Still new to this forum but you guys have great advice! so here's my situation- I bought wheels and tires from a guy of craigslist and the rims are perfect, front tires perfect, however I didn't notice there was WIRE showing on the inner part of both rear tires because that guy must have been running some decent negative camber.(stupid of me not to check) So, I just lowered my car on swift springs and now I have some negative camber. I didn't buy a camber kit. How bad will my tires wear unevenly & how bad will traction be after I get an alignment hopefully getting close to spec? Thinking about buying Michelin super sports of the camber doesn't ruin them. any help will be appreciated

 

So when I lowered my car on S-techs it took me about 6 months to install my SPC kit for front and rear and my tires wore out pretty quick. Tires only had about 15k miles on them before I lowered my car and they were done within 4 to 6 months. When I got my car aligned I was running close to -3 degrees of camber all around. I don't think your springs are as deep of a drop as the s techs so I'm guessing you can run your tires for about that long before they crap out on you. As far as traction I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary before and after my camber kit.

 

Toe affects tire wear more than camber

 

thanks allboutcali, 4-6 months doesn't sound too terrible with the way I drive lol I guess I'll see how it goes after I get an alignment

 

not very familiar with toe. so what should I do about that?

 

Find new tires on CL
Get an alignment, toe will be put back in spec

 

If you can get your camber around -2 w/ toe in spec you should get reasonable wear, if you can get your camber to -1.5, even better. If it takes a camber/toe kit to do that it will be money well spent in the long term. Summer tires get worn easy enough when in spec

 

what do I tell the mechanics when I go to get the alignment and should I take it to a chain tire place like tire kingdom?

 

Go to a performance shop that handles lowered cars, then, you don't have to tell them much of anything or teach them their job. Just ask for the best alignment for tire wear, wait, and drive away. It may cost a few extra bucks, but much less than replacing Michelin PSS tires early.

 

Camber is angle of tire looking down at it in relation to ground
Caster is distance left to right of the wheel being centered
Toe is angle the tire points in or out from top down

 

Camber is easier to visualize if you imagine looking at your car from the front and noting if the tops of the tires are closer together than the bottoms (negative camber) or farther apart (positive camber).

 

Not sure how long or if your going to run on those back tires but....I wouldn't drive on them, AT ALL. Just my 2c.