Alignment Needed

[spyderwing]

2012 Rss- 25000 miles. Spyder needs the laser treatment. Right front tire is toed in and very worn on the inside edge. Left front is fine and still has some miles to roll. Can I replace just the right front so I can continue to ride safely until I find and arrange the alignment procedure/ appointment. Once the laser is done, replace the left front also. This may take maybe a month-not sure yet. I would probably get Kendas for the fronts as they/ it has worn well. What about putting a used but good tire on the right front temporarily- until the laser is done so the ride is safer. Can I mix the fronts or bad idea? Please advise-I appreciate all your thoughts. Thank you. John

 

[4 MARIE]

I'll take a "stab" at this...
Generally, wear on your fronts should be similar, they are called a pair for a reason.
mis-matched tires will certainly make the handling wonky.
I don't believe a laser alignment will do you any good with mismatched tires up front
If the one front tire is so badly worn that you are thinking about a "temporary replacement", then I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

In ANY case, whatever you decide to do, I strongly advise against riding at 10 10ths anywhere, and you might want to
stay close to home

 

[spyderwing]

Alignment

Which comes first- the alignment on the old tires or alignment on a new set of front tires?? Thanks. John

 

[spyderwing]

10 10ths

10 10ths???

 

[Peter Aawen]

It doesn't take a heap of 'uneven' tire wear for a 'bad' tread wear pattern to become fixed in the tread face & likely to be on-going even if you fix the alignment issue that started the uneven wear pattern in the first place, so if you fit another tire now I'd strongly suggest that you get the alignment sorted within about 1000 miles or so max; or your new tire will also be pretty much set in the uneven wear pattern anyway!! That's why most reputable tire places would recommend you get your alignment sorted & only then fit the new tire/s, or at least do them at the same time!!

And just to add insult to injury, significantly different tread depths between your 2 front tires can impact poorly on your handling etc too!! Different tread depth does have an adverse impact on car handling if you have just one new tire & the 3 others are worn, but the impact will be less noticeable when it's just 1 new tire out of 4 & the tires are basically on the corners of a square or rectangle anyway - the differences caused by the one new tire are mostly counteracted by the pair of (equally) worn tires on the other end. But that can't occur when it's steering & handling changes caused by 1 new tire out of the front (steering) 2 on your Spyder!!

It's fine for you to replace the rear tire & not replace the front pair, the 'Y' frame design can handle that; but you really do want to try & keep your front steering tires at pretty much the same tread depth or you'll notice your Spyder pulling oddly under brakes or steering - and btw, you really should include your car spare in a regular tire rotation to make sure that all five of your car tires (4 on the road & 1 spare) remain reasonably close to the same state of wear too, especially if you drive 'spiritedly' &/or your car is an AWD; or if you ever need to fit your spare that has significantly different tread depth to the rest of your car tires, you will need to reduce your max speed & drive carefully just like you would if you fit one of those completely different sized 'space-saver' spares!! Much of the 'speed restrictions' those space-savers carry is due to the adverse handling effects that even minor differences in tire rolling diameter can bring teamed with the different levels of traction from that tire, & the rolling dia & grip differences between a full tread depth tire & a partly worn tire can be greater than the differences between good tires & that space-saver!!

Same on your Spyder front end - try to keep both front tires at close to the same state of wear & tread depth or you risk poor handling & front end traction issues!! And get the alignment issue fixed either when you fit the new tire/tires, or at the very worst case within about 1000 miles, or your risk continuing the poor tread wear pattern & effectively destroying a new tire!!

 

[cptjam]

Which comes first- the alignment on the old tires or alignment on a new set of front tires?? Thanks. John

Get the alignment. It will solve the problem. Replace tires when they are worn. Joe

 

[4 MARIE]

10 10ths???

Okay, how about BTW.... Balls TO the Wall. I am kind of dating myself here aren't I

 

[Peter Aawen]

Okay, how about BTW.... Balls TO the Wall.......

Eerrrm, Nope!!

Balls to the Wall = BttW

btw = by the way

 

[spyderwing]

To the Wall

I was guessing 10 10ths= 1 = 100 per cent or Balls Out as we said back in the glory days. Thanks. John

 

[SpyderAnn01]

This doesn't sound like an alignment issue. Excessive toe-in causes outside tire wear. Also, the front wheels self -center, so they should show wear evenly on both tires. If one tire is toed in more than the other, they both split that toe amount between them and your handlebars would be slightly off center when driving straight. Normally, single tire wear on the front points more to a tire pressure issue or a tire problem than alignment. At least with a Spyder where toe is the only adjustment.

But inside tire wear is indicative of a toed out condition. I'd be willing to bet that the OP has a severe toe out condition on one side and is pretty near the correct toe on the other side, this is something that we have seen quite often when aligning Spyders.


I haven't checked the manual for 2014 but I do know that in prior year's owner manuals BRP states that "uneven tire wear is normal". :yikes:

 

[PistonBlown]

But inside tire wear is indicative of a toed out condition. I'd be willing to bet that the OP has a severe toe out condition on one side and is pretty near the correct toe on the other side, this is something that we have seen quite often when aligning Spyders.


I haven't checked the manual for 2014 but I do know that in prior year's owner manuals BRP states that "uneven tire wear is normal". :yikes:

Agree totally with this (but then you are the expert Ann) - I had one tire start wearing on the inside, other was fine. The wheel on that side had an issue with toe-in/out, the other wheel was correctly setup. It wasn't out that much but showed up in the tire wear on that one wheel pretty quickly.