Rear Wheel Camber is Eating Tires

Everthing is looking good since installing the SPC adjustable arms. I decided not to waste any more money on another alignment because the van's ride is smoother, the rearend is now more stable on rough roads and tire wear is even across the rear tires.

I just re-checked the camber before logging on with the same level float I used before and infact the suspension has settled some more. Both rear tires are still identically cambered. But I now shows a tad more camber than the fronts...I think my pre install set-up of the adjustment sleeves were spot on.

When I was setting the lenght of the adjustment sleeves I used the two long mounting bolts as guides thru the factory arm bushings and adjusted the SPC arms to the same lenght as the factory arms. I then UNSCREWED THE SLEEVE EXACTLY FOUR TURNS and locked it with the jam nut. This pre install setting has worked out perfectly for rear camber I desired.
 
When I was setting the lenght of the adjustment sleeves I used the two long mounting bolts as guides thru the factory arm bushings and adjusted the SPC arms to the same lenght as the factory arms. I then UNSCREWED THE SLEEVE EXACTLY FOUR TURNS and locked it with the jam nut. This pre install setting has worked out perfectly for rear camber I desired.

Sounds about right. I've adjusted mine twice now... and I'm about where you are.

michael.
 
As others have said, the tire wear problems are NOT primarily because of the camber. They're almost entirely because of the toe-in. The camber just causes you to see it very quickly and only on the inside edge. Reducing or eliminating the negative camber will just spread the wear across more the tire tread.

The Mazda 5's factory alignment specs (at least for '06) call for significant toe-in at the rear. That's what you have to correct.

Zero the dynamic toe (that means the toe as the car is driving down the road with your usual load and speed), and the negative camber on the '06/'07 won't wear the tires out to any noticeable degree. Not saying I think they need that much negative camber (I don't think they do), only that the camber is not what the problem is.

I've zeroed the static toe (toe as it sits there on the alignment rack) at the rear of ours and am watching. Our old tires were so worn it was hard to tell anything. We just put brand new tires on it Friday, so I'll be able to see very quickly what's going on.
 
Last edited:
I agree with the toe being the major factor. My other car is a 04 Miata lowered. It has way more neg camber than my 5 and I drive it like i stole it sometimes. there r no unusual wear on the tires.

My previous car was a Volvo 850 wagon and i had almost -1.5 camber at the front, again no abnormal wear on the inner edge.
 
Does the M5 have toe-in /toe-out adjustment on the rear? Anybody have pics? If you have, you can DIY the toe-in by using a fish line from front tire to rear tire, just make sure the fronts are dead straight. then you vcan adjust the toe based on the fish line straightness.
 
Yes - the rear toe is very easy to adjust. Standing at the back of the car, look underneath towards the front - each tire has an adjustable bolt with graduated marks on the fixed 'washer'.

Once you loosen this nut, the bolt can move. To adjust, I jacked up the car, then lowered one wheel with just slight pressure onto a 2x6 under the wheel (so the car was still mostly supported by the jack). Then if you adjust the toe bolt, you can really see and hear the wheel turning toe in and toe out.

The online manual has all the correct info - that's where I learned. Actually adjusting the toe was pretty dramatic.

Info found on page 2-11-4 of the workers manual PDF available online. Attached is a picture.
michael.
 

Attachments

  • M5 rear toe adjustment.jpg
    M5 rear toe adjustment.jpg
    30.3 KB · Views: 1,180
Last edited:
Here is a good article from tirerack explaining camber, caster, and toe, and why vehicles are set up one way or the other:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=4

Though I dont understand why the Mazda5 has any toe at all, this isnt a race car. When I buy a tire I expect it to last 45,000 or 50,000 miles and the more I read these tire threads, the more Im convinced that Ive bought a lemon with regard to tire issues.

What can be done so that there is zero toe and zero camber, just like any other minivan out there? To heck with high speed cornering, I just want tires that arent going to wear down prematurely and as a bonus this will increase fuel economy.

From the above link:
Additionally the vehicle's toe is one of the most critical alignment settings relative to tire wear. A toe setting that is just a little off its appropriate setting can make a huge difference in their wear. Consider that if the toe setting is just 1/16-inch off of its appropriate setting, each tire on that axle will scrub almost seven feet sideways every mile! Extend it out and you'll discover that rather than running parallel to each other, the front tires will scrub over 1/4-mile sideways during every 100 miles of driving! Incorrect toe will rob you of tire life.
 
To adjust rear camber, you must replace suspension pieces; it's non-adjustable from the factory (well, you can always loosen bolts and fool around a little...).

I recommend against zeroing both toe and camber in the back of a 'van' like the 5. Zero the toe if you like, and reduce negative camber if you like as well. But leave a little negative camber. A little will absolutely, positively NOT wear out your tires early so long as dynamic toe is zero, and it's a good idea to have with a vehicle that wants to body-roll in emergency lane changes.

One thing I do not know is how rear toe changes as the suspension loads and unloads. For all I know, rear toe may zero out if you put a decent load back there. That seems unlikely to me, but I don't know either way. If by chance it does work that way, then everyone who zeroes their static toe but runs big loads back there suddenly has toe-out. That's not good for anything at all. Just a thought/note.
 
