Tire wear issue

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I just has my alignment checked because my right front tire ( on a 2014 RT ) was showing more wear on the outside edge. This was done by E. Netzely using the ROLO Lazer device. ... He said the alignment was good and needed no adjustment. .... However the wear to the outside edge was due to the CAMBER angle. ... Now I know BRP suspensions are NOT adjustable .... So if any suspension guru's are out there please chime in..... If I added a thin shim could this solve the issue ( please provide details ) ..... Thanks in advance .... Mike

[2dogs]

Use a bubble level vertical across your rim both with the spyder loaded and unloaded and see what you get. Also, chalk your tire tread and see where it disappears first, after a short distance.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

You changed the angle of the shocks, right? Could this have contributed to the issue?

[spyder01]

Camber,caster and toe in are the 3 angles that get measured on a typical car alignment and your suspension is the same style as most cars.On a Spyder the only adjustable angle is the toe and the caster angle cannot affect tire wear but can cause a pull to one side.Now the camber usually will not cause tire wear until it is very far out,like 3 degrees.Im not sure wether camber is possible to check with the rolo system but you can do it by looking at the tires from the front,if the top leans out that is positive camber which if excessive could cause the outside wear.Most Spyders i have seen have either neutral camber or just a little positive like mine does.I would look at the tires and see if they both lean the same or the right side leans out a lot.On cars that dont have provisions for adjusting caster or camber which is most cars these days there are aftermarket companies that are making special offset bolts or bushings or even offset ball joint,none of which are available for yours AFAIK.
You could also consider slotting the upper a arm bolt holes a little to bring the top of the tire in a little and then do another alignment.If it was mine and it handled ok I would just rotate the tires every 5k and live with it.The shocks on spyders dont affect alignment.

[PinkRosePetal]

I just has my alignment checked because my right front tire ( on a 2014 RT ) was showing more wear on the outside edge. This was done by E. Netzely using the ROLO Lazer device. ... He said the alignment was good and needed no adjustment. .... However the wear to the outside edge was due to the CAMBER angle. ... Now I know BRP suspensions are NOT adjustable .... So if any suspension guru's are out there please chime in..... If I added a thin shim could this solve the issue ( please provide details ) ..... Thanks in advance .... Mike

You may remember how I told you you would wear the outside edge of your right tyre because you need to steer left to counteract the effect of road camber. This causes the right side wheel to have excess left turn for the bike to run straight.


Just to widen the discussion a little; there is two other steering angles which affect steering geometry so can also affect tyre wear. One is caster angle and the other is king pin inclination. Caster adds negative camber as the wheel front is turned toward the bike centre line, ie. turned in. It adds positive camber as the wheel is turned out.
KPI is the angle formed by a vertical line drawn through the ball joint centres relative to the 90° vertical. KPI adds positive camber as the wheel swivels in either direction. The KPI centre line should contact the ground close to the centre of the tyre patch on the road surface to prevent tyre scrub as much as possible.

Any mismatch of these angles side to side is capable of causing tyre wear.

[ButterSmooth]

You may remember how I told you you would wear the outside edge of your right tyre because you need to steer left to counteract the effect of road camber. This causes the right side wheel to have excess left turn for the bike to run straight.
...

Bingo!