Tire Wear and Alignment

[Bcelect`]

My 2005 AWD Terraza wore out the tires at 14,000 miles. Of course the dealer blamed lack of rotation. This seems to be a common issue with these vehicles , especially since the tech told me that they can't keep tires on them. Is there a fix for this? Can a good alignment shop override the specs. and correct the problem, or do we need another class action lawsuit before GM realizes that they do have customers who expect a quality vehicle. Whatever happened to the "putting quality on the road campaign"?

[eurohazard]

Please explain "wore out". Is the wear even? Is it on the outside, inside, front or back only?

If the tire wear is even all the way around, you need to contact the tire manufacturer....they are under warranty, but it's not "GM's warranty).

[BigAls87Z28]

Is it just the front tires?
If its all 4, and they wore out in 14k, that is a milage warranty you must deal with from the tire maker, not GM.
If its the front tires, its your fault. Its a nose heavy mini van, an OE tire rated for 40k miles will wear out in 1/2 the time if you do not rotate them.
If they are worn out on the edge, featherd or cupped, you most likely have another issue that caused that to happen such as alignment or incorrect balancing or even a loose or broken suspension part.

[MrCritical]

Follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual for tire rotations. Check the air pressure at least twice a month.

If you didn't pay attention to the tire wear until they were worn out that's not GM's fault.

[tom3]

What brand tires? But yes, any decent alignment shop can check and correct the alignment to minimize tire wear to some extent. But OE tires are often just junk to start with.

[73ChevelleSS]

So how many times did you rotate the tires in 14k miles?I also would like to know what you mean by "worn out"?Are they all done to the wear bars?At a minimum your tires should of been rotated 2 times already.

[73ChevelleSS]

[quote=73ChevelleSS;1486281]So how many times did you rotate the tires in 14k miles?I also would like to know what you mean by "worn out"?Are they all done to the wear bars?At a minimum your tires should of been rotated 2 times already.It also is not a common problem.

[F14CRAZY]

Indeed I would like to know what type of wear is occurring.

And while I haven't seen the Terraza manual it probably does say to rotate every 7k or so miles. It's much more important to keep them rotated on an AWD vehicle because the viscous coupling between the front and rear diffs can only take so much difference...consider that in my Subaru's manual it says that all tires must have a circumference that's within 1/4''. Otherwise tires will begin to wear more rapidly along with your drivetrain

[SV6]

I had the same problem with GM over my 03 Vibe the tire where shot after 25,000km they tried to tell nme I did not rotate them that's when i said why are all 4 shot.GM later released a tsb about tire wear problem on the rear of the Vibe.

[Bcelect]

Ok, I cannot log in under Bcelect` so here I am as Bcelect. I reference to the tire wear issue, they should have been rotated at the first oil change, the dealer receipt dosen't show that it was done. The manual says the first rotation was the most important one. The tires were worn, evenly , almost bald, some cupping.. The continentals weren't very good. The replacement Yokohamas are better. Some wear, mostly from the front ones. The dealer tech. admitted to me that it is hard to keep tires on these vehicles. I asked just AWD's and he said no. I will be more vigilant in rotating from now on. The mileage was 19,866 when I was at the dealer, but come on, bald at less than 20k? I have seen other posts on another forum site where tire wear is a common issue.

[Bcelect]

Another issue whith the Terraza is the headlights dimming , just a flicker. Some other owners have complained that the lights dim so much that truckers think they are flashing them to come into their lane and they get cut off. Mine aren't that bad but they do dim, and the interior lights flicker. I was just at the dealer and presented that issue along with a TSB which should fix that. Actually there are 3, One to replace the Alternator, this didn't seem to help most owners. The second one was to replace the voltage regulator , this seemed to help, a third was to wrap some foil on a certain wire. The dealer couldn't duplicate the problem so he did nothing. He didn't drive the van at night either so, I don't know how he could have. The TSB is #05-06-03-003B. And C is the third one.
Now the vehicle went out of Warranty on June 15 and on Aug 10th my neighbor called and told us the Lights were on. The backup light never timed out after locking the vehicle at night. One another occasion my wife went to start it and the battery was drained. The exterior lights were intermittantly staying on . I asked her to make sure they go off and, if not, then unlock and relock it. This went on for a week and once she couldn't tell with the sunlight and guess what, the battery was drained when she got out of work. I de programmed the exterior light feedback option and made an appointment with the dealer. He was going to do a good faith warranty service for maybe 1-2 hour of labor to troubleshoot and repair, splitting the cost. turns out he found a TSB to reflash the BCM and didn't charge me a dime. I asked if he could do the voltage regulator to no avail. I would have paid for half that in a heartbeat. I cant help to wonder if the regulator issue caused the lights staying on and what other problems are coming down the road.

[73ChevelleSS]

Originally Posted by Bcelect

Ok, I cannot log in under Bcelect` so here I am as Bcelect. I reference to the tire wear issue, they should have been rotated at the first oil change, the dealer receipt dosen't show that it was done. The manual says the first rotation was the most important one. The tires were worn, evenly , almost bald, some cupping.. The continentals weren't very good. The replacement Yokohamas are better. Some wear, mostly from the front ones. The dealer tech. admitted to me that it is hard to keep tires on these vehicles. I asked just AWD's and he said no. I will be more vigilant in rotating from now on. The mileage was 19,866 when I was at the dealer, but come on, bald at less than 20k? I have seen other posts on another forum site where tire wear is a common issue.

So basically you never did a rotate in 19k miles.Tires should be rotated ever 5-7k miles and tire pressure checked monthly.

[dkatnik]

Just a couple tips: Most OE tires offer no specific mileage warranty from the manufacturer. Factory alignment specs generally have more to do with tracking & stability @ speed than maximizing tire wear. In many cases, OE tires are not the tire manufacturers highest quality offerings, but rather a well rounded product that will perform in all environments. The first rotation IS the most important but few people really know why. A true tire professional will recomend the MOST appropriate product to fit your needs.