Front Inner Tyre Wear

[rs200]

Have just noticed, both front tyres are worn down on the insides, can see white banding. Both were replaced a few months ago, whats causing this to happen ??  

Last mot (april)  needed a ball joint and drop-link on one side , I replaced control arm and drop-link,,with new. How can a ball joint fail  so fast ? I have side to side movement on wheels ie  3 oclock/ 9 oclock and can see play in both joints when car is jacked up, I`m getting peed off now, this will be the third time i have had to replace ball joints  and track rod ends , since ownership of 2 years 

I had all 4 wheels aligned last year after replacing  both wishbones and  track rod ends for mot 

Having googled as much as i can on why inner tyre wear can happen my head is banging. As i understand its the track rod ends joint that can cause inner tyre wear ??? Or it can be a number of things 

I also had to replace a front wheel bearing, a few months ago. I did not put any marks on the strut  to line up the replacement steering knuckle to the exact position of the original,  nor did i get tracking done.

Could the steering knuckle not positioned correctly be the reason why i have these issues ??  

Why are the ball joints and track rod ends failing  so fast ??  This is the first car ive had that has needed ball joints replacing  so many times, and the first time ive had tyres wear out  in this in this way. 

[mjt]

1 hour ago, rs200 said:

I did not put any marks on the strut  to line up the replacement steering knuckle to the exact position of the original,  nor did i get tracking done

I think that answers your question.

As regards your high ball-joint failure rate that may depend on what parts you used. Some after-market parts are likely to be very poor quality.

[rs200]

Am I reading too much  into inner tyre wear ?  I have read negative camber can cause that kind of wear on a tyre.  That simple wheel alignment cant fix.

Or is it just down to  the ball joints ???? being worn out 

 

[isetta]

If you replace parts and have the tracking set, but then the parts wear and have play in them, then the tracking will be out again. you can't really have the tracking redone until parts are replaced with parts with no play in them as the tracking can not be done accurately. if new ball joints get play in them quickly then I can only assume the quality is rubbish unless the rubber gaiters are not on properly and hence dirt grit etc goes in them and grease gates washed out, but very unlikely unless the rubber is so poor that the gaiters split. 

[rs200]

1 hour ago, isetta said:

If you replace parts and have the tracking set, but then the parts wear and have play in them, then the tracking will be out again. you can't really have the tracking redone until parts are replaced with parts with no play in them as the tracking can not be done accurately. if new ball joints get play in them quickly then I can only assume the quality is rubbish unless the rubber gaiters are not on properly and hence dirt grit etc goes in them and grease gates washed out, but very unlikely unless the rubber is so poor that the gaiters split. 

the rubbers look ok, not perished or split ,no signs of  grease 

Only indication  is side to side movement on wheel, and from that i can see movement  on both control arm  and track rod end  joints, on both wheels ,  i could not get any up and down  movement using a crow bar  under the tyre 

[rs200]

I have changed track rod ends, there is still some play in the side to side movement of both wheels. (rocking)

There is no movement on the 12 to 6 ,  so ball joints are ok ??

Car is booked in tomorrow for tracking / alignment and new tyres, yet i fear  due to the side to side movement , tracking will not be attempted. 

Also with putting new track rod ends on , the steering is way out 

[TomsFocus]

3 to 9 movement has to be steering related.  As you've got new track rod ends, I'd suggest that either the inner track rods are worn, or the steering rack itself.  

Did you not measure the old track rods against the new ones before fitting?  Steering should be pretty close to before as long as the ends were fitted at the same distance as the old ones.

 

Lower ball joints can't easily be checked just by moving the wheel, you need to get a long lever in between the hub and wishbone to check them for play unless they're really bad.  Camber is another reason for edgewear, but these Focus' don't run enough camber as standard to cause it evenly on both sides, usually camber wear is only on one side from a bent shock or wishbone.  If it's even both sides that's an alignment issue.

[rs200]

To answer about track rod ends , yes i did measure,  , i also counted the full turns, and for extra precaution , only loosened off lock not, so was still relatively  in same position. 

[rs200]

Worry over , not as major problem as i thought it was, although,  again, needed wishbones 

Thanks for replies