Mystery Solved

[spyryder]

I kinda thought it looked featheredged....rounded on one side and sharp on the other.:shocked:
http://www.procarcare.com/includes/content/resourcecenter/encyclopedia/ch25/25readtirewear.html

 

[WaltH]

It would be nice to hear from other Spyder owners who have experienced excessive wear on the inboard side of both tires. From time-to-time, there have been comments on this site concerning this problem.

I agree that my theory is in jeopardy, if I eventually get the same wear pattern as the OEM tires. With the OEM tires the cupping seemed to come in stage two. First, the tires showed excessive wear on the inboard side. Then the cupping appeared, mostly on the right side tire. I will watch these tires more carefully than I did the originals.

To my knowledge, there are no possible alignment adjustments on the Spyder for caster, or camber, only toe. Camber would seem to be the culprit for inboard wear. Of course, other factors could be present.

From day-one on both Spyders I carried maximum pre-load on the shocks. When I converted to RT shocks (on a GS), I went to position four. The reduction in body roll would be a good trad-off for tire wear, if that were the case.

I wonder how this compares with what others have experienced.

 

[retired1]

Tire wear

I've got 7800 miles on my RTS. I've had the toe adjusted per service bulletin. This was at about 4700 miles. I just noticed the front tires wearing on the inside. I ran my hand around the tire, but could not feel any "cupping" happening yet. I'm having the rear tire replaced next week, hopefully, at the dealer. At that time I'll have them look at the front tires and get their opinion on the problem. I don't expect that they will offer to recheck the toe, because of the time involved in getting it set for recheck. They probably got paid for the first time, but will not be willing to absorb the time for the recheck.
When I traded my GS for the RTS it had 9600 miles with very little wear showing on the front tires and wear bars still visible on the rear.

 

[effgjamis]

I think one has overlooked the possibility of TIRE embalance to cause cupping etc.
I have relative new tires on the front and regarless what was done they, tire peeps, could not get them balanced.
Come to fine our they had a run out problem.. ALL 3 TIRES? What are the odds of that happing? But new tires resolved the problem I had.

 

[WaltH]

Final Disposition of the Tires

I put new tires on the front today - same tires as above. I had 42,000 miles on the old ones. Pictures of the old tires are below.

The pictures seem to support my hypothesis that the excessive wear on the OEM tires was due to the poor quality of the OEM tires and was not due to characteristics of the Spyder.

There was a small amount (1/32 inches) of extra wear on the inboard side of both tires. This is nothing like my experience with the OEM tires.

With the new ones, I will try rotating to get a more even wear pattern.

 

[SpyderWolf]

Keep us posted on how this set wears for you. I just ended up putting a new set of stock tires on the front of mine. I am going to give them one more chance, and am hoping I can get more than 14,000 miles out of them this time.

 

[Rider Steve]

I think one has overlooked the possibility of TIRE embalance to cause cupping etc.
I have relative new tires on the front and regarless what was done they, tire peeps, could not get them balanced.
Come to fine our they had a run out problem.. ALL 3 TIRES? What are the odds of that happing? But new tires resolved the problem I had.

Actually this happens quit often with tires. Many tires the manufacturers turn out are not all that well balanced. The tire dealer will still install them but replace if you come back with a complaint.

 

[bone crusher]

YAY! I was finally right about something this week! ( At your expense).

Cupping isn't bad depending who you ask and it greatly depends on where the cupping is happening...Generally, if it is uniform on the whole tire/tread, I think most accept it as liveable, but one sided like yours might be worth keeping an eye on. For the load of the Spyder on a car tire, I presume that other than some road noise or vibration from that tire you might have nothing to worry about.

That said... The cupping blows a small whole in your theory... While I think you are correct that the stock fronts are el'cheapo, it seems that same inner wear issue is happening with your new front car tires... So that logically points to an issue other than just tires alone. So it has to be either alignment or the suspension. Given you had two different Spyders with the same issue, either you had two Spyders out of alignment, or there is something about the Spyder suspension that is lacking for use with the design of the Spyder? Agree or disagree?

Either way... You did solve a mystery, We know that after market tires wear better than the stock tires, but that the inner side wear on them is indeed real. Are you going to get your alignment checked? I looked real close at my Fronts with 8500 miles and already notice they are wearing more on the inside.

For those that didn't pick it out in the picture... Look at the right side of the tire. The treads look kinda snaggle toothed... That is cupping.

I still don't see it...must be tired impaired! argh!

 

[WackyDan]

Oh.. It is indeed there, and his mechanic confirmed it. Still, not a big deal at all and he has proven something for the rest of us. Car tires wear better, PERIOD. Now, the debate can still rage about directional tires versus non directional, etc but this thread really wasn't about that to begin with.

I also spent some time at Spyders in the Smokies looking at everyone's stock fronts, and found pretty much the same inner side wear on both fronts on any of the spyders with about 10K+ on their front tires. Mine at 12.5k are definitely showing now and I will either live with it or have them rotated off the rims from one side to the other for kicks.

YAY! I was finally right about something this week! ( At your expense).

Cupping isn't bad depending who you ask and it greatly depends on where the cupping is happening...Generally, if it is uniform on the whole tire/tread, I think most accept it as liveable, but one sided like yours might be worth keeping an eye on. For the load of the Spyder on a car tire, I presume that other than some road noise or vibration from that tire you might have nothing to worry about.

That said... The cupping blows a small whole in your theory... While I think you are correct that the stock fronts are el'cheapo, it seems that same inner wear issue is happening with your new front car tires... So that logically points to an issue other than just tires alone. So it has to be either alignment or the suspension. Given you had two different Spyders with the same issue, either you had two Spyders out of alignment, or there is something about the Spyder suspension that is lacking for use with the design of the Spyder? Agree or disagree?

Either way... You did solve a mystery, We know that after market tires wear better than the stock tires, but that the inner side wear on them is indeed real. Are you going to get your alignment checked? I looked real close at my Fronts with 8500 miles and already notice they are wearing more on the inside.

For those that didn't pick it out in the picture... Look at the right side of the tire. The treads look kinda snaggle toothed... That is cupping.

I still don't see it...must be tired impaired! argh!

 

[LDFIREWORKS]

good info thanks:2thumbs:

 

[Trickie Dick]

Tire prices

Speaking of tires, there was a big article in the local paper last week regarding the increase in tire prices. Seems like there have been major price increases all across the country. These have come about over the last year. Said, it really doesn't have to do with shortages, just cost of production.
Anybody run into this with their tire shopping:dontknow:

 

[SpyderWolf]

Speaking of tires, there was a big article in the local paper last week regarding the increase in tire prices. Seems like there have been major price increases all across the country. These have come about over the last year. Said, it really doesn't have to do with shortages, just cost of production.
Anybody run into this with their tire shopping:dontknow:

That could very well be. I know it was cheaper for me to have the dealer install new stock fronts a couple of weeks ago, than it was for the tire shop to install car tires. I decided to give the stocks another shot, this time with Ride On and no wheel weights on them. Currently the Spyder is ryding smoother than it ever has up front, and I am very happy with the decision.