The Tire Wear Problem Thread

Got a alignment specification question. I have found the alignment specs, but they make no sense to me. See below. It states the the rear toe to be 0deg 11' +/-22'. that means each rear wheel can be pointed anywhere between -11' and 33'

That seems like a large range, between -0.1833 and +0.55 degrees. Am i missing something?

Lonia said:

The honeymoon is over. I remember when I first bought our Mazda 5 for 30000$ in 08 there wasn't one negative post on the M 5...now well, you don't have to search very far. At 63K, I'm on my second set of tires (I have to replace them tomorrow). So I spoke to the tire expert (O.K. tire) and inquired on aligning the vehicule. Well he tells me it's around 700$. First reaction I thought he was pulling my chain, so I went to my local Mazda dealer in Pembroke, Ontario and when I mentioned the 700$ he didn't even blink or was surprised...I was obiously not the first person raise this. At 225$ a tire, 2 blown rear shocks, owning a M5 is expensive and I forsee it will continue to be expensive. I purchased my first and last Mazda in Ottawa and I will continue posting so other potentiel lost souls won't fall for a shiny mini van with 17 inch rims, that seats 6 but only if your wife weighs 100 pounds and your kids' combined weight does not have a negative effect on the performance of this little 4 cylinder.

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1. $30,000!!! Wow, someone got taken... hard! Did that include the magic beans?

2. Sounds like someone didn't do his reseaaaarrrcchhh! The horsepower, weight of the vehicle, max weight load, passenger numbers, and aftermarket tire costs were all very easy to find before you bought your vehicle.

3. in 2007, when you bought your 2008, the car was only in it's 3rd model year, of course there were barely be any negative comments! I challenge you to find any other car model forum for a car sold for more than 5 years that has less negative comments... good luck. It's a car, just like every other mother-luvin car out there, it'll have problems... a few for some and lots for others... deal with it.

4. Alignment for $700!! First you went to one place (the 2nd most expensive), then the dealership (the most expensive). I had my alignment done at a little alignment specialist shop for $250.

5. $225 a tire... you're shopping at OK tire again aren't you... I bought these - http://tinyurl.com/3g4kgu8 - at Tirerack, had them shipped to a US package/mail service and installed at Discount Tire. Tires were $137 each + $100 for installation. And these tires are some of the best tires available, rated by EVO magazine as the best performance tire available (wet traction, dry traction, wear, and ride are all taken into account) But if I was only worried about price, check this link for 28 different tires all for less than $225 a tire, starting at $95 a tire - http://tinyurl.com/3zl7rwl

It's not the Mazda 5's fault that maybe this wasn't the car for you or you're just not an experienced car owner and/or just very lazy.
Cheers!

I just wanted to add...
I bought my Mazda5 used (I would never ever buy new) for 7 grand. The p.o. had tire wear issues too. I slapped on a pair of 16 inch steelies with Michelin touring tires and thing rides like a champ. They were take-offs from another Mazda (not sure which model) that are practically brand new and I had them for $375 off craigslist. Alignment is the standard 80 at any repair shop. If you're handy, you can find plenty of diy vids on the net.
The whole 17 inch wheel thing on most cars (especially a minivan) is just audacious marketing maneuvers. Looks really cool (if you're a crow or from the ghetto), but you're probably not going to be autocrossing your 5, so keep things in perspective. The 16's have a much higher sidewall to absorb road shock and noise, and a bit skinnier profile puts less force on steering and suspension components. They just cleared the brake calipers, so going any smaller than 16" won't work without modification.
Handling... probably not as good as with 17", but with the reduced road noise, it's a decent barter. As far as the scare mongerers who think they need all the handling prowess then can get to avoid that hypothetical deer, you could think of an equally harrowing scenario where you're caught in war-torn Mogadishu... what wheels would you rather have? The 17"s won't have much clearance over shrewn shrapnel, and the 16" will provide extra suspension to help increase the accuracy of your turrent gunner. Absurd right? Think everyday common use. If you want a race car, buy an early 90s Miata or e30 for a grand - the price of a new set of low-profile tires for your Mazda5, the one you're going to rally race, right?

Tire Rotation is for Even Wear

was98strat said:

Because oil changes are at 8000km's and Good Tire maintenance should be 10k , I get my tires rotated with each oil change. The Toyo's wear fast, but you should be able to get to 50k with them, I think I will.

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Rotating your tires has absolutely no effect on damage caused by faulty engineering or bad set-up at the factory. If your rear tires are worn due to improper settings, rotating them to the front will result in the rotated tires experiencing the same problem. I would love to know where people get the idea that tire rotation is a magic fix for mechanical problems. It is total BS. Normally, most wear is experienced on the front due to turning. Relocating them to the back results in evening out the wear so that all tires are at approximately the same tread depth.

Yeesh. Two dead thread resurrections in a row on this one.

Yes, rotating just spreads the wear out a bit on all 4 tires instead of just killing one pair.