Grooved & Flat

[Blobcat]

The above two pictures are from the front offside of my W211, this tyre along with the other 3 covered 21,555 miles until this one went flat. You can just see a small section which has lifted on the first picture this is where the air leaked.

These tyres are 245x45x17 and the groove is right on the inside shoulder. The front nearside had a similar although slightly smaller grove in the shoulder. I can see no evidence of rubbing and the wheels are original fitment Mercedes and the tyres are MO spec to original size. I had my dealership look at this during the crankshaft sensor recall and they did a 4 wheel laser alignment check and found that the front camber was quite a long way out. 4 new bolts required to correct the error and now it tracks better and there is less drifting to the left than previous. I have replaced the 2 damaged ones with the rears and fitted 2 new Goodyear NCT5 MO spec tyres to the rear (£246.75 all in)

On full lock I couldn't see the groove it was only when the tyre went flat and I took it off to look for a puncture did I find the fault. As you can see there is plenty of tread left on the main part of the tyre which is why I had missed the potentially dangerous groove being worn on the inside. I have never curbed mine and am very careful around "traffic calming" measures so not sure how the camber change happened.

If you have a Mercedes with wide tyres pls take a good look at them next time you wash the car.

 

[rf065]

Are you certain they are the right size tyres?
On this site it reckons 235/45 for 17" wheels, which would have a slightly smaller diameter, it is an US site though.

Russ

 

[Blobcat]

Are you certain they are the right size tyres?
On this site it reckons 235/45 for 17" wheels, which would have a slightly smaller diameter, it is an US site though.

Russ

Yes, Code 674 8.5J x 17 (245/45), only available with Sports Suspension (mine has) or airmatic

 

[television]

You can see that the rubber is separating, probably due to the incorrect camber angle and the extra loading that taken place, I can only dream of getting 21,550 miles out of an SL

 

[Xtractorfan]

Its certainly a mystery, have you checked the new tyres that you have now fitted for similar occurences..failing that.. I would ask.. have you ever had cause to have tyres, punctures checked, someone may have changed a tyre..like for like and taken your good tyre hoping you would never notice.. strange things happen in tyre depots.. and in garages generally

 

[roofless]

had a serch as i had seen this here in the past. might not help but you are not the only one with a w211 with odd prob's http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=40341&highlight=strange+tyre

 

[Xtractorfan]

Blobcat you werent waggers in another life? I thot it was the same thread reposted..

 

[roofless]

same model & make & size of tyre but waggers had one osr & one nsf ?

 

[jberks]

Interesting. I also run 245/45/17's on my 211.
Mine does tend to wear the inner edges of the rear tyres, though it's never delaminated them. I've always assumed it was down to the 'sporty' camber and increased the pressures a bit to compensate, but I will watch the inner sidewalls more carefully now.
That said, they've never lasted beyond around 17k so maybe they've worn out before the issue has taken hold. - People running Michelin - be warned!!.

 

[brandwooddixon]

If the groove is on the inside of the tyre then it's possible that they are either rubbing against something on the chassis when on full lock or are rubbing against the suspension components.

Having the wheels aligned correctly probably wont stop it. Changes to wheel camber may, but most likely to do with rim width and offset. It may even be down to the steering lock stops requiring adjustment.

Its best to check whilst the suspension is under load (use a lift or park on ramps) or crawl under with wheels on full lock (turn the engine off to save wear on the steering pump).

If you can see anything within a finger width of the tyre then it's probably rubbing there. If you are uncertain then stick a pice of paper over the item. Drive the car and check for rubbing afterwards.

 

[Blobcat]

I know this is an old thread of mine but today my car has failed it's MOT for a repeat of the problem I described above even down to the same wheel (OSF). The tyre looks almost unworn apart from the groove running around the inner shoulder and in one area it has de-laminated over ~1".

Now as it had the camber setup last time, I've been told that the bolts (washers) only have so much adjustment built in so if it requires further adjustment in the same plane then it cannot be done and suspension components will require changing. This sounds expensive and with only 81K miles and last adjusted at 49.5K miles I'm surprised and upset that this has happened again. I am very careful on "traffic calming" measures so confused as to how this fault has repeated itself.


Unfortunately a new tyre and new tracking isn't it's only problem at the moment. It's going to be expensive :cry:

 

[dieselman]

That definitely looks like a camber issue. Check the front track control bushes are OK and as your car has airmatic check the ride height as that will affect camber.

Wide tyres will exacerbate any problem due to additional drag and a greater conical skew if the alignment is not perfect.

You can check camber with a spirit level and tape measure or a plumb bob.

 

[Blobcat]

No airmatic, just Avantgarde and Sports Suspension and the tyres are standard for the Avantgarde 320.

 

[dieselman]

Ah, no air. Still check the ride height and camber as the springs have probably sagged.

The more wear and negatives I see on wide tyres, the less inclined I am to have them. They do nothing better, except stay a little cooler.

 

[Blobcat]

Ah, no air. Still check the ride height and camber as the springs have probably sagged.

The more wear and negatives I see on wide tyres, the less inclined I am to have them. They do nothing better, except stay a little cooler.

I agree, I was more than happy with the 215 x 55 x 16R tyres on my previous E320 CDI.

 

[Colt45_GTO]

is there no tell tail rubbing anywhere at all? usually camber related issues normally just bald 1/2 of the tyre if the same problem exists of the original pics it looks more like they have been rubbing on something solid.

these are both on the rear or both on the same side?

 

[Blobcat]

is there no tell tail rubbing anywhere at all? usually camber related issues normally just bald 1/2 of the tyre if the same problem exists of the original pics it looks more like they have been rubbing on something solid.

these are both on the rear or both on the same side?

Both on the front, and not rubbing on anything. Waggers (in the link) had exactly the same issue on his 320CDI. I do wonder if it is partly because I'm getting such great mileage from my tyres that it highlights the issue.

28K first Set
21.5K second pair (because of grooving issue above)
35K Third pair
31.5K this tyre

Last time I jacked the car up and spun the wheels in all possible steering angles looking at what (under load) the tyre could possibly be catching on and also to see if anything was polished. It came back clear on everything other than the camber being out of whack.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Obviously if the camber is out then things need fixing. There are many things that can effect the camber, but I don't think that a wear pattern like that is necessarily camber as I'd expect it to be more even and over more of the tyre.

I would still go with the rubbing issue.

If it's not immediately obvious then I'd check for areas that may only rub under dynamic conditions, such as with the suspension being exercised and the steering turned.

Don't just check the bodywork, could the front springs be weakened and bulge out during cornering (although if similar to the W210 I suspect not as the springs are too short) how about the suspension top arm, that would be in about the right place to rub there.

If it is rubbing then whatever is doing it would be very polished by now.

 

[sailorjim]

Just a thought - doesn't the parking brake release cable go through there somewhere?

 

[Blobcat]

Just a thought - doesn't the parking brake release cable go through there somewhere?

Parking brake on the back, these tyres were/are on the front.