[NX_Focus]

OK, I looked past few weeks on here, but can not find what I want.

My 07 zx3 has very bad wear on the rear.

This is something I have noticed. on my 05 zx3 I had put Saleen 17" with nexxen n3000. after 16( 21,000miles) mnths the rear was smooth. Put the factory 15's back on. no more problems, so put the saleens in storage. no mods to the suspension. All it had was nx kit, cf hood & the saleens.

My 03 zx5 ran the 15 for 3 yrs i owned it. never a problem with rear wear.

Now my 07 zx3 is doing the same as my 05. I put the saleens on for a short time then got team dinamics cause a tire shop messed up my saleens puttin new kumhos ( ku31 ) on. they have been on the car 11mnths ( 13,180miles). the rear is bald. now this 07 has the frpp lowering kit on ( 1.5 frnt, 1.7 rear) But it has only been on the car since 8-09-11.

Also before you all ask. I have had it at two tire shops. alignment is good. Where I took it in for a pour point alignment they said I only needed it on the frnt. I can do not have sheet but will find it.

SO why is it the focus wears so bad with 17's but it is ok on 14's or 15's. I mean they put 17's on factory on others. why does a s,se or ses have problems that saleen, roush, steeda, svt not have? or do they also?

 

[Geezer]

The odds are that your alignment is NOT good. The Focus rear end is really picky and very precise specs have to be used to prevent rear tire wear. Being within the allowed spec range, which most shops shoot for, isn't good enough. There are combinations of "allowed" toe and camber that will eat tires. If your rear camber is over -1.5 degrees you'll need a rear camber correction devise (adjustable bolts or upper control arms).

The specs you need can be found in the alignment sticky at the top of this section. The specs found there have proven to greatly reduce tire wear, especially to the inside edges.

 

[NX_Focus]

ok. but why did my 05 zx3 do it. it was fine before i took my 15's off to put 17's on. when i ran them bald in 16mnths i put the factory 15's back on. never had another porblem. it was never lowered. no changes to the car except to bolt on the wheels , hood & nos.

now on the 07 zx3 it is the same way. no problem on the narrow 15's, but once i put 17's on there goes the rear. but i did lower it. it has only been 2 mnths i have had it lowered. but the wear was done before the lowering. as soon as i find my alignment sheet i will match it to the sticky. it was last aligned aug 11th

 

[Geezer]

Narrower tires can be more tolerant of higher camber angles etc. I believe one of the main reasons is that they do not produce as much friction which equates to tire wear. There are other varaiables as well. Wider tires are usually performance oriented and have softer tread compounds which also equates to more/faster tread wear. Put that tire in a less than optimal alignment and that will only accelerate wear over a narrower harder tread compound. In other words there's lots of reasons why wider tires can wear faster than narrow ones running the same alignment or not.

 

[NX_Focus]

very good point for sure. i jst wish i knew why it is happening. even a few other members that live by me are having the same problem when switch to 17's. one guy put them on a 03 zx4, other has them on a 04 zx3. both warn bad in rear, got less than half the tire wear, but fronts still look new. i wonder if other have had this & fixed it. also wonder if the cars that came with them like svt & exct. wear more or not on the rear.

 

[felixthecat]

^^^ Don't forget about your rear toe too.

 

[NX_Focus]

ok, well i found my sheet. thought i trashed it when moving my shop.

also on the rear it says -0.03 degree thrust angle. I cut it by mistake when trying to fit all else in the pic.

 

[NX_Focus]

Also I was wondering. They are doing my alignment to a 07 SE. Should I ask for it to be done to a 07 Roush or 04 Saleen or SVT. My car come with 14's or 15's. So I was thinking the 17's may be different back space & also a bigger foot print. Makes since. If my 15's go back on with no wear problems. But then the 17's do it really bad each time. Also the tire is smooth like a drag slick. So the entire bottom is gone. if it is toe or camber it would be the out side or the inside of the tire. not all of it in a perfect wear. Right?

