Four wheel alignment

[Snooze]

So I'm told I have some saw toothing to my rear tyres and need a four wheel alignment doing. Question is, should I wait till I get new rear tyres or am I gd to get it done now?

[I wanted a GTi]

So I'm told I have some saw toothing to my rear tyres and need a four wheel alignment doing. Question is, should I wait till I get new rear tyres or am I gd to get it done now?

Depends on when you're getting new tyres. When are you getting them?

[fredgroves]

How many miles have the rears done?

I ask this because mine lasted for something like 46k and still had tread but they had feathered on the insides...

[Talk-torque]

You can get it done now. The alignment is of the wheels, so changing the tyres later will change nothing. However, the wheel alignment correction, if any, will not fix the noise from the tyre wear. That will need new tyres. How many miles have yours done?

Saw tooth wear of rear tyres seems to be a common result of current suspension setups. You may well find your alignment is within limits. 4-wheel alignment, done properly,is not cheap.

[Sootchucker]

On a more general note, has anyone found a GTD/GTI or R coming from the factory with the geometry not set up correctly ?

I noticed when swapping my tyres front to rears a few weeks ago, that whilst the tyres are wearing pretty much evenly, there is about 0.5mm difference in wear on all 4 tyres going from the inside to out (inside being least). Is that just typical of how a performance 19" tyres wears, a Pirelli thing, or could my geometry be out as well - they had done about 7,500 miles when I swapped them ?

Also, just so I know what I'm looking for, does anyone have a photos of what "sawtoothing" looks like please ?

[lemski]

Sawtoothing looks like saw teeth. So the inner edge will be lower and look like rubber is down slightly resulting in the pattern.
Inner edge wore more thsn outer is down to the camber on the car from the factory. It doesnt hurt to get an alignment and if you know someone in the trade itll be alot cheaper. Alternativly quickfit give free alignment checks but charge to adjust.

They also you laser alignment which is hard to mess up.

Without seeing a picture of the tyres i wouldnt want to say ots normal wear or not though

[SRGTD]

There's some pictures at the bottom of this article that show the 'stepped' tread that's characteristic of sawtooth wear;

http://www.racingdistrict.com/volkswagen-scirocco-sawtooth-tyre-wear/

[Talk-torque]

The give away is, if you draw your hand one way round the inside shoulder of the tyre, you will feel the edges of each tread block, whereas, if you draw it the other way, you won't feel as much. It's as if the tyre is notched.

I had a bad case of this with my Mk5. 

[fredgroves]

This thread is interesting:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/16627-Passat-Rear-Tyres!!

Its mainly about Passats but does mention Golfs too but it has some answers as to why this happens...

[corgi]

Inner edge wore more thsn outer is down to the camber on the car from the factory.

Unless the camber is really aggressive, then it has little effect on tyre wear; however, in combination with toe-out it has a dramatic effect.

My first Integra Type-R would wear all four tyres on the inside edge in 8,000 - 9,000 miles... the lease company wouldn't pay for a 4-wheel alignment for ages... until I pointed out that they were buying new tyres every 6 weeks... Once checked and adjusted (set-up from the factory with toe-out and too much camber) the tyres lasted twice as long... Also made the car much better to drive