2005 Tribute V6 with 14,000 miles...yep, 14,000.

Left front tire is wearing on the inside tread badly, right front tire wearing slightly more on the inside tread than outside (probably camber).

1. I checked that the front wheels are in line with rear wheels, and both sides are pretty much perfect; so each side is rolling in line front to back.

2. I then checked toe; the result was that the left front tire was toe out about 3/16".

Here's the problem, if I angle the tire in 3/16" for a correct toe, won't that screw up the front tire rolling in line with the back tire?

Camber may be off to, but I definitely have a toe issue..speaking of camber, how do I, or is it even possible to, set the camber on this Tribute?

 

Sounds like too much toe out.

No you cant adjust camber but thats not your problem.

 

why not spend the $$ and get a proper wheel alignment done i replaced my steering rack last week first thing into tyre place for wheel alignment front and rear found that my rears were out by a large margin considering that end had not been touched

 

1. Rear tires are wearing perfectly; so no issue there.
2. Alignment costs ~$150
3. You can align it yourself and get pretty dang close to perfect.
4. Junky, 12 year old, factory tires.
5. I plan to align it myself, move the rear tires to the front, monitor the wear and make further alignment adjustments if needed before I buy new tires.
and
6. I'm a member of the Ron Swanson school of thought "People who buy things are suckers".

 

I feared that...searching the web, ZERO results on setting camber on a Tribute...Camber kits is all I could find...nice work Mazda/Ford.

 

Camber angle stays pretty much good unless you bend a strut, spindal or incur frame damage. Toe is the most aggressive tire wear setting when it's off. "String Alignment" is good for getting you to a shop to have an alignment done. After 30+ years, I can get them real close by eye comparison to the rear, but it's not perfect. Your not buying a "thing", your paying for a service. Rear toe can be out and not show wear, but will change thrust angle and throw front toe out. If you get a discount on tires, then who am I to judge. Carry on.

 

I use a laser lever to check the front to back alignment; very precise.

I use the laser and a tape measure to check toe; also amazingly precise.

With 16mpg in the city, this car only rolls about ~2000 miles per year; my tires dry rot before they wear out. So getting the alignment "close" will get me by just fine without having to pay for the service.

I'm proud to say that in ~40 years of driving, I've never paid for a car repair. I buy good cars, take exceptional care of them and teach myself to do whatever needs to be done...and I've done it all from piston rings, brakes, suspension parts, just about everything...never a transmission though...I'd probably just sell the car if the trans failed.

I jsut found it odd that the tires are in line front to back, yet a toe out situation exists; Ford quality I guess...I bought this because it was a super bargain...Normally, I never buy Ford, Chevy, Dodge because of these odd problems...Toyota, Hyundai, Honda...never have the issues I'm having with this Mazda/Ford product. I put 160,000 miles on a Hyundai, new joints at ~100k, home align, tires wore perfect that entire 160k journey...Mazda is out of align FROM THE FACTORY and ruins a tire in 14k miles...embarrassing!

 

Have you checked that the track is the same at front and rear? If not (and it often isn't by design), having the tires in line won't give you zero toe.

Quite possible that the front has had a bump that has knocked the alignment out at some point in the 12yrs since the factory...

 

When Toe settings range from 0.5mm to 1mm, how can you measure that with your eyes?

Who quoted you $150 for a Wheel alignment? That's an absolute rip off.

At my Mazda dealership we charge $66 for Wheel alignments.