2009 Scion XB 90,000 miles. I was getting a lot of road noise, so I took it in. I was told that I had uneven wear on my rear tire, I had the tire replaced. They further said to prevent it from happening again I should have a rear alignment, I took it in and I was told that there is nothing to align in the rear. I am concerned that someone is giving me misinformation.
No alignment. There is a solid bar across the rear with the mounting plates for the wheel bearing assembly and brakes welded to the ends. If this gets knocked out of alignment from a road obstacle or curb strike, the whole thing has to be replaced.
If you have your tires rotated on a regular basis, you might need a front end alignment as the tire could have developed the abnormal wear pattern while on the front.
If the uneven wear was a cupping pattern, then you might need new shocks/struts on the rear. That would be the more likely scenario as cupping usually makes a lot of noise where uneven wear due to alignment doesn’t normally make noise, at least not as much noise.
Here’s a drawing for you.
Have a dealer inspect your Scion. They have had some problems with the rear axle mounting and broken springs…The rear axle carrier bushings and their mounting bolts need close inspection…