kiluminati616

A few months back I noticed that my car was drifting to the right. I did a quick search online and came across a few posts saying it’s likely the pitch of the road (it went away almost completely when I was on a flat surface) and a lot of MBs tend to do the same. Fast forward to about 6 weeks ago and I get both front wheels off to do brakes and I come across 2 surprises – 1. I have an arnot airbag on the driver side and oem one on the passenger side…PO was not aware of this when he sold me the car. 2 – the inside of the passenger side tire is worn away badly and has a big bulge/split. it almost looks like it was rubbing against something but I chalk it up to a messed up alignment so I get 2 new front tires and it aligned.


After that the car drove noticeably straighter but here in the northeast potholes are a way of life and I hit a decent one within a few hundred miles of driving. Now it seems to pull to the right when I go down one street then I turn onto another and the car seems to drive straight as an arrow. I’m not sure if there’s a problem or I’m just looking into it too much. Has anyone had an issue where the car seems to pull to the side one day and perfectly straight the next? Do you think having mismatched airbags inevitably lead to premature wear?

kiluminati616

Here’s what the tires looked like

Yuille36

This doesn't look right, something is definitely rubbing up against the inside wall of that tire.

kiluminati616

that's what i thought too. doesn't look like the gradual wear of a bad alignment.

i've had these new fronts on for about 1k miles and check them regularly for weird wear like the old ones and haven't noticed anything yet.

i did notice that the bolt on the upper control arm bolt (i think that's the part ) runs really close to the inside of the tire on both sides. wondering if that caused the wear

Yuille36

First are you running aftermarket wheels? Are you running 20" wheels? If so, it could be that the offset of the wheel is forcing the upper control arm bolt into your sidewall.
I would probably recommend a minimum 5 mm spacer be added to your front wheel. That would definitely cure this issue. But why would the upper control arm bolt be that close in the first place, unless there 20". On my car, I have aftermarket 19" wheels and there is definitely space, to where the bolt wouldn't make contact with the tire.

This could have been catastrophic if you were at high speeds and the tire blow. But regardless this issue needs to be resolved. And a spacer would move the tire away from the bolt.
Our you could just change out the upper control arm ball joint, with a shorter one. If that's possible.

kiluminati616

they're the stock 18s on the stock size - 245/40/18

Yuille36

Then maybe your camber is off, causing the tire to lean in close enough that the bolt rubs against the tire. That is the only logical explanation.
If everything is stock, and it didn't rub before, but is now after hitting a pothole, then it must be alignment, and your camber is severely out of spec.
What else could it be????? Maybe a bent lower control arm? Anyhow have your front suspension checked via an alignment, it's probably off.

kiluminati616

good point. if the camber was that badly off i would think it would be obvious just looking at the car from the outside though wouldn't it? i'm not positive the car is rubbing anymore, it just kinda feels like the car is slightly pulling to the right at the moment

I've been spot checking the passenger side tire every couple trips by turning the wheel to the right and checking the exposed section but i'll inspect the full thing tomorrow and see how it looks.

Yuille36

Take it to an alignment shop, I bet you it's off.

kiluminati616

good plan