04 AWD - Terrible tire wear & squirrely in bad weather - related?

[llebcire]

2004 Vibe AWDBeen in family since new - no accidents.81k miles.At 71k had a 4 wheel alignment done.At 73,500 set of new Michelin Energy MXV4S8's.At 81k tires are half shot...had them rotated @ 79k and were at 5/32.I've been driving this car since April 09 and it is absolutely the scariest vehicle I've ever driven unless the pavement is dry!Always feels like it's hydroplaning in anything more than a light drizzle and last night I had the first hint of ice - thought I was ditching it several times.Is this a known issue? Is something wrong with the AWD? In other cars I've owned, if on ice and you let off the gas they straighten out - not this one. Feels like the AWD is fighting itself which could be the reason for the tire wear?Unfortunately, this is a commuter so I run about 50 hwy miles a day and I dread driving unless the sun is out Thanks!Eric

[star_deceiver]

You need better tires. Reviews for those arn't stellar...All season tires on ice never work, AWD or not. But with only 8000 or so miles and that much wear, the tire warranty should offset the purchase of better tires!

[llebcire]

Tires get mixed reviews....however, this is a tremendous amount of wear for under 10k miles.AWD's can't be that bad on tires!When we bought the car from her parents @ 50k, it was on it's 2nd set of tires that were wasted by 70k (Continentals).-Eric

[star_deceiver]

The stock RS-A's on my Vibe hydroplane easier then I though they would. But it's nothing sensible driving won't solve.I'm doubting that the AWD system causes that much tire wear on properly rotated tires.Is the car driven hard? Are any suspension parts damaged? Is someone running over curbs or hitting large potholes, knocking the alignment out? Are the tires underinflated (below 30psi) or severly overinflated (at or above the max pressure of the tire)?

[keithvibe]

the last time you got the "4wheel alignment" did they hand you a print out from the work done?If so do you still have it? If so post the photo of the specks. I have had four alignments done on my awd. What your decribing to me sounds like someone said they did the alignment but never did it (properly)I love my car in wet and dry. Depending on which tires I have on my car I will adjust my driving to soot the tires mounted to the car. I can't take a 20mph curve at 50 with my winter tires on but i can certainly do so with my summers.Wearing threw tires quickly is an indication of either a part on the drivetrain going bad, tie rod, strut, ball joint ect.Are the tires wearing flat(even across the tread) are they feathered, scaloped or lowspoted?The tires you have mounted now did get very very bad reviews.What made you buy those tires? I'm guessing price?

[Caretaker]

I've got Michelin Pilot Exaltos on my AWD and have not had any problems. I'm going with Michelin Primacy MXV4's on my '09 in a few week and will do the same on the AWD when the time comes. Sorry for your troubles. I too am guessing that the problem originates with a faulty alignment done to your car.

[llebcire]

Looks like I'll get involved with the alignment...I'll also see if I can find a printout.2,000 miles after the new tires I went back to the place that did the alignment complaining as the tires were visibly feathering...they tried to tell me the suspension was most likely worn due to the mileage on the car, although I know that bad struts will chop the tires rather than feather them. They also claimed the inflation was off, although I know it isn't and know what over/under inflation looks like.

[djkeev]

Yep, one of the joys of a warranty!They sound good and read well and make you buy brand A over brand B but when the rubber meets the road they are often hard to collect upon because it isn't THEIR fault, it's your crappy car or ball joint or whatever.Just went through this on 4 commercial pool liners. Warranty reads wonderful but we got screwed, Jets fly over the pools to land at Newark, we used wrong cleanser, we put too much chlorine in, winter water levell is at 18" below the skimmers instead of 16", etc. Anything and everything except "yes, our liners suck"Best of luck to you.Dave

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by llebcire »Looks like I'll get involved with the alignment...I'll also see if I can find a printout.besure they give you a print out.

[llebcire]

Tires are actually wearing evenly across all four - makes me believe it's an alignment issue.As for price, they weren't cheap - around $160/tire plus mount & balance.I can see the tires having less than stellar reviews but worn in 15k miles isn't the tire's fault.

[llebcire]

Believe I found the problem today @ Sears...the place that originally did the alignment doesn't seem to want to help with the problem, but they haven't seen these printouts yet.Vehicle was obviously mis-aligned - every wheel is off!I found out after our recent blizzard that this is almost un-driveable in snow as the car fishtails unless on dry pavement.

[wyatt89]

Wow, those are some fudged up numbers, no wonder you were skittering around, the fishtailing was because there was so much toe in on the back wheels.

[ParknVibe]

>>>>>2004 Vibe AWDBeen in family since new - no accidents.81k miles.At 71k had a 4 wheel alignment done.At 73,500 set of new Michelin Energy MXV4S8's.At 81k tires are half shot...had them rotated @ 79k and were at 5/32.It seems to me that your problem started when you had your wheel alignment with your old tires installed. The service shop used that as the bases to mis aligned all four wheels. Then you replaced the old tires only 2500 miles later. The new tires will follow new errors and corrections of the old tires. What I am trying to say, is that you should of had the wheel alignment after you install the new set of tires. I would drive around with the new tires for a few hundred miles and have the tire pressures to spec. before I take it back for the wheel alignment.

[keithvibe]

I'm glad you figured something out. ALWAYS get the print out. And besure it's for YOUR car too.Now that the car is back to normal you should see a huge improvement. The toe on the rear is till a tad off but it shouldn't hurt the wear of the tires too much.If the tires are really badly cupped you might need new tires to help your handling issue.