Signs of a bent rear beam?

[Ecocharge]

What are some of the signs to look for visually to tell if a rear beam is bent, besdies the obvoius one wheel sitting further ahead or back than the opposite side? Trying to diagnose some weird tire wear, centers seem to be wearing much faster on one side compared to the other even though all tires are at 32 psi. Overinflation should not be a problem here. So I am wondering if something suspension related is going on or if the inbred hicks at the tire place just did a ♠♠♠♠tastic allignment

[BLAZIN07SS]

the center of the tire is wearing? very odd...

[USMCFieldMP]

I don't know that any sort of alignment should make a center strip wear out faster than the rest. It might just be the tire though. Tire factories pump out a ton of tires every day (We build BIG truck/SUV tires which take longer to build, and we still pump out about 25,000/day). Could have just got a slightly different mix of rubber causing that tire to wear abnormally.

Have you tried rotating the tires around to see if the wear follows that tire... or if it stays in that location?

[BlackBaltSw]

Is it an 04 ion? Because a buddy of mine has an 04 ion with that issue. Torsion beam is way out of wack.

[Ecocharge]

I don't know that any sort of alignment should make a center strip wear out faster than the rest. It might just be the tire though. Tire factories pump out a ton of tires every day (We build BIG truck/SUV tires which take longer to build, and we still pump out about 25,000/day). Could have just got a slightly different mix of rubber causing that tire to wear abnormally.

Have you tried rotating the tires around to see if the wear follows that tire... or if it stays in that location?

I have rotated them from front to rear, but never swapped sides since they are directional (Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s). The tires are pretty much shot, but the front passenger side tire is showing quite a bit more wear than the passenger rear since around 4K miles since the last rotation.

Could driving in lower temperatures on sumer tires have caused this? I have driven the car in below freezing temps at times as long as it was dry out

Is it an 04 ion? Because a buddy of mine has an 04 ion with that issue. Torsion beam is way out of wack.

Nope, 05. What do you mean by out of wack? Is it even possible to adjust? Or was is it just screwed up from the beginning?

Is there anything I can check to make sure everything is ok?

[USMCFieldMP]

A proper alignment check from somewhere reputable with results on a sheet.

[Steddy]

The rear beam really isn't "adjustable"

It moves as one unit

So an alignment machine would tell you real quick...have you hit ♠♠♠♠?

[Witt]

Weird tire wear can be a fubared wheel bearing.

[Ecocharge]

The rear beam really isn't "adjustable"

It moves as one unit

So an alignment machine would tell you real quick...have you hit ♠♠♠♠?

Nope

I need to find a good place to go to and have it alligned, then have the rear checked out

Weird tire wear can be a fubared wheel bearing.

I have thought for a while that I had a bad bearing on it due to a loud howling while driving, but it seems to be from the tires. I jakced the car up and tried to rock the tires back and forth, but didn't see any movement. Could a bearing still be bad on these cars wihout showing the usual tell tale signs?

[qwikredline]

yes bearings that are sealed often dont rock much but whine .

[Ecocharge]

I'll jack it up this weekend and rotate the fronts to see if I can hear anything. I probably need to check the rest of the front suspension while I am at it

[Ecocharge]

Just for giggles I priced out a new wheel bearing, I figured maybe $150 or so. Dealer wants $350, ugh MFer.

I took the car out today and payed attention to it while driving, and it sounds like there is a rumble at times from the front passenger side. Besides the shaking the tire and wheel back and forth test, are there anything other tests I can do to try and pinpoint to a bad wheel bearing? I don't feel like spending $350 on a BS part like this as it is, but I'd really be ticked to buy it and it not change anything

[USMCFieldMP]

Dealer wants $350

I bolded and underlined your problem.

[Ecocharge]

Ok, I am in the middle of looking at it right now. All of the bushings, LCAs, tie rod, sway bar, and end links all look fine. So I tried shaking the front tires in and out on both sides for play, and no movement there. When I rotate the wheels by hand, the drivers side has a little less resistance and rotates a little more freely than the passenger side. Not much difference between the to really stand out though. Is this due to the fact that the drivers side has a shorter axle than the passenger side? Or should both sides rotate equally? Other than this, everything else seemed fine from what I could tell. IMO, it seems like this is somehow suspension related, but I can't figure out what it is

[billabong9687]

usually if the centor of the tire only wears it could be too mch tire pressure

[Ecocharge]

usually if the centor of the tire only wears it could be too mch tire pressure

I have only kept 32 the reccomended psi in them since I had them.


I went ahead and took off all 4 wheels and tires and looked at them. The centers are showing the most wear on all 4 tires, with the wear on the outer edges not really far behind. The passenger side does have noticeably more wear in the centers though. On all 4 there is a good amonut of tread left on the inside of the tires, easily and 1/8", while the centers are very lucky to have 1/32" left.

I don't know if this means anything or not to provide any info, but the last time I rotated the tires they rumbled really bad while driving. I had to swap them back to the original locations for the noise to stop. I had to have all 4 balanced before I could rotate them.


I don't know if faster center and outer tire wear typical or lower profile tires, but it is starting to make me this this is more related to a piss poor allignment or a junk set of tires. What do you all think?

[USMCFieldMP]

As said previously... could just be the tires themselves.

Have you searched Google to see if anyone else is having this problem? Maybe check to see if has Goodyear has a warranty on them. I know we at Cooper warranty a large majority of our tires for a certain amount of mileage. If the shop can show that the tires are properly inflated and the alignment is in spec, you could get some replacement tires out of the deal.

[!G!11]

most of the time to see if a bearing is bad you can jack it up and spin the tire while having your hand on the spring...most of the time the grinding from the bearing can be felt through the spring

[billabong9687]

how often do you rotate you tires? lack of rotation will cause chopping......and cause rumbling.

[Ecocharge]

As said previously... could just be the tires themselves.

Have you searched Google to see if anyone else is having this problem? Maybe check to see if has Goodyear has a warranty on them. I know we at Cooper warranty a large majority of our tires for a certain amount of mileage. If the shop can show that the tires are properly inflated and the alignment is in spec, you could get some replacement tires out of the deal.

If the allignment shows to be in range, the tires themselves have to be the only reason. Everything suspension wise seems to be fine

Yup, nothing spefic to what I have going on with these. Goodyear has no warranty on the Eagle F1 GSD3s, and it be hard to prove any kind of manufacturing defect in them if there was any. I just want to make sure I eliminate all possible scenarios that could cause this and take care it before I put on new tires.

most of the time to see if a bearing is bad you can jack it up and spin the tire while having your hand on the spring...most of the time the grinding from the bearing can be felt through the spring

I saw that while googling, and I could not feel any vibrations through the springs. So I guess that eliminates the bearings

how often do you rotate you tires? lack of rotation will cause chopping......and cause rumbling.

Every 5K to 6K or so