djrabbi

So went to re-do my calipers and took off my wheels and found this! All 4 tires with same problem....Thank god I had another set of brand new pirelli tires laying around. Def. ordering toe links and camber arms. Anyone have suggestions on which ones are good?

novae500

looking low comes with a price of tires!!! Thats why i dont want my w211s as low as i used to have my honda/vw. One finger gap is good enough for me on my w211s.

djrabbi

Any good places for alignment in NoVA?

novae500

http://www.ptuning.com/html/services.cfm in manassas
Funktion auto in Sterling, but more expensive
mercedes of chantilly.

cij911

When you slam the car, not only are your alignment settings screwed up (which you know and can be addressed with the parts you are asking about), but equally important, you are ruining the handling of the car by significantly reducing the suspension travel. Lowering the car a little bit is probably ok, but anything severe like I see on these boards is no good.

In terms of parts : KMAC and MB Arts seem to be the two leading contenders....I like KMAC.

djrabbi

I am running stock height now hehe

AgSilver

[QUOTE=djrabbi;5335705]So went to re-do my calipers and took off my wheels and found this! All 4 tires with same problem....Thank god I had another set of brand new pirelli tires laying around. Def. ordering toe links and camber arms. Anyone have suggestions on which ones are good?

Evo and KMAC are possible choices. If you lower the car, you must have the geometry reset properly.

TruTaing

Get a proper alignment while at drive height and you'll be fine. you're not THAT low - im pretty certain your toe ate your tires alive.

GunMoto

+1

baldmike73

I had the same thing at stock - even had one tire shred on the inside while on the fwy in the fast lane - luckily i had a buck knife to cut the overage on there - limped to the tire shop!

moosejaw

get together with BBBS and compare notes

Infamous 1

Ptuning in Manassas or Autothority in Chantilly

SilverStrk

Had the same thing happen with the stock Conti's, blew out front left on the freeway.. Took the car to Discount Tire and found the others that were about to go as well, long story short, I *****ed and they sent them back to Conti as defective and replaced all for free with PS2's..

djrabbi

Good info guys. I am getting my wheels balanced today since the places that mounted the tires apparently didn't so my wheels shake a bit after 60MPH. I will get alignment at one of the places you guys mentioned maybe next week and get dyno done too

I was pretty low (too me atleast) I will be leaving 1 finger gap all around, think I would need new camber arms and links or OEM with alignment should be fine?

cij911

I checked my alignment today (I am not very low at all) :

Camber was ~-2* Front & Rear
Toe was 0.08 Left & Right ; Rear was ~0.2 left & right (IIRC) - rear was out of spec

So I could definitely benefit from a KMAC setup front & rear as I could adjust camber and toe (in rear)...I think -1* camber is about as much as one needs for a street car and I am guessing that the extra 1.5 degrees + toe in the rear is really eating up tires.

Alps

get alignment done and get them to put in the MB alignment bolts, that will help alot.

GregMB

I would love to see a thread like this (excessive tire wear complaint) where the OP goes to an alignment shop and gets the "before" numbers recorded by the alignment shop (the ones that ate the tires!) and then an "after" alignment report showing how the car ended up after adding toe links, camber arms, alignment, etc.

That would be a huge help if anyone feels like doing it.

-G

timeToy

I have the K-Mac bushing AND MB Arts toe links to be able to maintain proper alignment geometry while (slightly) STAR lowered.

The K Mac bushing alone will give you front Camber and Toe control, as well as rear Camber control, unfortunately our car are too powerful and the rear Toe bushing can't hold the torque applied to it under hard acceleration and will come undone, which is NOT a good thing, trust me! That's why I had to use stock 'toe' busing and the MB art rear toe links, now the wheel stay in place and alignment is in spec and stays that way.

A less expensive option might be to use Mercedes adjustable bolts, but the range of settings is very limited.

rchase

Im curious what settings you used to slightly lower the car? All that i see on the forums is the standard 3.5 and -1.1..... and i dont like how low it is with that setting and my 20 inch wheels

GregMB

I would like to suggest that for lowered settings it might be helpful to describe in terms of fender lip height from the ground (front & rear). This would be an easy number for everyone to collect and might simplify discussions.

-G

HeissRod

I thought I read somewhere that this had been solved with a newer design. I'm ready to pull the trigger on some KMAC rears, but that sucks if I can't use the toe bushings.

djrabbi

You mean the settings in SDS right?

timeToy

My installer (ACG in San Diego) was able to dial in the exact amount of drop I wanted (to a point, front wheels independently and rear axle), I think theses values are for example.

Nino S

I am the service manager at Lustine Toyota in Woodbridge if you want to get one done. I have a dedicated alignment tech that does my car every 90 days and I have great tire wear, but also do not have a ELM installed. I can do an alignment for any of my fellow E55 owners for $60. Just let me know!

DGSU4EA70

To OP,

I read awhile back (because I had the same problem with my rear tires) that depending on which mode (C/S/M) you drive in can affect tread wear immensely. It was said (not sure by who) that different drive modes change the toe/camber settings. Can anyone validate this??

DG