 

[BowerR64]

ok, well i found my sheet. thought i trashed it when moving my shop.

also on the rear it says -0.03 degree thrust angle. I cut it by mistake when trying to fit all else in the pic.

Is that with the 15" on or the 17"?

Also what are the specs of your 17"? like wheel width and offset?

Narrower tires can be more tolerant of higher camber angles etc. I believe one of the main reasons is that they do not produce as much friction which equates to tire wear. There are other varaiables as well. Wider tires are usually performance oriented and have softer tread compounds which also equates to more/faster tread wear. Put that tire in a less than optimal alignment and that will only accelerate wear over a narrower harder tread compound. In other words there's lots of reasons why wider tires can wear faster than narrow ones running the same alignment or not.

Yeah you dont usualy put a high performance tire on a set of 15" they are usualy harder rubber all season which also has a low wear #

When you go with a better cooler wheel you want the good tires and they have high traction and fast wear.

 

[NX_Focus]

This was with the 17's on. 215/ 45/ 17. What the SVT & other focus come with . The Wheels was Saleens, 49mm offset. Now I got Team Dynamics with a 45mm offset.

 

[thenorm]

ok, well i found my sheet. thought i trashed it when moving my shop.

also on the rear it says -0.03 degree thrust angle. I cut it by mistake when trying to fit all else in the pic.

too much rear toe.
you want to be right at the minimum of the allowed range.
many people, myself include aim for 0 (zero) rear toe.

 

[BowerR64]

too much rear toe.
you want to be right at the minimum of the allowed range.
many people, myself include aim for 0 (zero) rear toe.

Does it say 0.35° thats darn near 0 isnt it? How is he going to take that out?

 

[Geezer]

Does it say 0.35° thats darn near 0 isnt it? How is he going to take that out?

Actually that's a LOT of toe. To get it down to where I prefer it it should be less than 0.10 degrees (0.04 inches is my precise measurement) for rear toe-in.

 

[Blue5ive]

Great. I'm about to change out my stock 16" rims to 17" rims on 215/45 tires. Hope I don't end up with this same issue.

 

[BowerR64]

Actually that's a LOT of toe. To get it down to where I prefer it it should be less than 0.10 degrees (0.04 inches is my precise measurement) for rear toe-in.

really?! could you even see 0.35°? i could see my stock camber -1-2 but i doubt if i could see 0.35

Crazy that little is considered a LOT

 

[SH0K0TA]

really?! could you even see 0.35°? i could see my stock camber -1-2 but i doubt if i could see 0.35

Crazy that little is considered a LOT

That's why they made a machine to calibrate from (not trying to sound like an ass)

Also to the op- have you checked bushings?

And the different offset changes the dynamics of the alignment. My experience is with trucks, so take it for what it's worth... but I've seen tires come off due to bad offset changes from factory... it makes the hubs wear out quicker (for the front) the rear usually isn't too bad due to them being solid axle.

Then there are other factors like the rim width... normally I wouldn't think this was an issue, but one thing I deff learned from working on this platform isthat minor changes can affect it a lot

 

[NX_Focus]

Well I asked if it needed adjusted. they said only if it lights up red. Since it was green the guy would not change it. but now your saying thanks to them that is why I got slicks now on there rear? lol.

 

[NX_Focus]

also how looking at chart & thinking. they can to camber on rear. but to get toe down will i need to buy or get camber kit?

 

[felixthecat]

You are a comeback= not your problem, that they didn't take the time

Well I asked if it needed adjusted. they said only if it lights up red. Since it was green the guy would not change it. but now your saying thanks to them that is why I got slicks now on there rear? lol.

My shop's where I work at don't operate that way= green= ship it. Like Geezer said have them redo the rear toe. another word's your a comeback= not your problem that they didn't take the time to do it right. Just saying, it does make it easier w/ toe-link's thou, & make's the rear of your car more responsive too.

 

[Geezer]

also how looking at chart & thinking. they can to camber on rear. but to get toe down will i need to buy or get camber kit?

No kits or any aftermarket parts are needed to adjust toe (just camber as it is non-adjustable from the factory).