Dear all

As you all might have already seen my post regarding the rip front tires.

URGENT Tire blown up today

I carefully inspected my tires today, there was nothing wrong with the rims but I found that the inner side of the tries are wearied out pretty bad compare to the outer side of the tire. The inner side of the rear tires are also wearied out more compare to the outside, but nothing close to the front.
Is that the cause of my front tires to rip open ?

For safety reason, I want to find out what the problem is and have that take care. I am back on the stock 195/65/15 tires, and this car is the only car that I have to get around. I am afraid that they might also rip up and cause accidents on the freeway.

Was that because of incorrect alignment ?

Any tips or concerns might help, thank you very much for your time. You help will be greatly appreciated.

Pete regards

If you lowered the car over 2" with H&R springs, then:
1) The alignment shop may have aligned to normal specs for your car, not lowered specs.
2) The suspension adjustment may not have enough play to align for that big a difference in height.
3) YMSin indicated he had a problem with Dunlop 9000's similar to yours - maybe that tire isn't happy on your setup.

There are reasonably significant shape changes and size variation between brands, even for the "same" size tires. Michelins tend to run a little large in the Pilot series, whereas Bridgestones seemed a little smaller than advertised. I would start with a really good 4 wheel alignment at a shop that can deal with a lowered Benz. Good luck!

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Dear JCE
Thanks for you advise.
1. You are right, I am using the H&R springs.
2. Yes The alignment ship aligned to normal 300E specs for the car, not the lowered specs.
3. I use Koni Sports shocks, what else can I do ?
4. Yes, 2 of my other friends using SP9000 on their BMW and Honda has the same problem.

Ok, I will go get my alignment done at the same time they mount the new tires on.
Which tire do you recommend ? My priorty is that I want long life with good wet traction (for Seattle's weather)what do you think about the Bridgestone RE730 with 225/45/17, since they should be smaller then Pirelli's 225 ?
Tire rack told me to use 215 because the rub against my inner side of the fender, just a little rub.

Thank you very much for your time, you are correct on every aspect.

I doubt if negligent alignment had anything to do with the damage on the inside. If it was indeed an alignment problem, the wear woould have shown on the tyre threads.

Reading through your posts, I noted that you were running 215-45-17, which would take a lot of stress from your curb weight. IMHO the Dunlop series on 215-45-17 would be ideal for an average Japanese make, but a little too stressed on your Continental built, thus the interior wear on the rib cage.

Besides, on the 215-45-17, any slight miscalculation on potholes and kerb corners would aggravate the extent of damage on the interior rib caging. The danger being like an internal injury which is just waiting to explode without notice.

I would suggest sticking with the 195-65-15, though ideally I would vouch for a 205-65-15 for reasons that you'd get a more durable wear on your tyres than a 195. THis is speaking from experience. I found that with 195-65, the tyres lasted an average of 10 to 12 months daily drive of min. 30 km. With the 205s, the tyres could go up to 18 months with fair thread wear.

However, if you're still gonna use the 17", look at the Michellin. Pricey but safer.

__________________
... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Dear Ymsin

I want to be able to use my wheels.
What size I should be looking for ? 225 or 215 ?
What about some Bridgeston or Pirelli ?
Why Michellin ? They have stronger side walls ? They are expensive, good grip, but never last long.
I had Pirelli P7000 summer with 225/45/17 before nothing happen to it, they just wearied out normal.

Thanks

Pete regards

ANY 124 with the ride height that low is going to have rear camber problems. The tires are irrelavent. Yes, a 225 versus a 215 might ride a bit better, but will wear no better. And some wheels, particularly the old AMG Aero in 17", just won't work with anything except a 215/45. The only fix here is to check with some of the performance tuners, or an extremely skilled MB tech, to get some more camber in the rear. Some have a subframe assembly, or special bushings that will give you a bit more rear camber. H and R springs do have a bit lower ride height than some other performance springs, and if you have the short spring pads on them as well, it's easy to imagine that you've got some significant rear camber problems. That's the source of your tire wear, brand irrelavent. Hope this helps.

Dear Allenjdmb
Thank you for your reply.
I have AMG Aero II 17 x 7.5 wheels. They are the same size, the exact same one that you found on C36. They could work fine with 225 no problem.
I don't have the shorter spring pads on them.
Where should I get the camber settings ?
Thank you very much.
Pete regards

Pete - Allen is absolutely correct. A lowered W124 will produced more than two degrees of negative camber in the rear that will wear out the inside edge of your tires rather quickly. Mine was - 2.2 to - 2.4 degrees.

In regard to tires for wet handling the SP9000 is superior to the XGT Z4. The SP9000 is also slight superior in the dry. But I have had bad experience with the SP9000 quality problem. The XGT Z4 is very uniform and stayed round for a very long time. Mine only needed 0.5 oz to balance.

My latest tires are AVS Sport. The Sport is far superior to the above tire in both wet and especially dry. They are also very quiet and smooth riding.

Thanks Allen and Tommy for these information

How should I adjust the camber when doing my alignment, 2 degree possitive ?

Yeah. I think I am going with neither the XGT Z4 or the bridgestone RE 730.

Thanks .
Pete regards

Allenjdmb:
Pete said the failure was primarily with his front tires, and that the rear tires had a lesser problem. This means that there is something going on besides just the rear camber problem, which is very real on a lowered car.

I wouldn't completely rule out my tire tech's explanation, or neglect the front alignment. The fact that the front tires are both rotating and changing direction as you steer is likely to increase the heat loading on them relative to the rear tires, unless you just drag race on them and never turn the wheel.

Also, certain tires do handle heat loading better than others, so the problem may not be as apparent with a different brand tire, but would certainly still exist - at very least as uneven wear.

Regards.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

JCE
I rotate my tires front and back, the dealer does it for me during maintenance, I am not sure if they did it inside out.
The rear tire's inner side are also wearied out more compare to the outer side, but not bad enough to rip like the front ?

What should I do now ?

I notice that are sizes differences between different brand
the 215 A520 tires that my friend has are just as wide as my old 225 P7000 ?
how should I adjust the settings to get it even ?
Should I stick with 215, or back to 225 ?

Thank you very much for your help ?
By the way, how do you submit pictures so that I could show the details.
Thanks
Pete regards

Pete - I assumed your tires are cracked at the inside tread area and not at the sidewall. If that is the case, both your front and rear could have too much negative camber. For street driving I would use -0.5 degree front and rear for a good compromise between performance and tire wear. Also you need to check the toe setting. Too much toe-out will wear out the inside tread. I would use 1/16" toe-in for street driving.

And stay away from the A520. They are very noisy and rough riding. They also have a non-linear steering response. Good luck.