My left front tire wears on the inside and develops vibration and a pull to the left. I had the alignment checked and it’s fine. A Discount Tire rep said that I need to upgrade to T rated tires. I don’t believe this. Could I have strut and/or shock problems?
Who checked the alignment? This certainly sounds like an alignment problem as the 1st thing to suspect.
Have you rotated tires? Does whichever tire you put on this wheel wear unevenly? If you are not rotating perhaps it is a defective tire?
At this point I’d go to look for another opinion on your tire problem.
Wear on the inside edge of a tire usually means an alignment problem; too much toe-out or too much negative camber.
Either the alignment is out due to suspension settling/wear or there is something tweaked in the suspension. (bent due to a collision, large pothole, etc.)
Would these happen to be Continental tires?
What the discount tire rep said is incorrect. Tire speed ratings only establish maximum sustained speed at which the tire will run without self-detructing. They have no bearing on smoothness or wear abnormalities at normal speeds.
You need to have the chassis fully checked out. Yes, you could have strut problems (Camrys don’t have shocks). You could (and likely do) also have some worn out suspension components. Alignment is actually affected by the forces on the wheels when rolling at speeds, and worn components can cause the alignment to be out enough to cause abnormal wear.
Post back and let us know what the chassis shop finds.
Thank you for the response. Would that apply to one side of the front end and not the other?
Thank you so much. I have a reliable mechanic that checked the alignment. He may have overlooked the remaining suspension components. I’ll ask him to do a more thorough evaluation and let you know what I learn.
An added thought: have him check the brakes too. A dragging brake could cause these symptoms.
I’ll put it on the list. Would the car be averaging 30 mpg city if a brake is dragging?
Not likely. But it’s worth getting checked anyway. All he needs to do is spin the wheels by hand when he lifts the car. If a brake is dragging he’ll feel it.
Yes, one front wheel can be out of alignment and the other three ok. I concur with OK4450’s post. Worn suspension components may be a possibility but it is more likely that a deep pothole or bump was hit with the brakes heavily applied or else a parking curb was hit too hard to bend your left front wheel’s suspension components out of alignment.