Tire Question-18 inch with Eibachs.

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lseguy

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As indicated in another thread, I got 28k miles out of my 18 inch 245 40Sumitomos on Eibach Pro Kit springs. Dealer installed the springs and new shocks around the same time, with a 4 wheel alighment. Still tracks straight and true. My tires had the SEVERE wear on the very inside of the tire tread, with the rest of the tread looking like I could have gotten another 28k out of them. Just got brand new replacements this morning. I had been running 30psi all around. The reputable shop I used this morning to do the install, has 35psi up front, and 38psi in the rear. The ride is fine, and obviously I'll get some better mpg..but will this be WORSE for the tire wear (yes, I do rotate every 5k) or better? My guess is better, as there should be more wear towards the center of the tire now?

Any input is appreciated.
 
worse. your tires aren't going to run with as much surface area on the pavement you'll wear through the middle of your tires before the rest of it, tires will be too stiff, bumpier ride, etc.. uneven wear = bad, less surface area intact with the road = bad, just best to stick with your recommended psi. not dramatically horrible like you were pumped at 50psi or anything but still not the best. i don't understand where you heard better gas mileage?
 
I've heard that when underinflated, it can have a negative impact on mpg's. But nothing saying that doing mor than the recommended air pressure getting better mpg's.
 
If you fill the tires to the max pressure shown on the side of the tires, you supposedly get more MPG, per the people called "hypermilers".

I'll stick with crappy gas mileage around town, thankyouverymuchly!
 
well the idea here is that with your tires filled to max PSI your tires will blowout completely with a little wear at highway speeds on a hot day. then once your car comes screeching to a halt you won't be burning any gas.
 
Sorry. let me clarify. Based on my experience with the first set of tires. With the Eibachs, I had SEVERE wear on the very inside of all 4 tires. That was running 30psi all around, and with rotation every 5k, and with the standard factory, dealership alighment. At 28k ALL tires were shot..due to the excess wear on the inside (caused by the camber due to lowering). The majority of the tire tread was still fine..in great shape.

So now..with the new set, Im wanting to get a bit LESS severe wear on the inside and get at least 35k miles out of these tires. Is that even possible? If I drop to 26psi..will that get me less wear on that inside tread, or more? If I stay at 35psi and 38psi..will that get me less wear on that inside tread, or more?
 
I'll be the first to admit I don't know a lot about alingment on a car. But isn't there a way to compensate for a car being lowered? Some sort of camber kit or something? I can see if they used the stock spring settings for the alignment that it would be a different number than with the new springs. Am I wrong to think that?

I'm not questioning you or your shop. I'd really like to figure this out as I hope to get some lowered springs some day, too. But maybe not if the tire life will be cut in half.
 
From what I've read, yes, Eibach does make a camber kit, but I've only read negative experiences from those who have used it.
 
My tires had the SEVERE wear on the very inside of the tire tread, with the rest of the tread looking like I could have gotten another 28k out of them.
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Depending on what you mean by "inside" it could be an issue of alignment. Is there any way you can get a picture of one of the old tires?

i don't understand where you heard better gas mileage?
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Over-inflating decreases the rolling resistance of the tire. Which means it makes it easier to roll. Basically it makes the tire stiffer, it doesn't collapse as much under the weight of the car.
However, it also decreases the footprint of the tire on the road, which means less traction.

It does not necessarily increase tire wear, but it changes where the wear occurs. When the footprint of the tire is only half as wide as it should be, the weight of the car is no longer evenly distributed across the entire width of the tread on the tire. That effectively doubles the amount of weight that the portion of the tire, which is still in contact with the road, has to support. If you double the weight you double the amount of wear, however, you're only using half of the tire. So you might wear one half out completely, while the other half will look almost brand new.
 
lseguy, what you are experiencing is normal for a lowered LS. Due to the limited available camber adjustment in the front and the lack of any camber adjustment in the rear, you will always get more wear on the inside edge of your tires due to the lower springs. It's the price you pay for having a dropped LS.

If the alignment was properly done in the front, with the maximum camber dialed in, you should have minimal wear problems there. The rear tires are the ones that will show the most wear because there is no camber adjustment available back there.

