Could also be too much toe IN causing outside tire wear.
On Nov 23, 2009, at 11:18 AM, Brian Pifer wrote:
I used to have a Metro a long time ago. My memory says that the
rear has no alignment adjustments.
You say that the outside of the tires are wearing, that means the
bottom of the tire is tilted towards the car too much. This could
be caused by 1) an accident; 2) bad struts; 3) bad wheel bearings.
If 2 or 3 is your problem, replacing the parts if pretty straight
forward. If #1, then you either have to get pricy or creative - the
unibody frame has to be unbent. A good frame shop can do this, but
it'll likely cost more than the car (couple thousand). It is
possible to bend the shock towers apart using jacks and wood, but
most of the time you ruin the car. It takes careful planning and
constant, precise measurements.
TireRack has a good primer on the lingo of alignments here, http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=4
. It sounds like you are looking at a Camber problem. You can get
a cheap camber guage off ebay, but it may be more than you want to
spend http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Strut-Tool-Gauge-Wheel-Camber-BMW-VW-Audi-Mercedes_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem27aca885f2QQitemZ170400450034QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools
. You can use a standard torpedo/small level for comparison
against your other tires to check for big problems though.
If you're anywhere near Seattle, I'd be happy to look at it with
you. If you're somewhere else, email back with any follow on
questions.
Brian
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]
] On Behalf Of Robert McElwee
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 1:20 AM
To: Miatapower Miata Power
Subject: NPC: Good link to DIY rear end alignment on front wheel
drive car?
My rear wheels are wearing on the outside on my Geo Metro. Anyone
have a nice site for info on a DIY method of fixing this? Too much
noise on the internet about this and I cannot find a good site. I'm
not really interested in spending $40 (or whatever it is, I haven't
checked) to align a $30 set of tires <G>. If I could move spend 10
minutes to move the rear tires a pinch I would be happy.
Also, I am a complete alignment newb. I get confused on it and would
take a quick lesson on what is going on with my car's alignment
based on my wear pattern if someone would be willing to help.
Hmm, I really need to change my signature. I no longer have the 50
MPG Miata (sold a few months ago) and I am currently working on the
70 MPG Geo...
--
Robert McElwee and Blue Flash
"The 50 MPG Miata"
www.lightweightmiata.com/blue
Lightweight Miata Forum:
www.lightweightmiata.com/forum
The Miata Trailer Project:
www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer
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