Well some of you know I had to have my hydraulic fan pump (HFP as I call it) replaced awhile ago. Alot of you flamed me because I didn't know who MAX was and five star ford. Well anyway this is what my pump looked like.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMG_4322.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMG_4328.jpg

Well anyway moving on to now. I had a blowout about week ago (back right tire), so I decided maybe all the suspension problems caused it. Well I had everything on the front end replaced, coil over springs, upper and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rod ends, I mean just about everything that has to do with the suspension I had replaced (on the front). Anyway, last night I had another blowout (right front tire). So since it was 1 in the morning and I was at my exit I slowly drove the mile to my apartment's garage. This morning my dad came out and we took the car outside to put the spare on and try to see what's going on, only thing is, we can't seem to figure out why this keeps happening. My dad is almost 60 and he and his friends think that it's because of the type of rims I have. Now personally I think it's not but could someone please take a look at my pictures and tell me what's going on, or at least through some ideas at as.

Front Right
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0045.jpg

Front Right Wheel Well
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0044.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0043.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0046.jpg

Front Right Tire
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0047.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0048.jpg

Front Left Tire
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0049.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0050.jpg

Front Left Wheel Well (Clearance between tire and bolt)
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/lilg563/IMAG0051.jpg

what size tire are you running? looks too tall.

18s

Well your camber is definitely off on your alignment (or was assuming when they replaced everything they gave it an alignment). I'm shocked they didn't tell you that your tires were ready to explode...How old are those tires and how many miles are on them? They don't have any tread left on them at all -- very dangerous looking

18's shouldn't do that. That looks pretty bad and uneven tire wear. Are you sure they aren't blowing cause they have zero thread in them and reached their limit? If you were running 20 you would run into more problem but the closer you get to stock size the more it goes down.

Yeah I know, I'm going tomorrow to get the alignment, I just needed to make it through the weekend, I bought the car with the rims and tires on them from a used car lot. Bought it back in February so almost 10 months + however long before then.

Wow... did you not look at the tires before you bought that?

That looks like years of messed up camber-wear.

That has to ride like pure sh!t lol

honestly, I think the tires are just old. You're running them down to the belts. Tires do that when you start running them down to the belts. Buy yourself some new tires (not to be cheap I imagine with low profiles on 18s -- I'm guessing a 40 sidewall...), and get an alignment on it. I'm sure the tires are just ancient and they've reached the end of their lives.

I'll bet you new tires fix your woes -- make sure you get a good balancing job done on them too

it actually didn't ride bad until last month and I just saved up the money to replace just about everything, so would everyone say it just needs an alignment? and a set of tires. Like I stated before I've had the car for 10 months.

it actually did ride bad until last month and I just saved up the money to replace just about everything, so would everyone say it just needs an alignment? and a set of tires. Like I stated before I've had the car for 10 months.

you got it! that'll cure your woes

are you being sarcastic?

it actually did ride bad until last month and I just saved up the money to replace just about everything, so would everyone say it just needs an alignment? and a set of tires. Like I stated before I've had the car for 10 months.

I'd say so

Jesus Christ... people like you scare me every time I drive on public roads...

I scare you why? Because no one taught me about every aspect of a car? If you have nothing helpful to say, then don't reply.

18s

That does not tell me anything.

At some point, an 18" tire is too much tire. Say 235/56/18 would be too big. Use some common sense, the tire was shi@ before you punctured it with the ball joint stud

I scare you why? Because no one taught me about every aspect of a car? If you have nothing helpful to say, then don't reply.

no because your another driver that feels its someone elses responsibily

I mean d@mn I don't live, breath and sleep cars yet so that's not the first thing that comes to my mind, the tires are 245/40zr/18

no because your another driver that feels its someone elses responsibily

If i feel it's someone else responsibility why would I be here asking what's wrong and how to fix it?

I scare you why? Because no one taught me about every aspect of a car? If you have nothing helpful to say, then don't reply.

Because after both your front tires explode and you lose control of your car and crash into and potentialy injure or kill me...

you know what, I'll just ignore you, since you had nothing to give but negative feedback. Thanks anyway for your Intelligence.

Okay, here's some positive feedback. If you don't know much about cars, then you need to take your car to a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer for an oil change each time the oil change message comes up. They will check all of the things that you don't know about (like that tires need to have at least some thread on them), and warn you about anything dangerous on the car that needs attention.

There is no way for the upper cntrol arm bolt to hit your tire. I know thats probably what your thinking.

