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Our 2005 9-5 wagon 2.3lpt auto, had gone 52,000 miles on some Primacys. When those were shot, we had it aligned, and put some Conti DSWs on it. After 6000 miles of similar driving style, the fronts were so worn, (a bit more on the outside tread), that Discount Tire gave us a completely new set of tires of our choice. The Yokohamas I chose had exactly the same problem. There was absolutely no cupping or scalloping...the tires were completely smooth, except with tremendous wear, again slightly more on the outside tread. The Discount Tire guys were stumped, saying it could not possibly be the alignment, due to the evenness of the wear pattern. We then put on a set of Primacys, thinking that they might somehow cure the problem. They DID last longer...about 14,000 miles, (with one early rotation at 5000) but again the current fronts had that same pattern of abnormal wear. Through all these tires, the tires on the back hardly wore at all!
So, we took it back to Saab indy Jerry Thompson in Minneapolis, and he did an alignment re-check, and said it was not the problem at all. In fact he said it was "practically perfect"! He was stumped, but checked to find that the ball joint on the left was badly worn, and he thought it should be replaced "within 1 to 2 months", He said that bad ball joints were very rare on these cars. But he still didn't think that would explain the tire issue. The other ball joint had slight wear. Everything else seemed tight enough.
My theory...and question to all you suspension guys...is this: Is it possible that under power or under acceleration load, would the tires have a toe-out, or toe-in tendency due to the ball joint shifting a small amount? That's all we can find wrong with the car.
We will get the ball joints replaced next week, when Jerry gets them in on order. In the mean time, Jerry actually GAVE us two partly used Primacys!!! He really takes care of his customers!
A NEW set of tires every 6000 miles is crazy!
So, could the ball joints be doing this, or should we look for something else?
Thanks in advance!
Craig
posted by 75.17.206...
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