MickJo 0 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 My 2010 2.2diesel Rav 4 passed its MOT today. The only matter on Safety Sheet of note is that both rear tyres have worn more on the inside than the outside. ROS is Outer 5.3mm, Middle 4.7mm and Inner 3.5mm. The RNS is Outer 5.6mm, Middle 5.1mm and Inner 4.6mm. As can be seen the ROS has worn at a taper of 1.8mm across the width and the RNS has worn by a 1mm. taper. Both wheels are leaning inwards at the top. albeit only by a fraction. As far as I am aware the suspension is not damaged. Equally I don't think that there is any means of adjustment on the suspension. Has anyone any ideas, or can this be classed as normal wear? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roger_37 14 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 you need to get 4 wheel alinement done, soon sort the problem. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RAV4-D4D 5 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 If the wear is the same on each side (just mirrored) then chances are it's normal. Just look at the rear wheels of a BMW X5 to see extreme and perfectly normal camber. How many miles have the tyres done from new and what sort of mix of urban/motorway do you do? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roadster-rav 23 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Tyre wear is the result of so many factors that its pointless to guess. If the mileage that you get is reasonable then its probably not worth investing in rectification on a vehicle that is more than ten years old because you won't know if there is any improvement for 1000s of miles and on new tyres. If you actually have negative camber when static and not loaded its likely that springs and shock absorbers are tired but rebuilding rear suspension with new parts ( including soft bushes etc. ) would not be worth it unless you are sure that you will keep the car for another ten years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BobbyMcLeish 26 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I had the exact same issue on my two rear tyres. I had Toyota and a independent check alignment, geometry etc and they both found nothing wrong. Uneven wear on both tyres were almost identical, especially in the middle tread area. I did not visibly notice this, I became aware of a possible issue because I started to hear a noise from the rear of the car. I had both tyres replaced by Toyota (tyre match promise) and the noise immediately went. Nobody could really explain this, so I'm going to monitor this in future. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Terry10 10 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Hi Going over single speed bumps by bridging them is problem causing that!!! with a wider track vehicle such as the rav4 it is the easy option to straddle them. I am as guilty of this as anyone but you will pay the price in tyre wear. regards Terry. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyHSD 795 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Definitely an alignment issue or suspension problems, sometimes is better to visit a specialist suspension and all wheel alignment garages instead of main dealers, I have seen many RAV4 s with wrong rear wheels alignment, that bad you can notice while driving behind or next to them. Cars with independent rear suspension should be check for alignment every 2 years or more often if covered over 10k miles per year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MickJo 0 Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Can I first thank all those who have given their advice and comments. which much appreciated. I will continue with the following thoughts. The shock absorbers were replaced about 2 years ago. I have discounted them as a problem as they only affect the ride, not the ride height. The springs are original and are something to look at later in the year. A point here. What is the ride height and at what point on the bodywork is it measured? Neither the upper or lower control arms are adjustable. As the inner ( near the centre-line of the chassis) upper and lower control arm fixing bolts appear to be the same distance apart as the outer (at the wheel hub) fixing bolts, both the control arms act together like a pantograph as the wheel moves up and down. This means that as the wheel moves up and down the vertical plane of the wheel does not change, it always stays at the same angle in relation to the car body. This is obviously the original factory setting. If the wheel is out of camber then the only means of adjustment is (1) replace the upper control arm with an aftermarket adjustable one, which are available but to be honest look flimsy,( Yes, they only hold the weight of the wheel in place, BUT they also hold up 1,500 kg of car as well.) and (2) pack out the hub to hub-carrier with washers or shims, which sounds a dangerous idea!. ( have seen comments that this can be done !!) I'm not going down either of these routes. The only other available adjustment is to the toe-in or toe-out by way of the tie rod. Mine appear to be the infamous ones epoxied to stop movement. I am assuming here that the rear wheels should run perfectly in line without any toe in or toe out. At the end of the day I am not trying to set it up to corner like a Porche, just to run straight and well. There is a final problem. There is an inch of snow outside, it's below freezing and I'm shielding due to Covid 19. This is all going to have to wait. Again, thanks to all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bonjo 0 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 as roger said you should have a 4 whell alignment. I would be surprised if the rear suspension is not adjustable. As a minimum, the camber adjustment should be possible Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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