I don't believe changing the air pressure of the tires will make that much difference. I also have the Eibach springs and I've run my 18" tires with the psi everywhere from 30 to 40 pounds without seeing any change in the wear pattern of the tread. But it never hurts to experiment.
 
Thanks to ALL of the input here, guys. T Man..special thanks. Im guessing I have max camber in front. It was 1 year and a half ago since I had the only alignment in 100k miles. (Fortunately, this car has always tracked straight and true it's entire life..and the only reason I had the alignment then, was due to the new springs/shocks all around). Ford dealership did the spring install and the 4 wheel alignment. Again..thanks for all of the input. I considered going back to my stock springs after I priced the new set of tires...but in all honesty, I like the slightly lowered look..combined with the stock LSE kit..18 inch wheels..and darkly tinted windows. Car overall has a slightly longer and sleeker look. I'll take the tire sacrifice. lol
 
oh..I am curious...what kind of tire mileage are others getting with 18's and Eibachs.
 
I used to run through tires like crazy with my 1.75" drop and 40PSI. I now run 28-30 psi in the rear and dont have anymore wear issues on the insides of the tires.
 
Thats interesting 02V8sport. Not certain of the drop with the Eibach Pro kits, but 30psi is almost exactly what I ran the entire 28k miles with my 245 40 18's..rotated every 5k, and the wear on that inside edge was INSANE
 
T_Man said:
lseguy, what you are experiencing is normal for a lowered LS. Due to the limited available camber adjustment in the front and the lack of any camber adjustment in the rear, you will always get more wear on the inside edge of your tires due to the lower springs. It's the price you pay for having a dropped LS.

If the alignment was properly done in the front, with the maximum camber dialed in, you should have minimal wear problems there. The rear tires are the ones that will show the most wear because there is no camber adjustment available back there.

I don't believe changing the air pressure of the tires will make that much difference. I also have the Eibach springs and I've run my 18" tires with the psi everywhere from 30 to 40 pounds without seeing any change in the wear pattern of the tread. But it never hurts to experiment.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Update. I now have 105k miles (bought the tires at 100k miles) on the car. Remembering that I got 28k (and they were SHOT at 28k..just the inside portion of all 4 times) on the last set, Im contemplating waiting until 115k miles, having the tire shop actually flip the rears from one side to the other. Meaning dismount both rear tires, flip them over, and re-mount them on opposite sides of the car. So the inside edge of the drivers side rear tire..will become the outside edge of the passenger side. And vice versa. Assuming the fronts are wearing normally/have max camber dialed in, I should get at least 35k on this set of tires.

Thoughts?
 
My wife and I always go a little to fast around corners, and we were wearing the outside edges on our cars too much. On most of our cars, I run the inflation at the tire's max on the front tires and now we get even wear across the tread. I run the rears with a little less pressure. The tire will tell the story of what to do. Wear on the center of tread shows over-inflation. Wear on the tire's outside edges indicates under-inflation. Feathering (toe), step wear (toe), or wear on one outside/inside tire edge (camber) may indicate an alignment issue.
 
Just a little bit of info for you guys. When buying your new tires of any size ask what the traction rating is. The higher the number the longer the tire is supposed to last. most 18 inch tires are betweent 200 and 320. The higher the number the more expensive. The regular 16 inch and 17 inch tires usually run from 220 up to 440. My bet is that the 18 inch you have are about 220 to 250 and 28k is an average number for that tire. An 18 inch tire is considered a sport tire and anything around 30k is normal for those tires. The wear inside is normally due to the thicker sidewall on an 18 or larger tire.
 
Lincoln ave said:
Just a little bit of info for you guys. When buying your new tires of any size ask what the traction rating is. The higher the number the longer the tire is supposed to last. most 18 inch tires are betweent 200 and 320. The higher the number the more expensive. The regular 16 inch and 17 inch tires usually run from 220 up to 440. My bet is that the 18 inch you have are about 220 to 250 and 28k is an average number for that tire. An 18 inch tire is considered a sport tire and anything around 30k is normal for those tires. The wear inside is normally due to the thicker sidewall on an 18 or larger tire.
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Isn't that treadwear? I thought traction is letters A, B, C, AA... Usually the lower the treadwear, the softer the tire is, the better the traction is.
 
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