I have an '83 300CD....

the left front tire is wearing excessively on both the left and right sides of the tire.....

could this be a shock or alignment or balancing problem?

or do I need to replace left front

Underinflation sounds like the cause to me

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1984
190e 2.3L
107000 miles

If it is underinflation, then it is EXTREME underinflation. I personally have never seen a radial tire wear this way. It would probably have to run many miles at 10 or 15PSI to cause this.

But, of course, check the tire inflation. All that said, I can't imagine anything else that would do this.

Any alignment pit guys out there ever seen this before?

Good luck,

Quality performance radials with a full width steel belt resist the effects of underinflation better than bias tires, but I have seen these wear patterns even from "normal" factory-recommended inflation levels when the car had been equipped with super cheap or ultra smooth ride radials -- out of curiosity, I dissected a Goodyear Tiempo with such a wear pattern and found that the steel belt was only about 3" wide down the middle of the tread area, leaving a lot of flex on the edges to allow rapid wear (and smooth ride), even at the car manufacturer's ('83 Toyota Celica) recommended pressures.

could it be the ball joints are worn on the front end?

tires are properly inflated and Michelin's X to boot.... quality tire...

could worn shocks do it.... or just a worn out front end?

the right side wears normally....

ok hmmm this is interesting my next guess is a bad tire id get it looked at by a pro

__________________
1984
190e 2.3L
107000 miles

I agree with the Pilot. This is very unusual, I've never seen it. I can't imagine anything mechanical that could cause this.

I think it's time for a Michelin Rep to take a look.

Good luck,