I have a "86GXL and I noticed the rear tread is wearing more dominantly on the inside of both tires. Is this common or does it mean camber issues?

 

is you car lowered?

 

No, its pretty much factory. I bought it recently from an older couple who bought it new. Only has 37k mi.

 

Excessive toe in or toe out will wear tires faster than even the most obscene camber angles. Have the alignment checked.

 

You've got the same problem that I have. My car also a low mileage car. It looks like there's a technical service bulletin on the issue that requires swapping the lower control arms, which is expensive as hell. I'm still getting more information.

I've spent the last two months trying to figure it out. And I'll report any information I get.

 

It is due to the stock camber present from factory, and is mroe noticeable when the vehicle is lowered. The way around it is buy purchasing a rear adjuctable camber link to remove the negitive camber. Like Damon mentioned it could be the toe in, but I have never heard of the stock toe in (I think its 1 degree) being an issue. If you look from the back of the car at the rear wheels you will notice them be angled in towards the top (negative camber).

Here is a pic of the adjustabel camber link (sublink). There are two different versions, the one below is adjustable while the link is attached to the car, and the other style requires you to remove the link adjust and reinstall the link.

 

Well, I have an update. Thanks to a forum member, I read the relevant TSB. It says that it affects pretty much every year 2nd gen. No cause is given other than that the control arms are to be replaced with ones that give you 1 deg less camber. That doesn't help me much since even this solution would result in being .7 or more off of spec. Not to mention that brand new control arms are way expensive. Used control arms may result in the same condition if they have never been replaced.

BTW, eyecandy, this is not a camber setting issue. This is an outright poorly designed part. My car is bone stock, stock springs, shocks, everything. Had they made the camber adjustable, we would at least have a way to fix this type of problem. Heck, even in the TSB, Mazda could have used a camber adjuster than to require replacement of the expensive control arms.

So, my conclusion is like eyecandy said, to get this link. My only question then is whether to get this single adjuster or to get the one that allows each side to be adjusted individually. This solution is around $100 for the part. The double adjusters are more.

Opinions??

 

I have never read the TSB, but do they say what the problem is with control arms? I do know Mazda does liek to have some nice rear camber in alot of there cars.

I suggest the non-removal type because its alot faster and easier to adjust. The top bolt at the underbody is a pita to remove, install and torque. The pic I posted is the camber (sublink) link I offer.

 

Unless your rear is dropped drastically, it's NOT camber.
It's most likely toe.
The DTSS changes toe depending on side loads on the rear.
If you drive very aggressively, it will trigger constantly.

DamonB is right - toe will eat tires FASTER than camber does (unless the camber is stupid excessive).



-Ted