Tire shaving to fight premature camber wear?

[jst2878]

if your that concerned get a rear camber kit from bavauto and realign your vehicle. that will solve the problem

[TrickerZ]

So wait, you're trying to shave off tread to save it? Think about that for a minute. Eventually, your tire will wear to be flat against the ground with negative camber. If you're worried, rotate your tires left<->right and get more life out of them or get rid of the camber and lose the handling. If it's extreme wear, it's because you have toe, not the camber. Shaving is for racing tires to get better grip. Most R compounds are supposed to be shaved to remove the top layer of oil and crap.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Repoman

I understand what your saying and I agree that our tires are not solid but they are not soft like party balloons either. These tires have very stiff sidewalls and minimal deformation. They're not Suburban tires.

Going by your rationale, how would you explain why does an over-inflated tire wears faster in the middle than on the edges . . . or why does an under-inflated tire wear faster on the edges than in the middle if the tire always deforms to match the ground? Wouldn't the answer be that different parts of the tread are experiencing different levels of friction/pressure with the road and hence wearing at different rates?

If negative camber is not causing wear on the inside of my tires . . . I would love to hear what is causing it? I must have missed the jests of the previous threads.

Your tires don't have very stiff sidewalls, unless they are runflat tires. Yes, there is some effect from the sidewall, I am just saying that it is minimal.

An overinflated tire wears faster in the middle because the tire loses its shape when overinflated, it is no longer flat across its profile. You can wear a tire faster on the edges due to underinflation, true. How often have you seen that in practice? It is a much smaller effect than overinflation.

Instead of focusing on camber, which can still be a factor, look to toe settings. I suspect that you are focusing on camber because it is easily visible. If you could look down at the top of the tire (through the fender) you would see the toe variation. The centreline of the tire is rolling straight, and at the edges of the tire it is slipping with each rotation of the wheel. It has to, because the tire isn't pointing the way the vehicle is travelling.

This isn't an exact science, diagnosing problems over the internet. Your camber settings may be a contributor. However, BMW designed the camber in for a reason, it isn't an accident. It promotes safer handling.

[Repoman]

I appreciate all the input. I will look into the bavauto kit, probably a better fix. I bought the 5-year alignment from NTB a while back so it costs me nothing each time I check/align the vehcile . . . which is often. Each time it's checked, it's never really out of alignment, only a slight adjustment if any every few times. Straightening the camber as much as I could has made some difference but not enough. Still going through tires much more often than I would like. Thanks again.

[anerbe]

^

1. Zero your toe
2. Your suspension components may be wearing out, causing geometry changes when accelerating/braking. Get these checked/replaced

[primetime]

Do like others said. You need a camber kit...done.

[omodos]

Originally Posted by Repoman

I appreciate all the input. I will look into the bavauto kit, probably a better fix. I bought the 5-year alignment from NTB a while back so it costs me nothing each time I check/align the vehcile . . . which is often. Each time it's checked, it's never really out of alignment, only a slight adjustment if any every few times. Straightening the camber as much as I could has made some difference but not enough. Still going through tires much more often than I would like. Thanks again.

I have the issue too, and posted on the subject till i was blue in the face! repoman I reckon getting zero toe and 0 camber will sort out the tire wear, I couldn't get that on mine, the toe was set to it's minimum but that pushed the camber out of factory spec, camber was then put back to just within factory spec and my toe was ok but not zero, not found a suspension expert to look at this yet,alignment guy said it can be anything from bushings isssue to bent components....very annoying

[omodos]

also the shaving well you may as well wait for the camber to shave it off for you?

[kishg]

so you basically want to remove the area of the tire that would be worn to begin with?

shaving is not the solution. personally, i like the camber..

[JCL]

Originally Posted by omodos

I have the issue too, and posted on the subject till i was blue in the face! repoman I reckon getting zero toe and 0 camber will sort out the tire wear....

Zero toe should help with the tire wear. Getting zero camber will sacrifice handling, and many people who buy the X5 appreciate the handling. The camber is there for a reason.