations that are done at the design stage to ensure that the G valve operates properly

 

[taztdci]

ours also has the 17"s on so am paranoid about kerbs, the esp light kept flashing when accelerating so had the tracking checked, thefront wasout by over 5degrees overall since then no problems.

 

[catangel]

Hi taztdci ,Got the same alloys as you on our 07 zetec.Try living and parking in cornwall with the massive HIGH Granite kerbs,we nearly have a nervous breakdown.Weve managed to scratch them already about 5 Times,plus the granite can really damage tyres,talk about being obsessive compulsive!! I know a lot reading this may think jammy buggers living there yeah we love it but thats the only downside,no wonder loads of people here seem to drive wrecks!!!

 

[ken turbine]

Another one to the litany of fast wearing tyres. I have an '061.6 LX on steels and had to replaceboth fronts after 12,000 as the inner edges were at legal limit. The rest of the tread was OK, but couldn't trust the tread left on the corners not to go further. Since then have had the tracking done every 2-3 months but it does not seem stable and without any kerbing or abuse has been out by as much as 9°.

 

[Ian-F]

So at what point does this become more of a recall issue than oh its the hard red paint on these bumps etc etc....honest thats what one ex employee of a large maindealership said they were told to roll out in relation to a number of quality control type issues....

I still cant think I had any obvious feel in the brakes, steering wheel or drift. I find that alarming, its £20 with Kwikfit I dont mind spending but dont feel really that I should have too.

What can we do to resolve this, thinking back I emailed the tyre manufactere months ago and to my suprise they still havent relpied I even went through all my spam emails

Ian
Edited by: Ian-F

 

[Richard G]

There are a couple of points I suggest

Are you sure that the lock nuts on the track rod ends are actually locked up tight after the adjustment is done and the wheel nuts are tight as well, so that they don't move with the vibration of driving and
If the tracking is done statically is it also checked after having the vehicle rolled forward or backward an amount just in case there is an amount of play in the front bearings (check what the torque setting for the hub nut actually is

 

[catangel]

Hi Richard G, I have just read your messageto Ian-F. Can you please repeat that answer in english.Are you a Mechanic or Have you swallowed a Maintenance book,maybe its because i am a stereotypical dumb blonde lil lady but could you re-Explain yourself like i was 4!! Im sure there are others on the site who also find this strange language quite alien.

 

[Richard G]

The angle of the front wheels relative to each other (tracking)is maintained by a bar (track rod) with threadedmechanism on each end to allow for adjustment. It's on both ends so as to allow the adjustment to be made whilst keeping the steering wheel and steering rack in a cenral position

There should be some way to prevent vibration causing these adjustments to move (any thread under vibration will move to an extent)

The moving parts of the front wheels are fitted to a hub which has a roller bearing that is kept in place by lock nut. With use these bearings wear to an extent. If the wear is outside the design limits then the hub can move just slightly and thus the angle of the wheels to one aqnother can change as well

If the tracking check is thus done statically it is then possible for the adjustment to be out even though nothing may actually have changed

 

[Ian-F]

Thing is tho Richard this issue cam about on a brand new car at that time an 06 plate that had only just reached 17,000 miles now at £150 or there abouts a tyre I expect more for my money!

Just as a little trial I popped back to Kwik Fit Friday,now as I am close to the next service at 24,300 and as its been 8k since it was done how everytjing was shaping up and this time there is NO issue with the tracking and negilible change since last time! funny eh? so how the flip can it be so bad from new.....I would hate to think its a manufacturers fault

Ian

The angle of the front wheels relative to each other (tracking)is maintained by a bar (track rod) with threadedmechanism on each end to allow for adjustment. It's on both ends so as to allow the adjustment to be made whilst keeping the steering wheel and steering rack in a cenral position

There should be some way to prevent vibration causing these adjustments to move (any thread under vibration will move to an extent)

The moving parts of the front wheels are fitted to a hub which has a roller bearing that is kept in place by lock nut. With use these bearings wear to an extent. If the wear is outside the design limits then the hub can move just slightly and thus the angle of the wheels to one aqnother can change as well

If the tracking check is thus done statically it is then possible for the adjustment to be out even though nothing may actually have changed

 

[Richard G]

You've obviously never seen a vehicle production line in full flow and especially if some part needed to allow the track to keep running isn't there, then quality goes out of the window just to keep the track moving and hopefully the problems will be checked in rectification but if some are to be checked last thing on Friday or first on Monday then........

 

[Geoffers]

Hello

I find this tyre wear interesting.

I have an 04 registered 1.6 zetec tdci. The front tyres lasted about 20 thousand miles but i admit the tyres were changed around which resulted in them being replaced in pairs about two months apart. Tyre size 205/55/16. I think if IO had left them as they were I would have only managed 12 or 13 thousand on the front.

As a matter of experiment I put two Vredestein tyres on the front and two months later two budget tyres on the rear. The main noticeable difference was an increase in road noise in the cabin.

I have since changed these front to back and I have very nearly clocked 60 thousand miles and there's still a bit of life left in the tyres yet.

Depending on driving styles an energetic driver may notice the difference between the continental tyres and what I am running at the moment grip wise. My days of pushing the car to its limit have long gone therefore it is not a problem to me.

The previous tyres and in fact these tyres have worn perfectly evenly and as far as I am aware the track has never been touched from new.

You must remember one thing though. If a tyre has excellent grip then the rubber compound is comparatively soft and therefore will wear much quicker. Its a swings and roundabout situation an its a matter of finding a compromise to suit you