Uneven tyre wear - rear wheels

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fifth_cit
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Uneven tyre wear - rear wheels

Post by fifth_cit »

My C5 III Tourer has now done 23500 miles and is in need of new rear tyres. When I checked them today I could see that they had both worn on the outer edge of tyre down to the wear blocks whilst the inner edges still have about 2 mls to go before the wear blocks.
Anybody experienced this before as my previous Citroens all ran the rear tyres very evenly ?.

Also can anyone recommend a good mid range tyre as the Michelins for this car are now £170 each !
C5 III Tourer 2.0HDi SX
Previous Citroens:-
05 C5 Facelift VTR 2.0Hdi
03 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
51 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
96 Xantia LX TD
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spider
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Post by spider »

I'm not familiar with what the rear setup is on these (being a Peugeot man) however they may have a rear track arm which has an eccentric bolt on one end, this is likely to be adjustable, on the 406 for example, it does not look like it is adjustable but it is (I know that's completely different but I wanted to pick an example)

I would advise getting the geometry checked if its taking the edges off rear tyres otherwise it will only do it again...
Andy.

91 205D-Turbo, gone but still missed
02 106D, TUD5B, gone but not really missed apart from the MPG
fifth_cit
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Post by fifth_cit »

Thanks for that Andy - The car is the same as my neighbours 407 SW, so much so I didn't know whether to post on the Pug forum.
It's still under warranty and I'm off to Citroen this morning for a chat about it.
regards

Keith
C5 III Tourer 2.0HDi SX
Previous Citroens:-
05 C5 Facelift VTR 2.0Hdi
03 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
51 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
96 Xantia LX TD
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spider
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Post by spider »

You're welcome.

I mean to say the washer is (?) eccentric, not the bolt, but you know what I mean.
Andy.

91 205D-Turbo, gone but still missed
02 106D, TUD5B, gone but not really missed apart from the MPG
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Post by Citroenmad »

A lot of cars seem to go through rear tyres almost as fast as the front tyres.

I questioned this with a Renault dealer after our Scenic II scrubbed its rears off in 20K. They said they are set to toe in at the rear to aid stability!

I cant see how this can be, as the tyres are already scrubbing and hitting a pothole can make the car move sideways as the rear wheels dont point straight.

Ive noticed our C5s seem quite heavy on rear tyres too, mine wears its rears on the outside edges too, with the inside still having a lot left. Our C5 estates rears have lasted about 20K miles, but it carries heavy loads.

Check with your Citroen dealer, but I bet it will result in the normal "they are all like that" comment and i bet its not adjustable either.
Chris
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Post by cachaciero »

The C5 III set up is very different to the 1 II.

The S1 estates have a reputation for tearing the outers of the rears, the S2 somewhat less so (apparently). The rear subframe was changed on the S2 not sure why but I suspect that the toe in was reduced.

I reckon that toe in is built in because the subframe is set up to produce passive rear wheel steering, this requires that the rubber mounts are relatively soft with asymetric deformation characteristics, the toe in is required to ensure that there is some self centering stability of the rear subframe.

cachaciero
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Post by Citroenmad »

I didn't think the C5 has passive rear steering, as the XM and Xantia does. You certainly cant feel it like you can with those.
Chris
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Post by cachaciero »

Citroenmad wrote:I didn't think the C5 has passive rear steering, as the XM and Xantia does. You certainly cant feel it like you can with those.
Yes it does and as far as I see can it is done pretty much in the same way.
Can't say I really noticed it on the XM, the XM went round corners surprisingly quickly at times for a big car I mean it just did it and it didn't tear the arse of the tyres doing it unlike the C5 which at times feels distinctly nervous on the back not solid like the XM.
Mind that might be just mine I have a strong suspicion that one (or both) of the subframe bushes are a little slack, it's the only thing which explains a slight tendency to drive to the left coupled with high shoulder wear on the nearside rear, i.e that's what would happen if the subframe was slightly canted clockwise.

cachaciero
2006 Toyota Prius T Spirit
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fifth_cit
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Post by fifth_cit »

Well I took the car back to the main dealers and the said its fine. To be honest the uneven wear was not as bad as I thought and was only about 1mm. Its hard to see under the wheel arch as there's not much room.
National tyres price match Tyre Shopper prices so i'm off to see what they can offer on some new ones.
C5 III Tourer 2.0HDi SX
Previous Citroens:-
05 C5 Facelift VTR 2.0Hdi
03 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
51 C5 LX 2.0Hdi
96 Xantia LX TD
cachaciero
Posts: 1407
Joined: 13 Apr 2009, 07:24
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Post by cachaciero »

fifth_cit wrote:Well I took the car back to the main dealers and the said its fine.
Well they would wouldn't they, they know that many of these problems are "designed in" and resolving such problems is going to be nothing but hastle for them. They get precious little support from Citroen once it's outside of warranty and it would appear often not much when it is in warranty if it involves Citroen spending money.

--Edit big snip wrong model---- :-)

cachaciero
2006 Toyota Prius T Spirit
2001 2.2 C5 Exclusive SE
1996 XM 2.1 TD Auto VSX
1995 XM 2.1 TD Auto SX died @ 140K
1987 CX 2.5 Gti Turbo II dead
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1981 CX 2.4 Pallas Auto
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Post by Kowalski »

fifth_cit wrote:Well I took the car back to the main dealers and the said its fine. To be honest the uneven wear was not as bad as I thought and was only about 1mm. Its hard to see under the wheel arch as there's not much room.
National tyres price match Tyre Shopper prices so i'm off to see what they can offer on some new ones.
If the tyres are wearing the shoulders you can get them to wear the middle of the tyre more by putting more air in the tyre. There are two different tyre pressures quoted for the rear of the car, one is for the car unladen and the other is for fully laden. Try running the tyres at the laden pressure all of the time.
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