How Bad Camber and Good Toe Affect Tire Wear on Your Tesla: What You Need to Know!

Your results may vary but this is exactly what we see on the hundreds of Teslas we see come through the office annually. Many have reported they run a lot of negative camber with in spec toe and don't have problems. That may be true but if you have an issue like what you see here this might be your solution to the problem.
Camber and toe are both critical alignment settings that significantly affect tire wear. Here's how they work together:
Camber:
Negative Camber: When the tops of the tires are tilted inward. This setup is common in performance driving as it improves cornering grip. However, excessive negative camber causes the inner edges of the tires to wear out faster because more weight and friction are concentrated on that part of the tire.
Positive Camber: When the tops of the tires are tilted outward. It's less common in most vehicles. Excessive positive camber leads to more wear on the outer edges of the tires.
Toe:
Toe-In (Positive Toe): The fronts of the tires are closer together than the rears. This usually enhances straight-line stability but can cause the outer edges of the tires to wear more quickly.
Toe-Out (Negative Toe): The fronts of the tires are further apart than the rears. This setup improves turn-in response but can lead to inner edge tire wear.
Combined Effect: Bad Camber & Good Toe:
If you have bad camber (let’s say excessive negative camber) with a good toe setting, the inner edges of your tires will still wear out prematurely. The toe setting, even if ideal, cannot compensate for the uneven pressure distribution caused by the camber.
Good toe might help minimize the wear slightly by keeping the tires from scrubbing too much, but if the camber is too far off, it won’t prevent the uneven wear.
Conclusion:
Bad camber can significantly accelerate uneven tire wear, especially on the edges of the tire where the pressure is concentrated. Even with good toe settings, the tire wear will be uneven, leading to a reduced lifespan for the tires. Proper alignment with both camber and toe within optimal ranges is crucial for maximizing tire life and maintaining good handling characteristics.Products:
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[@dyhppyx]

This is the real reason for all the rumors that EVs are heavy and burn through tires. Wish the world would shut up already and watch this. Thanks

[@davejohnson6144]

Good job 👍 Im sure it will be more efficient and tires wont wear but the Arachnids looked nicer

[@chuckhursch5374]

I’m trying to figure out how to deal with my wife’s 2023 X’s 22” staggered (285/265) setup. About 8000 mi on the odo. High wear on the rear tires, tires on front have very little wear. She will probably do two or three sets of tires on the rear for every one in the front. I’m trying to decide when the fronts finally wear down, would it be a good time to invest in another set of wheels, say 20 or 21” square? I have not determined yet whether the current 22s are square wheels and only the tires are staggered (gotta find the width # somewhere on the wheel). But 20 or 21” wheels would give better range and ride, and less chance of a blowout on a pothole or against a curb.

[@aec258]

Why uneven wear though if the values are similar? Is it because driver side scrubs more on left hand drive roads and owner didn’t rotate the tires?

[@zevcentric]

Original Tires are staggered and cant rotate. Also not sure what happens when vehicle is in movement. The rear will compress even more in motion. The video is just to show the broad picture not to analyze why the problem is bigger on one side than the other. The objective is to just resolve the issue as a whole.

[@aec258]

@@zevcentric I was referring to side to side rotation. Without rotation same thing can happen at a later date even with better alignment.

[@zevcentric]

@@aec258 got it. It's hard to know if the tires were ever rotated left to right since it was purchased used. It's possible that on a crowned/graded road that the tires mate to the road differently or that there are more turns in one direction than the other. You are correct though that rotating left to right should help to even that out if in fact that was the cause. I know it won't be an issue at all once the camber is corrected because we have seen the after results on so many customer cars. Michelins are notorious for shoulder separation as well with these poor camber values.

[@zoltank8044]

with high toe-out and/or neg camber >1' tire pressure becomes much more critical. Even 5psi over extended miles will exacerbate this inner wear. Lazy people will allow 10psi drop from 42 recommended, which will allow tire to roll under far more. Maintain your pressure.

[@okupchurchiii7850]

hey guy. love you videos.....I live in southern. california ....I have a new 2024 model y and I look at my rear tires and can see the tire is not perpendicular.....from the rear, the bottom of the tire is sticking out and cant see top of the tire.....do you know of any shop in the SoCal area that I can go to to have new camber rods instsalled?......also, what would you recommend as far as equipment.......thanks a lot fore any help

[@harveypaxton1232]

Are you going to do a similar video on the M3? Why did you do the alignment before you installed the new wheel and tire setup?

[@zevcentric]

We didnt. We just showed the before values with the vehicle untouched and then remove the old wheels, installed the new wheels, and then did the alignment. If you look at the video again, you will see underneath the targets on the final alignment. Are the new wheels.

[@zevcentric]

@@harveypaxton1232 we have another video we did a month or so ago on the Model Y, which is essentially the same thing as a Model 3. Since they do not have air suspension though we cannot show the dynamic change in real time with varying right height.

[@harveypaxton1232]

@@zevcentric sorry I missed it. I have a retired certified Tesla tech work on my M3. He says that Teslas tolerances on their alignment specs is too large. He recommends at the first tire rotation to have the alignment checked. He also recommends tire rotations at 5k as do you. Thanks for the great videos.

[@aaronbounds1336]

Can a camber shim be used instead of replacing the entire camber arm on a M Y?

[@zevcentric]

The Model S/X have a different camber arm design than the 3/Y so a shim kit is not possible on the 3/Y. You do need an Adjustable Camber Arm