Well if you read any of my previousing posting you will see that I had my wheels aligned about 7,000-8,000 miles ago and finally got new tires. And after the alighment they ML drove better (no pulling to the side ect). So I think the alighment is good.

But I recently rotated the tires myself and I found that the rear tires seem to wear out faster with more wear pattern on the outside edge (not to bad but still noticiable), the front was even less obvious

But the way I did not cross rotate should I have?

blau

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Silver Honda Accord, 2006
Silver G500, 2003
Silver SLK-320, 2002
Black ML-320, 2000
Bule Porsche 993 Targa , 1997
Silver Merkur XR4Ti, 1987

Above is the rotation pattern I use. My second set of tires, Micheln Cross Terrains, had 62K miles on them when I replaced them with same brand. Rotate every 3500 to 4000 miles. Inflation 34 psi for all four tires.

They all wore evenly at the same rate.

Hey you are not alone. but first let me ask you how many miles do you have on your ML and are the shocks/struts original? I have similar issue with my 98 ML with 70k on the clock. I had an alignment done last year at about 64k and after about 5k miles of driving, I noticed the rear tires are wearing out on the outside faster while the fronts are still even. I did some searches on the internet and it seems the uneven wear is a result of the weak shocks on the rear. At 70k I am going to change them out and see if I could prolong the tires a bit. I too have the Michelin X-terrain and they are great tires. If your shocks are still original, this may be the culprit.

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98 ML320 (gone but not forgotten)

Check your rear upper ball joints while you are looking at things.


Edit - hey, this is post 500 for me! Do I get an award? Probably not, because most of my posts were questions. This is agreat board...

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

Glad to see this post now as I am having similar issues and looking for a good tire this time around - here's the short story and questions:

* Tires, Michelin Cross Terrain or Nokian? I saw both recommended under the Tires forum; I am in big time snow country, but let me say that my stock Dunlops were fine and the best wearing compared to the Bridgestones I went to next. All season's have worked for me year round even in the toghest on-road snow conditions - a tribute to the AWD.

* Currently Bridgestone Dueller H/T's are wearing as you have described here; first the rear's along the outside while fron'ts seemed fine. Now, the fronts wearing on the inside badly - this after a new tie-rod end and alignement, but no rotation. They look a lot worse than tires should with only 15K miles on them.

* My observation, once I started having alignments, I've had to have them annually - just coincidence or the shocks as you've mentioned because they are original with 112K miles? Are the shocks/struts a DIY? - I've read to take care with the springs as they are loaded with force.

A great forum I concur!

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Francis E. Abate
Automotive Restoration & Preservation
Sheet metal, trim and upholstery

I replaced front shocks and rear strut assemblies when vehicle had 105K miles on it. Previously I had not had any alingment or uneven wear problems.

I have 35K on my ml. Don't drive it much except to go snowing. I have the Micheline 4x4 xpc ('xpc' or something that). Again the wear difference is not bad and most people will not notice it, but the tire had little lines molded in the tread pattern about the death 1mm deep it is still there on the inside thread but almost gone on the outside edge (so maybe it is wearing 1mm more on the outside compaire to the inside after 7k-8k miles).

Maybe I am just turning too fast .

I theory is that on double wishbone suspension over time when the springs lose ther orginal strength they would sag and wear more on the inside. Maybe over time it would just work out for me.

just like to hear what other people think.

blau

__________________
Silver Honda Accord, 2006
Silver G500, 2003
Silver SLK-320, 2002
Black ML-320, 2000
Bule Porsche 993 Targa , 1997
Silver Merkur XR4Ti, 1987

Do you think your tire wear pattern changed over time? You said the rears wear along the outside edge while the front seem fine. Then the fronts wear in the inside edge?

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Silver Honda Accord, 2006
Silver G500, 2003
Silver SLK-320, 2002
Black ML-320, 2000
Bule Porsche 993 Targa , 1997
Silver Merkur XR4Ti, 1987

I have a 2005 with 17,000+ miles and all 4 tires are worn and cupped on the inside edge. There are signs of cupping and wear on the outside edge, but only a slight amount. These tires have never felt right, but I think the alignment is out of whack all the way around. The tire people say I should have been running more pressure than the 2psi over recommended and that I should have rotated twice as often as MB recommends on these "high performance" tires. The tires are Dunlop SP Sport 5000, 275/55/17.

Currently have 101K on clock, the Michelin's have 41K currently with an easy 20K left. Previous tires were Dunlop's and we only got 30K out of those tires, plus only 30K on the first set of Dunlops. I rotate my own tires typically around 5K miles. No problems with uneven wear. No question, I will buy Michelin's again.

I've seen the good comments about the Michelin's on all the boards, but I've also seen the comments about the effects of going from V to H on handling. For that reason I plan on staying with the V rated tires in an all season since we spend some part of the winter in MI.

I think Micheline Cross Terrains if I recalled have a more continuous other and inner thread pattern as I recall. This I think will reduce the effect of cupping vs something that does not. What do you guys think?

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Silver Honda Accord, 2006
Silver G500, 2003
Silver SLK-320, 2002
Black ML-320, 2000
Bule Porsche 993 Targa , 1997
Silver Merkur XR4Ti, 1987

"Do you think your tire wear pattern changed over time? You said the rears wear along the outside edge while the front seem fine. Then the fronts wear in the inside edge?"

Blau - what I am saying is that I believe the shop has not done a proper alignment and so the front started to wear as described - do I know that for sure, no. Could have been going that direction anyway. I replaced the driver side tie-rod end just before they aligned it, and it hasn't felt exactly the same since, i.e., I seem to notice more drift such that I have to correct the steering wheel more often. Steering "play" does not seem to have increased, the "drift" meaning the car will start to drift to one side or the other requiring correction - I just don't recall it being as pronounced right before this.

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Francis E. Abate
Automotive Restoration & Preservation
Sheet metal, trim and upholstery

Not sure the tie rod has anything to do with alignment - but then again I am not a mechanic. I had my left front tie rod replaced by MB dealer and they did not have to have an alignment performed. My 2 cents.

It is darn near impossible to change a tie rod end and NOT do an allignment. Your tie rod ends are what control the alignment. If you change one, then there obviously was a problem with the car keeping proper alignment. Any MB dealer that would not do an alignemnt when changing an end is not doing their job (also it seems odd that they would not want to run up the bill as most dealers do). To take one off you are changing the alignment, and even if you "count the turns" when you put the new one on, the new one is inherently a different length from the old one.