Tire Wear Issue - Possible Alignment problem

[Raptor]

After getting home yesterday I decided I would take a slightly harder look at 14 just to make sure everything was OK. I had just come off a pretty spectacular ride and I wanted to make sure nothing got hurt.

I looked at my tires - and I noticed my right front is wearing on the inside now. The left front is perfect. Rear has good meat left on it and pressures are good. Shocks, swaybar, steering links etc. all look good. I'm thinking I might want to have this looked at. 11,000 miles seems a bit early for this, especially since the right is wearing more than the left...

[M2Wild]

Look at the bushings, shock mounts and connecting rods on the A-arm to make sure they aren't worn / broken. Seen a few members here with that issue.

[musicarcade]

mine did the same. Spyderwolfs' did the same. It seems to be a common occurance. Spyderwolf bought 2 new tires and had the alignment checked. They said the alignment was fine. The local tech that I use said it was due to to the crown in the roads here. I had the tires swapped to the other one's rims and am watching closely to see if my "new" right front tire exhibits the same type of wear.
I'm at 16k right now w/ my tires. 1K after the tires were swapped.

[dabreitbach]

Its bad alignment. Mine and a bunch of others had the same problem. The toe is off. Make sure the dealer follows the shop manual in checking it. Alot will just take a tape measure and eyeball it.

[Raptor]

Yuck. I had a feeling. Thing is I don't feel anything strange at all; it tracks and steers perfectly. Do you guys think it had anything to do with the DPS replacement? I was thinking that maybe things didn't get put back together quite right. Either way, I think it should get checked out. I'll let y'all know what happens.

[3whlLefty]

Both of my front tires show a lot of extra wear on the inside halves. The dealer says they are in spec for me too. I don't feel that it tracks real well when running down the road either so I'm doubtful about swapping the front tires at $26 a piece. I'm thinking about going to an alignment shop to have it checked if I can find one that can do a Spyder. Then I think I'll buy 2 new car tires and see if I can improve things.

There have been several threads here on this problem and that's how I got most of my plan.

[stormtrooper]

After reading some of your threads I think its the way you ride.

[CyncySpyder]

I'm in the same boat here, 11,300 miles & the inside of the right tire looks much more worn than the others Spydie is going into the shop on Monday for 12K mile service, DPS & figured I'd have them check into the toe-in & show them the threads about this issue so they hopefully won't just "eyeball" it, tell me it's in spec & send me on my way

Let us know how you make out & I'll do the same

[Magic Man]

I'm thinking about going to an alignment shop to have it checked if I can find one that can do a Spyder.

Alignment systems for cars use 4 clamp onto the wheel sensors or with the new Hunter systems reflectors for the cameras.

There is currently no auto system that I am aware of that can do a 3 wheeled trike.

One of the biggest problems is there is no way to clamp the sensor onto the rear wheel and then to let the alignment machine know that only 3 sensors are being used not 4.

The Can-Am proceedure is a bit a "strange" and many dealers don't want to bother to accure the items needed to make their alignment jig as recommended by Can-Am.

I remember the first time I was at the dealer and saw them doing an alignment and the items they needed to use.

I thought to myself "what a screwed up way to be doing this?" But sure enough the dealer showed me the manual and it was just how Can-Am said to be doing it and with the recomended items too boot.

The Toe Angle being off is the quickest of the "wear angles" (toe and camber) when incorrect. I'd be sure the dealer is indeed doing your alignment check "by the book" as per Can-Am as it sounds like they might be winging it.

[Trickie Dick]

+1 on what the Magic Man says. The dealer has to go to Home Depot to get the tools to align the spyder. I've talked to only 2 dealers but neither one had done an alignment.
BTW, I have the same right tire woes that many of you seem to have. I swapped the tires(PITA) and when the, now right side, wears down, I will replace both and find a dealer that has done an alignment.

[Eraser]

After reading some of your threads I think its the way you ride.

That's the first thought that came to mind!!!

[Raptor]

After reading some of your threads I think its the way you ride.

I know, I had the same thought as well! If both tires were torched I would just accept it as such and get another set. I never was overly impressed by these OEM tires anyway. But I cannot seem to get my head around why the right is so much different than the left. The left and rear are perfect. That just can't be correct, so I am going to take what I feel is the safe course of action and have it checked out. Sometimes you can't see everything just by visual inspection.

Copy that Cincy; I will definitely let you guys know how things go.

[kman]

I have the same problem with both tires wearing faster on the inside but the right tire is worn down more.(12000 miles) I mentioned to my dealer about the uneven wear on the inside (at 6000 miles) and he also said that that is normal.
I do alot of riding on the back roads here and they seem to generally be more crowned than the highways,is it possible that this and riding two up alot would cause this anomally/

[aka1004]

Had the same problem but for the whatever the reason, after front tires were replaced with falken 512 in 175, I am getting even tire wear.