Just got back from my Mazda Dealer and had a brand new set of tires put on along with an alignment. The OEM Toyo's I had only had 14600miles on them and were rotated every 5k miles. As you can see from the pic the rears were worn down to the threads (nailbyt) . The alignment tech called me over while he was doing the alignment and said that the rear toe was way off...the most he had ever seen on a 5 or 3. I talked to him about the camber issues and he said that he recommends putting in SPC adjustable camber arms...which I know a few of you have done. In my case though it was all toe that caused my tire wear...LT was -.40 and RT was -.85. He said they should be around .1. He adjusted them back to spec and then told me that he believes that it was set that way from the factory...he said there was some over spray on the adjustable bolts and the paint had not been broken...he said that I may have a case with Mazda. He said that to give me an idea of how much wear the tires went through, he said that at -.3, it would be like dragging your tires 600 miles sideways! Alignment analysis also attached.
 

Attachments

  • DSC00346.JPG
    DSC00346.JPG
    487.1 KB · Views: 1,926
  • IMG.pdf
    526.2 KB · Views: 966
Wow. That' pretty brave driving with inner structure exposed.

Honestly, my wife drives the 5 more than I do. I knew they were worn down, but did not really notice it until I pulled up behind it earlier this week and saw how bad they really were. I was on pins and needles for the last 2 days.
 
Just got off the phone with MazdaUSA and they are going to reimburse me for the Alignment and send me $75 gift card to be used at Mazda...I can use it towards parts or labor for something.

The rep said that had I bought the tires from the dealer, she could have helped out with the cost as well. I am sure that buying a new set of Toyo's from the dealer...even with MazdaUSA covering part of the cost...would still have been way more than what I paid for 4 Kuhmo ASX's...wishful thinking at least.

So, if your rear tires are getting eaten up, have the rear toe checked. If mine was setup incorrectly from the factory, then there has to be others!!!
 
That the same type wear I was experiencing but I replaced mine before they wore that far.
Strange...my toe was never that far off as yours but I still had the same wear pattern. In my case it wasn't toe I had really bad excessing camber.

Since installing the SPC arms my tire finally wear "normal", I suspect I can go 7-10K miles before needing another alignment.
 
Ok, WhitewaterPearl and brarsandeep, how are your tires wearing now after a few months? Whitewater put on the SPC arms for the camber and brars only changed the toe. I have a stock 08 with the original Toyos at about 24k miles, rotated every 7k. Never had the alignment checked. Noticing definite wear on the insides of rear tires. Terrible road noise and ready to get new tires pretty soon. So what's the best permanent fix? Get the SPCs and new alignment with new tires? Or just new alignment to hopefully fix toe issue that has (maybe?) caused wear on this set?

Many people have said the Mazda alignment specs are wrong for good tire wear. What alignment specs do people recommend for the rear then?
 
Last edited:
Mine is a MY06. The tire wear is still even across the threads, no sign of needing another alignment check for a long time.
What seems to be working for me is whatever toe setting the Mazda dealer last dialed in along with the SPC arms which I installed myself. As far as I'm concerned my 5 is fixed.
 
My wife dirves the 5 most of the time...she has probably only put on 500 miles on it since the toe was corrected. I still think the camber is going to cause wear on the inside of the tires, but probably will not be able to tell until we get a couple thousand miles on the new set of tires. I think the SPC adjustable arms are the way to go, unless you plan on racing your 5. I would probably do this is the 5 if it was our primary family hauler, but our Odyssey handles that chore.
 
Thanks for the quick follow-ups. I was leaning towards getting the SPCs and fixing the issue once and for all. At about $165 for a pair of the SPCs and a few hours of labor, it will be worth it in the long run to have the tires last and not keep replacing them every 20-30k.

So it seems like the SPCs plus an alignment with slightly negative toe and camber should do the trick.
 
This is an issue. I;ve seen a fleet with many Mazda 5 in it and EVERY one has tire wear issues related to rear camber.
 
I'm going to dig up an old thread because there's lots of great info in this one related to my question.

I picked up a used '07. Brand new tires on it. I never noticed it in the test drive but I rode in the back esterday and I could feel a vibration in the back. Taking a walk around the car paying a little more attention to it, I can visibly eyeball large amount of toe in on the rear. The passenger side more so then the driver side, which gives me some circumstantial evidence of why I may be feeling vibration I think is coming from the rear passenger side.

I see some of you mention zeroing the toe. I know usually a tiny bit of toe in is good to keep the bearings loaded properly. What number are you guys shooting for with respect to toe in? I'd rather go into the shop and tell them "Give me xxx toe in on the rear" instead of taking in there and having them tell me "Your toe in is within specs"
 
It might be the tires off rounded from sitting in the lot. I have an 07, No issue whatsoever with uneven tire wear. Early tire wear yes because of the crappy Toyo's only 2.5 yrs. this is while I'm using winter tires almost 5 months in a year.
 
Back