Date:         Tue, 3 Jun 2003 10:31:41 -0400
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Subject:      Re: Nokian tire opinions
Comments: To: George Goff <THX0001@AOL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <19b.15e4fb4e.2c0de849@aol.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Tue, 3 Jun 2003, George Goff wrote:

> I had a Hakka 10 wear like that once on a Syncro front end.  In that case it
> was caused by a queefed out wheel bearing.  It became a chicken-or-egg thing
> because the noise from the worn tire masked the rumble of the worn bearing.

I have that sharp-edged feel on my front tires (Bridgestones) and I'm
pretty sure it's due to a sloppy steering rack that I need to get
replaced.  The bushing at one end of the rack is worn, which lets the
shaft move fore-and-aft slightly on that side, changing the toe-in.

This is similar to my experience with tires on my old Ford Econoline van.
It chewed up front tires the same way -- they'd get odd sharp edges on one
side of the tread blocks, and they'd wear excessively on the outer edges
and get noisy.  The factory toe-in settings on the Econolines seem to be a
bit excessive, but backing off on them results in a van that wanders all
over the road, so it ends up being a choice between tire wear and
handling.


David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si