[DragonSpyder]

I have the same problem with both tires wearing faster on the inside but the right tire is worn down more.(12000 miles) I mentioned to my dealer about the uneven wear on the inside (at 6000 miles) and he also said that that is normal.
I do alot of riding on the back roads here and they seem to generally be more crowned than the highways,is it possible that this and riding two up alot would cause this anomally/

No! Alignment is off

[SpyderWolf]

As Musicarcade stated, my Spyder had the same issue. I replaced both fronts, had the dealer check the alignment, installed Ride-On, and so far everything has been good with the new fronts. I am definitely keeping an eye on my front tire wear, as I know others who have over 25,000 miles on their fronts without any issues.

[pierrelogic]

Switched out two front tires at 8K, got an alignment, put Rideon in the new ones and about 9K later tires still look barely worn.

[capt.jim]

Has anyone noticed when you turn the wheels all the way to the right or left they don't follow the same track? The further you get off center, the more they spread apart, this doesn't affect anything at speed as your not turning them that far off center, but it seems like they should follow the same track like my truck.

[spyryder]

Has anyone noticed when you turn the wheels all the way to the right or left they don't follow the same track? The further you get off center, the more they spread apart, this doesn't affect anything at speed as your not turning them that far off center, but it seems like they should follow the same track like my truck.

No, that's called toe-out on turns and is quite normal.
http://www.tpub.com/content/construc.../14273_337.htm

[NancysToy]

No, that's called toe-out on turns and is quite normal.
http://www.tpub.com/content/construc.../14273_337.htm

That is typical steering geometry. Some vehicles exhibit the phenomenon worse than others, but they all do i, to some extent. You don't notice on a car, because of the fenders, but it is more obvious on a Spyder.

[Raptor]

Well shoot. I was going to bring 14 in tomorrow morning to get checked, but I have to reschedule for next week because something came up at work. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to hi-jack the RS-S for a little bit; I'm going to back off of 14 until I get her checked out.

I did check the owner's manual and found this:

" It is normal to see uneven wear on tires depending on how the vehicle is driven. The front tire internal or external edges and the rear tire center tread will wear unevenly depending on if the vehicle is driven smoothly or aggresively."

HMMM... maybe it IS me after all! I would accept that if alignment ends up checking out good, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. They mention edges, not edge. We'll have to wait a week for the answer...

[SpyderWolf]

Well shoot. I was going to bring 14 in tomorrow morning to get checked, but I have to reschedule for next week because something came up at work. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to hi-jack the RS-S for a little bit; I'm going to back off of 14 until I get her checked out.

I did check the owner's manual and found this:

" It is normal to see uneven wear on tires depending on how the vehicle is driven. The front tire internal or external edges and the rear tire center tread will wear unevenly depending on if the vehicle is driven smoothly or aggresively."

HMMM... maybe it IS me after all! I would accept that if alignment ends up checking out good, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. They mention edges, not edge. We'll have to wait a week for the answer...

It may end up being you. I can tell you that after my runs on The Dragon during SitS, I had a lot less tread on the inner right tire than I had when I started.

Let us know what you find out when you are able to get it checked.

[Raptor]

It may end up being you. I can tell you that after my runs on The Dragon during SitS, I had a lot less tread on the inner right tire than I had when I started.

Let us know what you find out when you are able to get it checked.

Really? That is interesting indeed. I really would rather have it be just aggressive riding than have a problem up front. Outside of hard riding, I have not done anything to knock the front out. I have not jumped any curbs, speed bumps (or ditches!), have not run over anything (well, there was that Squirrel a while back, but I don't think that is it) or struck anything... nope, no comment on that one! The evidence is piling up against me, isn't it? Oh well, I'll take that rap and be happy.

[SpyderWolf]

Really? That is interesting indeed. I really would rather have it be just aggressive riding than have a problem up front. Outside of hard riding, I have not done anything to knock the front out. I have not jumped any curbs, speed bumps (or ditches!), have not run over anything (well, there was that Squirrel a while back, but I don't think that is it) or struck anything... nope, no comment on that one! The evidence is piling up against me, isn't it? Oh well, I'll take that rap and be happy.

Hopefully you will find it is the same situation I had, and no big deal. May need new tires to cure it. In my case, my right front had 13 weights on it from the factory and even when I switched rims it still took the same amount of weight to balance it. I think that tire was defective, as my new ones have been good with just the Ride-On in them.

[SpyderGirl]

I had a tie-rod come loose on me, I was able to tighten it down and it hasn't loosened up since. As for the front tires, I have over 32K on my original tires. They are wearing perfectly even. I have Ride-On in my tires which may be helping with the even wear. I'll be over 50K before I need new front tires.