Are my strut tops on their way out :(

[endorfin]

When I bought my XM I noticed that the inside of the OS front tyre was badly worn whilst the outside had lots of tread, like the tracking was badly out on the car.

So about 2,000 miles ago I took it in for some new front tyres and asked them to check the tracking at the same time and they said it was fine didn't need adjusting. Looking at my tyres again it seems the OS front tyre is wearing down on the inside again.

Whats happening here, a mistake on the tracking machine or its something else. I also have a shudder when pulling away, even in normal height.

Really hope it isn't my strut tops!

[Dieselman]

More likely to be the bottom wishbone bushes.

[Peter.N.]

If you have a tracking error it should make both front tyres wear unevenly although the n/s one shows it first as it wears more quickly, check carefully that the other side isn't wearing unevenly. To cause that amount of misalignment the strut tops would have disintegrated, you would probably have had one through the bonnet before it got to that stage. Check the strut tops for rust, give them a poke with a screwdriver, you will soon see if they are rotten.

Stand the car on level ground and check the wheels to see if they are vertical, they should lean out slightly at the top, this is the 'camber angle' they should both lean in by roughly the same amount, if misalignment was causing your problem the affected wheel should be leaning in considerably more than the other one, if this is the case, something must be bent.

Peter

... or as dieselman says

[jorgy]

I bought a Xantia that has worn the inner side of the tyres down to the steel within 2k miles, and I could and can hear increasingly the wishbones clonking and getting shuddering on pulling away or reversing. So it's going in for bushes next month.