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[bluey]

First post, and I have a feeling readers may agree with the title somehow..... 

I had a bit of a sudden deflation in my front o/s tyre yesterday, thankfully at only 20mph and on a deserted road so there was no panic or heart-stopping danger this time.  I removed the wheel to be confronted with this:



Just in case you want to wince a bit more:



Having read some of the info on here I think this rather nasty way to destroy a Pirelli 6000 has come about from a number of things.

[olist]

• Front springs replaced 2 years ago and the camber not set up correctly afterwards so that the inner shoulder has been rubbing against the bottom of the strut
• Lower arms replaced with cheap ebay things about the same time
• Alignment subsequently done by someone in a tyre fitters who wasn't as knowledgeable about Vauxhalls as I was led to believe
[/olist]

The wheels have for some time looked like they had excessive camber to me but the chap who did the alignment on them told me they were in tolerance according to manufacturer's settings.  Driving the car has been less than a joy for a while as it was wandering quite badly, the steering was pulling occasionally and when steering right round a traffic island for example the inside front tyre would squeal at quite modest speeds. 

I think it's pretty much a given that the lower arm needs changing, and I would prefer to do both as the n/s tyre is also wearing on the inner shoulder quite heavily too.  The bit that worries me is the setting up of the camber properly, because if mine is already a mile off acceptable then somehow I have to get it closer to correct before crawling over to a local WIM (there's one about 10 miles away in Oldbury thankfully).

I'd be surprised if this is the worst example of poor suspension setup anyone has ever seen, but it's not nice and badly needs a good sorting with a number of new bits plus very careful work to make sure the problems don't come back.  Any thoughts?

[Brikhead]

Surely if the tyre was rubbing on the strut then you would have heard it?

[Iain]

Deary deary me! I'm so glad you were not on the motorway

This is one of those posts that reminds us ALL, tyres should be thoroughly checked on a weekly basis.

[Abiton]

Moral of the story: If you own or maintain an Omega, park it with the steering on full lock at least once a month so you see this sort of thing early.

Thank crunchie the sudden deflation happened under such benign circumstances. 

[dbr]

First post, and I have a feeling readers may agree with the title somehow..... 

I had a bit of a sudden deflation in my front o/s tyre yesterday, thankfully at only 20mph and on a deserted road so there was no panic or heart-stopping danger this time.  I removed the wheel to be confronted with this:



Just in case you want to wince a bit more:



Having read some of the info on here I think this rather nasty way to destroy a Pirelli 6000 has come about from a number of things.

[olist]

• Front springs replaced 2 years ago and the camber not set up correctly afterwards so that the inner shoulder has been rubbing against the bottom of the strut
• Lower arms replaced with cheap ebay things about the same time
• Alignment subsequently done by someone in a tyre fitters who wasn't as knowledgeable about Vauxhalls as I was led to believe
[/olist]

The wheels have for some time looked like they had excessive camber to me but the chap who did the alignment on them told me they were in tolerance according to manufacturer's settings.  Driving the car has been less than a joy for a while as it was wandering quite badly, the steering was pulling occasionally and when steering right round a traffic island for example the inside front tyre would squeal at quite modest speeds. 

I think it's pretty much a given that the lower arm needs changing, and I would prefer to do both as the n/s tyre is also wearing on the inner shoulder quite heavily too.  The bit that worries me is the setting up of the camber properly, because if mine is already a mile off acceptable then somehow I have to get it closer to correct before crawling over to a local WIM (there's one about 10 miles away in Oldbury thankfully).

I'd be surprised if this is the worst example of poor suspension setup anyone has ever seen, but it's not nice and badly needs a good sorting with a number of new bits plus very careful work to make sure the problems don't come back.  Any thoughts?

Had same wear last year and it was the arms.. luckily mine did not deflate

[Iain]

In fact the more I think about this,

No offence intended to you my friend but the reality is that this tyre should never have been on the car. Basic maintenance should have removed it long ago.

Good thing though is no one was hurt because of it

[bluey]

Obviously I hold my hands up to it getting into that state in the first place.  It's a very good example of why tyres should be checked every week and I should know better seeing as I've had a licence for a long time and check the tyres on the bike very carefully before I even think about taking it out.  My job and other things mean I only use local roads (for local people  ) so thankfully being on the motorway was never going to happen, but all the same I'm going to be a lot more paranoid about the tyres from now.

I read on here that other owners are all swearing by these Lemforder lower arms so I will be seeing about getting a pair in the next couple of weeks.  The car won't be used now until the end of September anyway so it can sit on the drive and get a decent wash and wax while I mug up on what to do and get the bits together.

[aaronjb]

Allgermanparts are offering a 10% discount over the bank holiday weekend, so might be worth buying now if you can afford it:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283075098/1#1

Discount code:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283075098/4#4

[bluey]

Surely if the tyre was rubbing on the strut then you would have heard it?

That's what I thought but I never did.  The inner wear is so severe it makes me think that's what has been happening but with no obvious noice or drag could it be from something else, or just a case of the shoulder wear being so bad it cut this groove from normal driving?

[bluey]

Allgermanparts are offering a 10% discount over the bank holiday weekend, so might be worth buying now if you can afford it:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283075098/1#1

Discount code:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283075098/4#4

I'm on a bit of tight budget I'm afraid so I'll have to forego the generous offer they made for now, but I will be in touch with them for sure.  I keep mis-calling the lower arms maker Leerdammer, which sounds a bit cheesy! 

[aaronjb]

  When you order, please do it by phone.. and then post the conversation here 

"Hello, yes, I'd like to order some of those Leerdammer lower arms, please"

Although given how fast some of the eBay-special arms are reported to fail, maybe you've just discovered what the bushes are made of! 

[Andy H]

Surely if the tyre was rubbing on the strut then you would have heard it?

That's what I thought but I never did.  The inner wear is so severe it makes me think that's what has been happening but with no obvious noice or drag could it be from something else, or just a case of the shoulder wear being so bad it cut this groove from normal driving?

I don't think that there is enough range of movement on the camber adjustment to allow standard size tyres to contact the strut.

What size tyre is fitted? Is there any damage to the spring seat?

I think you will find that excessive negative camber combined with toe out and soft wishbone bushes has caused the tyre wear. Once the canvas was weakened the tyre may have bulged out and contacted the strut as a side effect of the main failure.

[aaronjb]

I think you will find that excessive negative camber combined with toe out and soft wishbone bushes has caused the tyre wear.

I'd go with that, too - as soon as the outer rubber wore down thin enough it will have just peeled the remainder off.. the canvas follows very quickly after that (along with the tyre inner if you don't stop, obviously!)

[Mr Skrunts]

If there was/is contact with the strut  then there will be a nice shiny patch.

Had the same problems coming home at 3am in the eain one morning, just nipped into a petrol station to top up, 3 yards later a N/S/F flat.  lot worse that yours  but proably brought on very quickly by a high speed run on the way to my mates.  Had bits of the wore belting sticking out as well.

Cant reme if it was the wish bone or TRE that was at fault, was on my Carlton Diplomat.

[bluey]

The tyres on the car are 225/55 R16 on standard  7-spoke alloys, which were the same size when I bought it and I hope are the correct ones?  The strut doesn't appear to have any real signs of the tyre rubbing on it, the paint is still there along with the usual muck off the road, so bang goes my theory on that one.