StephenK

Tires seem to be wearing more on the inside edge of the tires. Is this normal or is my pressure off?

hbluthi

The inside edge...sounds like camber is off? I don't see how that could have happened though? I can't tell if your car is lowered (it is beautiful btw) but if it is, how was it done?

vraa

Inside wear from what I remember is normal. That means you have negative camber and means less tendency to oversteer (in the rear).

tiggerfink

On my SL500 my tire wear is even. I remember I had to get my tires balanced 3 times in the first year and 1 alignment within 3 months of owning my SL. I check my tires every week.

Sounds like wheels are out of alignment.

Go here for more info. http://www.michelinman.com/mastapp/s....care.MainPage

vraa

Gotcha tiggerfink. Then I need to get my dads car checked. We've gotten new rears at around 8k miles because of inner inside wear. I just attributed it to negative camber.

tiggerfink

Here are pictures of my tire at 20K. Looks like my tire is under inflated because the sides are wearing faster than the center. My tires are original tires that came on the car.

vraa

Ah that's front tire.
I was talking about rear tires.
We are having even in the front.
My mistake guys.

tiggerfink

The rear tires should have even wear to. My rear tires have less wear than my front tires. Looks like both my rear tires are wearing on the inside of the tire. I need to get another alignment.

tiggerfink

You may be right that Mercedes is doing that on purpose. I just read that Aurca NSX got sued in a class action suit of uneven tire wear. But how many of us drives this car like a performance car?

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/TireWheel/alignment.htm

vraa

Rears should have even as well?

Great, time to get a check on the car in January.

tiggerfink

I am going to contact MBUSA on Tuesday. Inner/Over steer may be in the design. But my SL500 is not a performance car, so it should not have any over steer or under steer. If there is a reason for over steer, I would like to know. Acura got sued for over/under steer in the NSX and Acura changed the design to get better tire wear.

vraa

My X5 is designed heavily to prevent over steer because it's very dangerous to the untrained (me ) driver. Also traditionally understeer is easier to recover from (psychological effect on me perhaps, but that's what I've heard regarding the average drivers)

tiggerfink

I just check my SLK 320, and I have perfect even tire ware on all 4 tires. I just do not understand why the R230 SL is designed for more inner tire ware on the rear tires. I hope MBUSA can give me a good reason.

I can understand why under/over steer is done on SUVs to help prevent rollovers around corners.

StephenK

I look forward to hearing their explanation. Call twice and see if you get the same explanation by two different people.

hbluthi

Yeah call twice. And I'm gonna check my tires today. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

LovinMercedes

Rear tires should always have even wear. They can not be aligned. If they are not even I would take the car to get serviced unless of course they were rotated from the front.

Alot of times after a car is aligned, the uneven tires are put in the rear and the even ones are brought forward.

StephenK

Would being OVER or UNDER inflated make this happen?????

ClayJ

Underinflation can cause excess wear on both the inside and outside edges in my experience. Some cars because of their design - whether it's camber, toe, or whatever - typically wear their fronts or rears more on the insdie or outside edges...maybe this is one of those cases like that and some other factor exacerbated it?
Wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to check alignment, camber, and toe.....
Tires are expensive consummables....

SLcharger

My guess is, that it is the tramming on the rearwheels that is not right. If the tramming is not right you will see a tire wear on either the inside or outside, depending on the wheels closing or speading.

Camber is not adjustebel on these cars rear wheels, and a tyrewear because of camber, need in my experience a camber of at least 2 degree or more ( inside wear, negativ camber, outside wear, positive camber ) and 2 degree will absolutely show, no doubt you can see it if you lie down behind you car and look at a wheel at the time, in a distance of about 6 yards.

A another way to quickly check the camber is to put a level to the rim ( the car must stand on a level and even base ) and see where the buble is. If the buble is not within the lines, then pull the level out until it is, and you will have a roughly impression ( gap at the top means negative camber and vise versa ).

LovinMercedes

Not a good idea and you are asking for trouble when there may not be any.

In order for this to work the ground must be perfectly level and often that is not the case.

SLcharger

If it is done proper i dont se the problem, Anyway it was just a surgestion. If you dont aprove, dont do it.

LovinMercedes

I am not really against it theoritically but I just don't believe it is practicle given real world conditions.

No big deal and no harm meant.

craiglieberman

In my experiences, I've seen extreme tire wear on the inside with as little as 3/4 of a degree negative camber.

My SL600 has been to the dealer 4 times for pulling to the right. At 6,000 miles, inside of right front tire is wearing excessively. The dealer says nothing is wrong. They're on crack.

For the fellow who got 20,000 miles out of a set of tires, God bless you. If you have any alignment issues, be it toe or camber, I'd say they're extremely minor. 20,000 miles is a long, long time for a set of tires that are UHP (Ultra High Performance).

SLcharger

Mercedes, in general, allowes up to 4 degree negative camber on rear wheels. ( extreme ei )

Is the car lowered ? If so, this will cause an increased negative camber on the wheels. On the rear wheels this canīt be corrected unless you have some special bushings fitted in the lower arms, that will provide an offset. On the front wheels it can be adjusted by turning the knuckle bolt on the lower arm.

Inside tire wear with a camber of 3/4 degree ?, must be trammin.

If you seek better cornering speed, or your car is understeering, negativ camber is just right on the front wheels. ( among other things )

If your car is oversteering, negative camber on the rearwheels is just fine. ( among other things )

tiggerfink

Looks like I may get another 15K out of my tires.