Here's something I haven't seen in the forums specifically pertaining tire size and alignment.

I have a 2014 Q60S 6mt and of course the staggered wheels are a pain in the butt. My question for all y'all is this..

Are there different alignment specs for different wheel sizes?

I know a lot of people are running 245/40/19 (oem rear sizes) in front and 275/40/19 rears.
Alignment specs should be the same as if you were running oem 225/45/19 fronts and 245/40/19 rears, right?

I am lowered on eibach pro kits, and I'm thinking of running the wider 245/40/19 front and 275/40/19 rears.
I'm sick of the inner tire wear, but I heard there's nothing we can do about it, except replacing them every 25k miles or so...

Thanks!

 

I'll say it again : toe is the tire killer.

Almost all car makers spec too much toe-in as it provides a fairly strong straight ahead feel. And as you have learned, at the expense of tire wear. You are not forced to use factory specs. You can tell your alignment tech to use less front toe-in. I'm running zero toe.

Tire width is more sensitive to camber than toe.

 

Wait. I've been to at least 3 alignment shops and 2 dealerships. ALL have told me that they must use the factory specs and can't do what I request because it's either unsafe or it's physically impossible. They've mentioned needing to get a camber kit in order to be able to zero it...

Have I really been that ignorant to this?

Thanks.

 

I must regrettably answer "yes" to your ignorance question. You are not required to use factory settings. Many shops will not use custom settings for fear of customers asking for stupid settings (think stance) or unusually fast tire wear. Simply call around to find a shop that will align to your request. Better shops will advise you of the consequences if you ask for something really unusual but will often comply. Lucky for me, I have three shops "near" me that will do what I ask.

As for camber, yes. Only toe is adjustable with factory front suspension. I installed adjustable front control arms and run -2° camber both front and rear, zero toe up front and about 2° toe-in in the rear. Because of the toe settings, I get almost no inner shoulder wear.

 

Thank you so much for the reply man. I'm coming from a G35 sports coupe 6mt that had the same issues. I'm looking for something that will prolong my tire life because treads are good but the inner shoulder is always worn down. I've also "rotated" the front two tires before on my G35 where front right tire went to the front left, and vice versa. I believe I had Hankook Ventus Evo 1's and they're symmetrical, I think. I'm going to do that type of rotation with these tires as well (Ventus Evo2) but after I try to get the 245's up front and 275's in the back.

Again, thank you for the reply and input.

 

Rotating from side to side by removing tire and swapping will net you 1500 miles at most. Unless you got a hookup that wont charge you it's not worth the cost

 

As Surfnazi wrote, you can't simply rotate the wheel and tire from one side to the other. You have to reverse the tire on the wheel so the inner shoulder becomes the outer shoulder.

 

Right. That's what I was talking about.

I ordered 275/35/19's Hankook Ventus V12 evo2's for 139 bucks each!! I just got them shipped to me overnight for free and now they're waiting to get put on. Gotta take it to discount tires or something. And then afterwards, find a reputable alignment shop in San Diego because I have not had the luck trying to zero out my toe in front.

 

How come you say only about 1500? I did it once with my G35 back in the day and actually got the whole "other half" of my tire life! About 20k miles. It was worn out and cord was showing on the outer edge but the inner edge was new and slowly fading away. Maybe I got lucky?

 

Cause I've done it before