Thanks and yes that is what I was thinking.

Looks like the camber is waaaay off. As the tire wears into the belts you will get tons of vibration. I'm running 245/45/18 on one of our LSes and there are no rubbing issues at all.

So that's where the vibration is coming from? I know my control arms were really bad but when I changed them it cut down on the vibrations dramatically but there was still some, especially in the front, also when I hit a bump of say I hit a small bump with one tire it pulls to that side. Also when I go over a bump the pedal feels like its bouncing up and down with the bump (doesn't fell solid).

I'd guess the vibrations are from your tires that are not balanced, due to the lack of rubber on them. Get yourself new tires and an alignment and you'll be fine.

Also, there is no way your tires were hitting the control arm bolt. You'd have to have a dramatically modified suspension and/or some crazy wide tires for that to even be a possible issue. Don't worry about that.

I scare you why? Because no one taught me about every aspect of a car? If you have nothing helpful to say, then don't reply.

just my personal opinion. you don't need to be a certified mechanic to look at a tire and say" holy S, I don't think that tire is any good"

my guess would be you are a young guy, limited funds, not concerned with the safety of anyone riding in your car and you live at home with your parents.

any cop would write a ticket for rolling on those tires, and the other members are justified in calling you out for this type of crap!!!

I'd guess the vibrations are from your tires that are not balanced, due to the lack of rubber on them. Get yourself new tires and an alignment and you'll be fine.
Yeah, I'll second that--new tires mounted and balanced and an alignment should solve your problems. The LS's suspension is very sensitive to wheel balance. When my '04 threw a wheel weight, it made for a very noticeable vibration; likewise, when I had to use the spare on my '06, I could've told you which corner had the spare even if I hadn't been the one to put it on the car.

BTW, assuming the job was done correctly, the alignment shouldn't have been far enough out to cause that wear if you just replaced all of the suspension components--the first thing you do after any suspension work is have an alignment done. If an alignment wasn't done, chalk it up as tuition to the school of hard knocks; if it was, take it back and make them fix the alignment. Then again, if it had been aligned, I don't think I'd take it back to the same shop, because they didn't do a very good job the first time...

Looks like bad negative toe wear. The tires were both aiming away from center to their respective sides. Factory alignment on a Mercury Marauder specifies negative toe, and that is what happens in short order when you get a specification alignment on that car. The trick is to set the toe on the Marauder to 0.0 degrees. Inside edge tire wear disappears, and the car still tracks nicely.

Fred is lucky to be alive after driving on tires that badly worn.

Tires and alignment should get the car back on the road safely.

Keep an eye on them tires as the new ones start to wear. Get in the habit of parking with the wheels turned to full lock and then get out and look at the tire's inside edge to save you from laying on the ground to check them with limited visibility.

just my personal opinion. you don't need to be a certified mechanic to look at a tire and say" holy S, I don't think that tire is any good"

my guess would be you are a young guy, limited funds, not concerned with the safety of anyone riding in your car and you live at home with your parents.

any cop would write a ticket for rolling on those tires, and the other members are justified in calling you out for this type of crap!!!

Your right, I am a young guy, with a 6mon old son, not concerned with people like you, that fears for his sons life because things where going on with the car that I had no solution for and I also live in my own apartment and pay my own bills. Also attend College and almost done with my BS in Computer Engineering. Also no cop would write me a ticket because they could careless around here, I've seen people ride on the Highway on rims and not get stopped but that's besides the point. It seems that your another person who has to belittle people so that you feel better about yourself, since you know more about cars. I don't think I would just say "hey since i pulled into a parking spot let me lay on the ground and look at the inner part of the tire". Anyway pack up and move on, your comments are not welcomed here.

PS: (For the people who actually wanted/are helping). I got the alignment taken care of but now I have the famous *clunk* sound. So I'll take car of that and yes I did buy new tires and wheel balance.

Looks like bad negative toe wear. The tires were both aiming away from center to their respective sides. Factory alignment on a Mercury Marauder specifies negative toe, and that is what happens in short order when you get a specification alignment on that car. The trick is to set the toe on the Marauder to 0.0 degrees. Inside edge tire wear disappears, and the car still tracks nicely.

Fred is lucky to be alive after driving on tires that badly worn.

Tires and alignment should get the car back on the road safely.

Keep an eye on them tires as the new ones start to wear. Get in the habit of parking with the wheels turned to full lock and then get out and look at the tire's inside edge to save you from laying on the ground to check them with limited visibility.

Thanks for the positive advice.