Tires Cupping

lutter94 · Jul 23, 2015

I had tires cupping pretty bad, so I put new Kuhmo's on and got it aligned. The measurements are below. Well I now have about 2000-3000 miles on the tires, and I think I can feel the cupping already. I have 17x9's in the front. No caster/camber plates. With a wheel in the air, there is very little play in the steering, but hardly even enough to notice. Shaking other directions feels tight.

I did find that Maximum Motorsports recommends -0.5 deg of camber for street cars, and -1.5 to -2.5 for race setups. But if camber was my only issue, would it cup? Or just wear off the inside?

AUTOBAHN · Jul 24, 2015

Usually you get cupping if your Struts/Shocks are bad.

lutter94 · Jul 24, 2015

Tokico blues are 2 years old. I'm guessing less than 15,000 miles. Ford Racing B springs were bought used at that time.

lutter94 · Jul 30, 2015

bump, anyone?

fran5o · Jul 30, 2015

Ya man I would call it feathering, but whatever. With 1 degree of neg. Camber on the front you would see some wear on the inside edge. Your toe looks fine, that's the only other thing that would chew up a tire fast. Rotate every 5,000 miles maybe?
If your shocks are causing actual cupping you would probably notice your car driving like complete garbage, not just tire wear alone.

lutter94 · Jul 31, 2015

fran5o said:
Ya man I would call it feathering, but whatever. With 1 degree of neg. Camber on the front you would see some wear on the inside edge. Your toe looks fine, that's the only other thing that would chew up a tire fast. Rotate every 5,000 miles maybe?
If your shocks are causing actual cupping you would probably notice your car driving like complete garbage, not just tire wear alone.

My bad, it is feathering, I just saw a pic of what someone called cupping and went with it. Googling feathering, that is a more accurate description. Can't rotate with staggered tires, lol.

Think I could get my camber back down to 0.5 with camber bolts? Or would plates be needed?

CC'S95GT · Jul 31, 2015

I was wondering if you were confusing feathering and cupping also. Cupping is usually on trucks with big mud tires.
I'm leaning toward worn tie rod ends or strut bushings or ball joints.
Alignment shops don't always look for worn components unless you ask them specifically.

lutter94 · Jul 31, 2015

A friend was thinking tie rods as well. I'll prob replace tie rods, control arms, etc this fall/winter. Need to do rear control arms too, the bushings are pretty much shot.

87hurricane · Aug 1, 2015

I would check for worn components first and replace anything with any play, then get realigned. That said, your camber is on the outer edge of spec, and definitely could be causing tire wear. I think strut bolts should give you enough to correct that.

fran5o · Aug 2, 2015

If your tie rods , or any suspension joint for that matter, had play it should have been found during the alignment. Unless you think a problem ensued after the alignment.
A bad tie rod for example makes setting the toe difficult, a seasoned front end guy should catch it.
FYI even if your alignment is perfect, if you are not rotating tires front to back, the fronts will start to feather, maybe not 5000 miles but 10000 for sure, thats the price you pay for a staggered fitment.

lutter94 · Aug 2, 2015

Thanks for the tips guys.  I guess I just thought it was a camber issue, since I would assume worn out suspension parts would be noticeable in the handling.  But then again, maybe its bad and i'm used to it? lmao.

87hurricane · Aug 7, 2015

I have driven cars with a ton of slop in steering components that weren't noticeable driving, but scared me knowing I had drove it once I got it on a lift. A good shop should catch issues, but I wouldn't count on it. I'd put the car up in the air, and check it out, once you know everything is tight, then concentrate on the alignment.