Front tires feathering...

[Coyotekiller]

So my car has about 10,900 miles on it now and as I'm checking over my wheels and tires the other day while I'm doing some work to the car, I noticed that both of my front tires are feathering on the outside edges, across the entire outside block of tread.

These are the factory Pirellis btw, and from my previous dealings with Pirelli tires on my past two mustangs, I know they can be fairly cheaply made. Of course these are different but still not getting a good vibe from them. They are loud and overall grip is decent but not much better than my all season tires from the mustangs.

Now what I'm wondering is A) if this is normal for these tires? Or B) if this might be a suspension issue I take up with the dealer?

The tires don't look like they are leaning incorrectly but they sure are feathered on the outside edges... Might take it to the dealer for an alignment at the end of this week.

[JimE]

Typically an indication of an alignment issue.

I had a similar issue on my Silverado after installing my 20" wheels (stock were 17's), with a slightly larger tire diameter (approx. 1/2" if I recall correctly). In any case, with the factory alignment numbers, the outer edges of the tires were feathering. My tire shop ended up changing (reducing) the camber (I'm 99% certain it was camber and not toe, but I would have to check the calibration printout) and the wear issue went away.

[Coyotekiller]

I'm almost certain it's a camber issue. I'm just curious if this is a problem others are having as well? My suspension is all the way it left the factory so I'm hoping it's not a camber issue

[Guzaku]

had 18,000 miles on my pirellis and my front ones were worn to nothing after such a short time. My back tires were fine but idk what it was about the fronts.

[Dennis SS]

Same problem here...15000 miles

[bw26ss]

From the factory, the ss has negative camber

[Coyotekiller]

Originally Posted by 11fastss

From the factory, the ss has negative camber

This would not cause the tires to feather on the outsides...

[shooters]

I just replaced my factory wheels and had the tire shop do an alignment just because. After it was said and done, they told me it was wayyyyy out but he said it was the Toe.

[JMAC2011]

It is always a good idea to take your car from the dealership after purchasing it directly to get an alignment... on any car that you buy. Factory alignments are rarely given much attention. For a street car with factory tires I would recommend a little bit of negative camber. Ask the alignment shop what the camber minimum and maximum(negative) alignment spec is. With stock tires tell them to put it at the maximum negative alignment spec. They will set the toe after setting the camber and you will start taking turns just a little bit faster without that much of a difference on tire wear.

[Texhawk]

If the tires are feathering on the outside, it is probably because the toe in is off... They may even be toed out.
You can easily measure the toe in close enough to tell if that is the problem in your garage.
Measure the distance between the tires on the tread toward the front side of the car by picking a spot on the tread. Then measure the same distance on the tread toward the rear of the car.. The difference is the amount the tires are toed in.. If the distance on the front tread of the tire is greater, the tires are actually toed out...
The toe in should be between zero and 1/8th inch.
My front tires were feathering just a little on the outside even with 1/8th inch toe in, so I reduced it to about 1/16th when I rotated them...

Generally, if the tires had too much positive camber, they would wear on the outside but would not be feathering. Some tires will feather a little even if the alignment is perfect when the tread is full depth...

[discit]

Same feather problem also at 17,000:(

[Coyotekiller]

I still haven't had time to take the car to get it checked. I'm leaning towards a toe in/out problem as well...

[Coyotekiller]

Ok, so update:

Took the car by the dealership for an alignment today. Explained what had been happening and showed them the tires. They checked it over good and came back and told me that the toe was out a bit but the camber was way out on the worst tire. I'm at ~14,000 miles on the stock tires now so they are about shot anyway so I didn't bother to try to get new tires out of it. This car has been like this from the factory, but unfortunately without havin it checked out earlier, I can't really prove it.

To summarize, my problem was both the toe and camber. Oh and another funny thing, my rear drivers tire was out of spec for camber also. Just found that odd. It's not really wearing funny so maybe it wasn't enough to affect it. Gotta look at the sheet again to see which way the camber was out though.

[JusticePete]

Alignment from the factory are in the green range. That is +/- a value. Driving your car changes the alignment. Vibrations, bumps, load, normal wear and tear all contribute to change the alignment. It is a great idea to get your new car alignment touched up and routine maintenance to get your car aligned once a year.