Suspension problem

[paymon]

Hi there,

I have a 2003 G35 Coupe with 89,000 miles. My last set of tires were Yokohama AVS100s and they lasted 30,000 miles when the right rear tire blew out on the highway. The tire had uneven treadwear, with the inside being completely bald (causing it to explode) and the outside having plenty of tread. The left rear tire had the same condition. I had an alignment done the same time I originally got the yokos. Anyways, I put on some new Goodyear tires all around about 6 months ago, and I had an alignment done shortly after. Today my mechanic told me that my rear camber/toe is messed up and I need an alignment. I am starting to think that my suspension is messed up or something? I remember that when I bought the car the previous owner told me the e-brake had some problem, and on cold starts when you release the e-brake and drive off, the rear end makes some sort of farting noise. Anyways, I am wondering if maybe the previous owner was shady and involved in some bad rear end accident and the e-brake/suspension is messed up causing these alignment/treadwear problems? I dont want to be getting alignments every 6 months.

[donpisto]

I think Firestone or some place has lifetime alignments for a package deal. The inner part of the tire wearing out faster does not lead to the tire blowing...I only run on the inside of my tires since I have extreme negative camber.

I'd advice to get some toe bolts, which are about 50 bucks for the rears. That will help with the toe. Make sure you have sufficient air in the tires, check it weekly. I'm not sure what the e-brake would have to do with the suspension and as for the farting noise, I have no clue what that may be.

[paymon]

Also, my car was lowered when I bought it. Not sure how they lowered it. Maybe I should restore it to factory height?

[donpisto]

You can get the car on jacks and take off the wheel and see what they are...maybe take pics. Could either be springs or coilovers. Lowering a car will result in natural camber, but even then, if you had -3.5 degrees of camber, with the toe bolts you can get the toe in spec, and that is what primarily makes the tread wear out faster...the camber just causes it to wear out from the inside (or outside) depending on how it is.

I wish I could get 30k out of my tires lol. I probably see half that.

[paymon]

So it seems like my best bet is just to get a Firestone Lifetime Alignment package huh? I don't feel like shelling out for new springs/camber kits + labor to install, but I drive like a grandfather and I think I should get 50k out of my tires IF they would wear evenly.

[donpisto]

Camber kit is really not necessary. If you wanted to go to stock height it would be fairly inexpensive. All you really need is the toe bolt for the rear. Front doesn't need anything. Do you have a pic of how low your car is? Or do you know how many inches it was lowered?

[paymon]

How/where can I return to stock height?

Here it is currently, dont mind the filth

[donpisto]

That's probably on springs if anything. To return to stock height you can check the marketplace here for people selling their oem setups.

[paymon]

What about the front springs? Would raising the height back to OEM specs help treadwear?

[donpisto]

Yes, but very little IMO. You're not that much lower than OEM height if that is OEM height. Toe bolts are all you need if anything. Lifetime alignment and you're set. If it is extremely wearing out the inner tire then it's your toe.

[TbagzG35]

camber kits an align

[elperuano]

im lowered on tein flex and my toe is way off.. too positive in the rears.. I got toe bolts installed but the guy at goodyear told me that he couldnt get the toe to oem spec cuz it was maxxed out or sumthin when he tried to get it back to oem spec.. Any reason why? I've got spc rear camber kit n toe bolts.. Im on stretched tires and in the rain my car slides.. its like im on ice skates or sumthin absolutely no control.. is it cuz my toe is too positive? rears are like +0.68 left n +0.88 right in the rear

[paymon]

Where can I get toe bolts? Can firestone install them?

[donpisto]

Originally Posted by TbagzG35

camber kits an align

Explain why it's needed with that height. Makes no sense to me.

Originally Posted by elperuano

im lowered on tein flex and my toe is way off.. too positive in the rears.. I got toe bolts installed but the guy at goodyear told me that he couldnt get the toe to oem spec cuz it was maxxed out or sumthin when he tried to get it back to oem spec.. Any reason why? I've got spc rear camber kit n toe bolts.. Im on stretched tires and in the rain my car slides.. its like im on ice skates or sumthin absolutely no control.. is it cuz my toe is too positive? rears are like +0.68 left n +0.88 right in the rear

Hard to tell without knowing how much negative camber you have. I had -3.5 degrees of camber and had my toe within spec. I had Battle Version camber arms with the Eibach/SPC toe bolts.

How stretched are your tires and how aggressive are you driving in the rain? I had an extreme stretch, 225/35 on a 10.5 and didn't have any issues during rain, however, if I were to floor it, I'd easily have that feeling of skatin on ice.

Having your toe will greatly affect how your car drives, don't know why it's so off.

[donpisto]

Originally Posted by paymon

Where can I get toe bolts? Can firestone install them?

THey should be able to. I'd buy from one of the vendors on this forum.