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Tire wear on inside edges in back

N

nlinesk8s

New member
I was doing an oil change the other day and noticed that the inside edges of the front tires are really worn compared to the rest of the tire, almost worn out.
These tires were rotated recently, so I think I've a problem with a worn rear suspension (225k on this '99 GT).

I also have clunking on bumps.

What's the most likely culprit for the clunking and the wear? If it was front I'd say balljoints, but the back's not the same. Or is it?

thanks in advance for answers.
Sean
 


Is it the front or rear? You kinda said both. You may just need an alignment.
 
Final verdict:

Extreme wear on only the inside edge of the front tires is characteristic of worn out ball joints. I found this out the hard way recently on one of my other cars. Since the post, the tires on the front are now extremely worn on the inside edges, and I'm in the process of replacing.

So, if you have wear on only the last inch or so of tire on the inside, and it's extreme, chances are your balljoints are shot.
 


I have the same issues with my tires, rotated properly and I noticed wear on the inner tires. Took in for alignment check today, and everything was ok.

Which ball joints need to be replaced? lower? upper? both?

I read that it is better to replace the control arms instead of the ball joints, because the ball joints (lower?) are riveted.

Current issues:
inside tire wear (1.5 inches), vibration during braking, some vibration when driving, clunk sound (driver side) in suspension when first moving forward

I've had the following done:
alignment, tires balanced, both outer tie rods replaced, both cv axles replaced, both front hub assembly replaced, 4 new struts + mounting kits.

Was about to do the following:
replace innter tie rods, replace motor mounts.
 
We only have lower ball joints on the front. They can be drilled out and replaced with new ball joints that bolt in. Moog ball joints will run you around $100 or so for both. Since you have higher mileage on your car, you might want to consider just buying new control arms as your bushing in your arms are probably failing by now.
 
The motor mount and trans mount deffinitely need to be changed with that many miles. I only had around 120,000 when I changed my motor mount and it was toast. You might as well changed the lower control arms as well so you will get the ball joints while you are at it. You should be in good shape suspension wise then.
 
I've got this same problem. Thought it might have been the bad tie rod I recently replaced. So its bad ball joints in the control arm?
 


This is really a simple fix- install alignment cam bolts in the rear and you'll be able to align the tire and remove the uneven wear.

Which leads me to this question- would you go with MOOG or Specialty Products?
 


I had the same issue on my 02 GT. The front tires wore ok but the backs wore really bad to the inside. I replaced the springs and struts and that solved the problem. I had the alignment checked afterwards and is was good. I also noticed the car road a lot nicer too. You don't really notice the ride going away or the car sitting lower than it used too over time.
 
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