Can I please enlist a bit of help with the bullshineometer as I am unsure on the story I have been given here... below are images of my two front tyres, both same make/style and fitted at the same time - and have done about 10,000 miles.

You can see that the offside one is badly worn on the inside edge, especially when compared to the nearside... and today I was told by a fitter that the tracking is spot-on, however my FL2 doesn’t have the adjustment necessary to prevent this wear, and it’s “probably something bent or worn like a spring or shock absorber... it’ll be cheaper changing the tyre than getting the issue fixed...”

Does that sound right? I am no expert here and not sure if that was just a bit of “closure time is 5 minutes from now so go away” type advice....

I took these photos on the phone twice, rotating 90 degrees for the second set and even then after applying the preview on the image rotating thingummy and being told the edit is saved and I can close the window, they still uploaded wrong, so I gave up trying... sorry if I have half the forum now nodding heads to one side reading this!!



 Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

I think you need a full 4 wheel alignment check to see if there is a camber or castor issue with front suspension.

These vehicles are prone to wearing to outside edges of front tyres, nearside moreso, due to pushing 2 tonnes round roundabouts etc, even when set up correctly.

Wearing on inside edge seems unusual and needs looking at Andy
Freelander2 HSE (59 Plate, MY10 spec)

Andy is spot on with his comments.

The FL2 naturally wears the front outside shoulder of tyre. Other than that, in my experience, overall tyre wear seems quite even between all 4 tyres.

Something is most likely bent or broken

Good old Google says --- Camber wear can be caused by: suspension misalignment, a bent strut, a dislocated strut tower, a weak or broken spring, a bent spindle, or collapsed or damaged control arm bushings. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

[quote="Deafender"] “probably something bent or worn ... .”

Agreed. FL2 are renown for wearing outside edges of the front tyres not the inner.
Definitely need a full suspension check IMO.

This site has always had issues with pic orientation - I just post them - given up trying to correct it.. Jules

Yes, my own experience of the FL2 is that the outside edges will wear on the front... and especially in my case as, outside of lock down, I head right across Milton Keynes 2-3 times a week, that’s 26 roundabouts per 46-mile round trip!!

I’ve put 110K of the 130K miles on this car and not had this before, so I know it’s something out of the ordinary... that fitter didn’t even mention Caster, which I had to look up - and now that I have, it looks likely caster and/or camber is indeed the issue... The articles I read also mentioned a not inconsiderable hit on the car’s fuel economy as a consequence... So I will go and get this investigated somewhere other than the place I was in yesterday.

I wonder what is bent or broken though... I’m sure I know the cause, the pot holes around here are getting outrageous!!

I’ll let you know what transpires... thank you for the advice, much appreciated! Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

If you don't want to frig about putting pictures into the gallery use this link. You will be able to post direct and it's free.
O
https://postimages.org MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

I was looking at my tyres (Wranglers) yesterday they were all new at the same time and now after 27k miles the rear ones have 4mm left and the front ones 5mm remaining ie the rears worn slightly more than the front. Wear patterns look OK ie even across the tyres. Anyone else noticed this sort of thing which is a bit surprising for a car that spends most of its time in front wheel drive? 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

I have not noticed additional wear to my rear tyres, but on my last FL2 I was surprised that my rear brake pads had to be replaced well before my front pads.

I did wonder at the time if the original owner had been a bit more aggressive on cornering than me, and had activated the auto-stabilisation, via the rear brakes, more than a few times. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Quote:

but on my last FL2 I was surprised that my rear brake pads had to be replaced well before my front pads.

That’s interesting as last time around, I had to have all four discs replaced, and they found that my front brake pads had outlasted the rear ones, yet they’d been changed at the same time... Whereas the front tyres (current issue aside) last a lot less than the rear... 5k miles less on the last set...

I’d like to think in my case it’s because of the combination of dual carriageway and roundabouts driving through Milton Keynes... plus with the roads quieter these days, the average speed (and associated braking!) is higher than before, but it’s not like I’m clinging on to the steering wheel at every one of the 26 roundabouts in a return journey... not every roundabout....  Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

The brakes in general are far too small for a car of the weight and height of the FL2. The rears in particular with electronic handbrake are tiny,

Replaced my rear pads last year - 35K miles - fronts still going strong. Jules

So, it turned out that the large bushes on both front lower suspension arms were shot, and that nothing else was bent/broken... so that's 130K miles of fair wear and tear, no complaints here - The Indie had both arms/bushes swapped out in under 2 hours today.

So, to the tyres. My indie suggested that rather than buy two more Pirellis at £250++ for the front, I put the rears onto the front, fronts to rear and replace the badly worn tyre - the other is nowhere near as bad and still MOT-friendly.

Saving £130+ just now is appealing, especially as this is more than a year earlier than planned for tyre replacement, but I am sure I have read somewhere that there is good reason (whatever that is) not to mix a partly worn and a new tyre on the same axle - even if they are the same Pirelli model.

Until The Indie suggested this today I wasn't even thinking this way and am not sure now - I wonder if I am kicking a £130 bill down the road to then trip over a bill much bigger and avoidable had I changed both tyres, whether on the front or rear...

... What say you? Change the one (I have to anyway) or both... Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

Both axles have open diffs - allowing wheels to rotate at different speeds as required when driving along a curve. Having one tyre slightly more worn than another (were talking a few mm) is unlikely to cause a problem IMO. However if the difference was huge (hypothetically speaking) then the ECUs might consider one wheel to be slipping since its rotating significantly more than the others and might invoke measure to stop slip eg haldex engagement and/or applying a brake - but the difference would have to be huge Id think.

There is probably someone on here than knows how much slip is required to set the car off.

How different are the tyre circumferences ? or remaining tread depth ? Jules

Quote:

How different are the tyre circumferences ? or remaining tread depth ?

Hi Jules,

That was what I hadn't properly been able to articulate, thanks for the explanation.

To answer your question, the three remaining tyres have 6.5mm tread left... the new one would be what, about 8 or 9 mm tread depth... so at most I think a 2.5 mm difference across the axle. Someone brighter than me will be able to work out the difference in circumference...

It doesn't sound like a lot of difference when looking at those figures based on 18-inch wheels... Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

I certainly wouldn't worry about it.