Yes I’m sorry to say it came off my car!
I have an old 1969 Mach 1 Mustang that talks to me in my sleep, it says things like… “pssssst – the kids don’t need braces, I need a new performance radiator” or “buy me the latest Ricky Racer go fast part don’t worry about the kids needing school supplies, it’s OK. “
Well, as you can imagine, the car sits for most of the time and when we do get her out it’s usually for a quick cruise through the park and back into the garage. Now, I knew it needed front tires, I knew they were in bad shape, and I knew this because I drove it knowing that it needed to be aligned. Driving it while out of alignment caused the tires to wear on the inside edges. I did not know that one of the tires was coming apart, until I heard the thumping noise and it was too late.
There are 3 alignment angles; I will explain the 2 that are usually adjustable on most cars on the road today; Toe and Camber. Toe is the pointing in (or out) of the front of the tire, just like pointing your toes in towards each other or out and Camber is the tilting of the top of the tire in or out. If you look at the picture the right edge of the tire is bald, this is (unfortunately) a great example of a camber issue. The tire was literally rolling while leaning on its edge and it caused one side of the tread to wear while the other side did not see much wear. Later, as the steel belts started to show the tire started to come apart on the inside, which can be seen in the picture by looking for the bulge that runs through the tire.
We see uneven tire wear quite frequently while servicing vehicles for our customers. Any time you see uneven tire wear, there is a reason. It could be loose, bent or broken suspension parts, or just out of alignment. Either way once the tires start to wear there is no way to stop them. Some of the best ways to prevent this are to rotate your tires regularly and have the suspension inspected to catch any problems early and to get an alignment when you get new tires and/or new suspension parts. At Jammin’ J Automotive, we include free tire rotation when you purchase new tires from us. Also, we keep track of your vehicle history and will partner with you to help you to remember to do the things that need to be done regularly to keep your tires in good working condition as long as possible. When buying new tires, ask about an alignment, it is a small investment to lengthen the life of your tires.
Now if I can just get the new tire bill passed through the Wife Congress…….. 🙂