Even if it were physically possible, being a change to the original spec, you'd also have to inform your insurance of it. No prizes for guessing what that usually means!

 

I would be hugely surprised if that was the case; it certainly isn't the case here in the U.S. or in Germany for that matter. The fact is, folks "Minus 1" yearly in much of the world where snow falls as those make for the best winter tires.

Said another way, I'd bet Dollars to Donuts (or more appropriately Pounds to Peanuts) that insurance companies in the UK don't care one wit what wheel/tire size is on the car so long as the overall width and diameter isn't radically different from the OEM tire (which in this case is irrelevant as the width and diameter would remain virtually identical).

 

Hi, as reported a few posts ago, my regular service reported worn bushes on the front lower arms. The garage warned me that tyre wear was excessive, which i just put down to the Mazda5, however was shocked when i felt around the back of one part of the tyre, then took the offending wheel off. See attached. The tyre actually goes concave just before it reaches the shoulder. :O

About 30cm of the tyre inside edge is down to the wires, but most of the tyre is like you'd expect for this car. The second photo shows the wear, where the tyre used to be on the back, but due to low wear there, wass moved to the front about a year ago, so has now served two years or 17k miles service.

If the bushes have caused this very odd tyre wear, then i'll be happy to replace this tyre. Needlesstosay until i get the car fixed and tyre replaced (6 days from now), i'm using the spare at under 50mph.

Thanks, Tony

 

I'm looking to get the best alignment done I can, to try and crack the front inside-edge tyre wear. My previous two alignments didn't fix it, and I'm guessing this was down to poor equipment or poor labour so I'm not going to that place again.

Is there any reason to pay extra for a 4 wheel alignment? - It's not my rears that are the problem?

I don't have a local garage that I trust, so was thinking of just taking it to kwikfit and getting the front alignment done. They only charge £30. I also saw an advert for an independent BMW specialist that claim to do very precise alignments, but cost £110.

Any thoughts/suggestions gratefully received

 

Hi,
I know it costs more but if I were you I would go for the 4 wheel alignment. I paid £80 a few years ago so £110 sounds in the right ballpark. Make sure they give you a print out of the design, before and after readings.

 

I had the fronts wear to the steel on the inside corners (and the backs) and had a blow out on the M5 about a year ago. I had a local tyre and exhaust place plus the best body repair specialist in town check the alignments. Both print-outs were posted on this site. Both results were within the manufacturers recommended setting (almost spot on) Both garages refused to make any changes which could have made them liable, I suppose if an accident was attributed to the changes made. They didn't charge me anything. Only if they were going to make some changes.

Excuse me gloating... I've solved my problem. I dont have to worry any more, tinkering around with tyre pressures, clambering around under the car looking at the insides of tyres, being told un-truths by garages. I sold it about 10 months ago. I've had 3 Mazda's and this was my last. Never again. Good luck.

 

I've found a local place that has this 'Hunter' 4 wheel alignment equipment from this site: Welcome to Align My Car.

I'll take it there and hope.

 

4 wheel alignment won't solve the problem. Had this done about 6-7K ago, and guess what, excessive wear on the inner edges. They did need to adjust the settings as well, but I would expect a lot more scrubbing and surface wear other than inner edges if it was the main issue.
You need a full geometry check, which I have been told I need to cure the issue.

Interestingly, I was told by my garage sevral things. The main one being that if you highlight the issue in the first 4 months or 3000 miles Mazda accept a problem. I did ask them why they didn't highlight the issue then as an ex demo car, which spent the first 6 months with them? It also had new tyres at 5K on the front, which clearly shows an issue they knew about, yet still knowingly sold the car.

They still insist I pay for the geometry check, as I haven't acted quick enough. Funny that we have been discussing it every service since the first year, and it's now the third one!!!!!

They have now decided that they will give me a free geometry check if I buy 4 tyres from them. It will only cost me about £15 more to get them from the garage, so I will go ahead and report back on wear in a few months. Not holding out any hopes, but obviously they have now recognised an issue, so I am one step towards proving there is a problem, and they need to address it FOC. Until now they wanted me to pay for it.
The reply was if they want me to go elsewhere with my business, carry on thinking that!

They have advised that the car needs to have extra load tyres, and not having them would also cause the issue. Pretty sure it wouldn't! But having checked, my Falkens, which apart from the wear issue, have been great. 93Y XL rated to boot, so that destroys their theory.

 

Can you please explain the difference between a full geometry check and a 4 wheel alignment? Thanks.

I had a 4 wheel alignment after worn inner edges on the front tyres at 5000 plus miles and it appears to have solved my problems. 2nd set of fronts did nearly 20000 with even wear and 3rd set have done 17000 and should do 20000 with even wear.

The various readings taken for my 4 wheel alignment were shown in the attachment on post #509.

 

You’re pleased with 20,000 miles?

Hmmm, the tires I have on my 2009 Mazda3 (built on the same platform as the Mazda5) currently have about 48,000 miles on them; given that they’re pretty far gone (but not yet down to the wear bars), I seriously doubt they’ll see 50,000 miles. Even still, that’s nearly two and a half times the miles you’re getting on a set of tires.

Question: What make, model and size of tires are you running on your car?