Tilted inward rear tires

[402monte]

2004 3.0 x5 rear tires point inward at the top going into the wheel well- rear tires are wearing inside dramatically- springs and shocks appear ok.
only 56,000 miles, no off road or accidents . no self adjusting suspension.
Could this be a simple alignment issue? do all 3.0's have self leveling air compressor?
Thanks

[primetime]

yeah its pretty common actually. Its negative camber..Get a full alignment.

[X5Dawg]

Need alignment - tire slant inward is normal

[CharlieHustleX5]

I also own a 2004 x5 3.0i. My rear tires camber inwards just as you describe. In fact, most of the x5's I see on the road have the same setup.

On OEM 17's, my tire wear was normal. I switched out to 22" wheels and tires, thats when I had premature wear on the inner sections of my rear tires. I had the car aligned, problem has been remedied. There will always be some degree of rear camber on the car unless you have it adjusted...which wont make the car as enjoyable to drive .

I would suggest an alignment in your case. The problem might not so much be the inward angle or camber that the tires appear to have. It could possibly be that the toe adjustments are out of spec just from normal wear and tear.

[weasel56]

Originally Posted by CharlieHustleX5

I also own a 2004 x5 3.0i. My rear tires camber inwards just as you describe. In fact, most of the x5's I see on the road have the same setup.

On OEM 17's, my tire wear was normal. I switched out to 22" wheels and tires, thats when I had premature wear on the inner sections of my rear tires. I had the car aligned, problem has been remedied. There will always be some degree of rear camber on the car unless you have it adjusted...which wont make the car as enjoyable to drive .

I would suggest an alignment in your case. The problem might not so much be the inward angle or camber that the tires appear to have. It could possibly be that the toe adjustments are out of spec just from normal wear and tear.

There are different alignment specs for different size wheels. The bigger the rims, the wider the tire, the more rubber meets the road. Less scrub angle is needed to achieve optimal handling characteristics with wider tires.

So basically, correct. You need to be re-aligned now that you have bigger wheels.

[Tomaz]

Actually, the rear camber on all size tires is about 1.5 degrees negative, changing the tire size will not affect your alignment. The best you can do to minimize tire wear is maintain the reccommended inflation pressures.

[x5pdx]

What do you think about exchanging sides on the tires so that the inner back pass side tire gets put onto the outer drivers side and vise-versa. I mean tires on each wheel, not just swithcing sides. Is this bad practice? or does it depend on tread patterns? and showing the inner walls on the outer side.

[4.6is Ryder]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

Actually, the rear camber on all size tires is about 1.5 degrees negative, changing the tire size will not affect your alignment. The best you can do to minimize tire wear is maintain the reccommended inflation pressures.

+1

[weasel56]

That would highly depend on tread pattern. Most tires nowadays are either asymmetrical (this side out) or directional. In addition to that, the tires are worn to how they are set, changing that would result in less contact... causing lower handling after the change.

[X5Dawg]

When I mentioned alignment, that was in reference to the inner tread wear, not a change in size.