Date: Thu, 3 Apr 97 15:06:27
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: mdstockr <mdstockr@neo.lrun.com>
Subject: RE: Severe left front tire wear: Syncro
I had a noise problem like that with one of my cars. Had just installed new front wheel
bearing assembly and rotor. It turned out that the rotor was not to spec. and the wheel
bearing could not be pressed securely into the rotor, causing the bearing to move within the
rotor. Had to replace both. A worn wheel bearing or a bearing moving about within your
spindle can cause your tire wear problem.
Only an extreme LF tire camber change can cause the wear problem you describe. A bad wheel
bearing can cause such a camber change.
You might want to jack up your bus, grab the LF tire, and see if you can feel any sloppiness
in the wheel bearing.
If the wheel bearing is OK, then I have the following questions:
1) Is the wear even around the circumference?
2) Are you using the same size and brand of tires on the front axle?
3) Does your bus look like it is sitting level, side-to-side?
4) How's you cold tire inflation pressures?
--- On Thu, 3 Apr 1997 13:53:44 -0600 Paul Uusitalo <puusital@Adobe.COM> wrote:
>Returning from a 3000 mile trip I recently made, I've noticed that the
>outside 1/5 of the left front tire on my '87 Syncro has worn nearly bald.
>Before I make any tire changes, I need to figure out what's causing this.
>Is it an alignment problem, a failed CV joint, or the dreaded Viscous
>Coupling (please no!)?
>
>What I've noticed:
>
>1. The vehicle does not seem to pull or shimmy to any noticeable extent.
>Drives quite smoothly at 80 mph (downhill in Montana, of course).
>2. At low speed, I've noticed an audible "screek, screek" type sound,
>emanating - I belive - from the front left portion of the car. It does not
>sound like metal on metal or like anything grinding, more like wet sneakers
>on a smooth floor. The noise is much louder when making sharp turns and its
>speed varies directly with the speed of the vehicle.
>3. Wear on the right front tire seems normal.
>4. During my trip, I did plow into a snow bank at a fairly high rate of
>speed (packing snow into every nook and cranny of the front suspension).
>Could I have bent something that would cause the tire wear but otherwise
>not affect driveability?
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Paul U.
>
>
-----------------End of Original Message-----------------
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Michael Stocker <mdstockr@neo.lrun.com>
North Canton, Ohio, USA
4/3/97 3:06:27 PM EST
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