'08 Sport

Installed my third set of tires 12 months ago at 90K. Now at 115K. Never have rotated.

Each set of tires has developed uneven wear on rear tires. Very uneven - where there are high and low spots every 3 - 4 inches. Noisy.

Last time I had tire place align all 4 wheels. Have noticed noise again.

Current tires are Yokohama AVID ENVigor tires rated for 60K and the rear uneven wear is back again. These tires are shot after 25K.

My shocks are good....

Why does the Fit do this to rear tires??? Is there anything I could do to correct the problem??

 

too much weight in the hatch. what do you haul?

 

I keep my son's wheelchair there usually. It's not very heavy, just a standard wheelchair.

That can't be it, right??

 

The "weight" in the hatch can be one thing, but I doubt it would do it all...

What was the "alignment" set too? What truly chews up rear tires on the 07-08 Fit is Toe. Toe IS adjustable on the car, it just requires partial dissemble of the rear brakes and stub axle.

Where did you get the last alignment? Did they give you a print out?

 

how do you know your shocks are good? generally when the tread wear is poor on a repititive basis the shocks are osillating and so the tread wear is uneven around the circumference. Thats not the same as wear differences across the tread. Just because you don't have a floppy shock doers not mean its OK.
BTW your tire conditions are not new and often the tire construction encourages the osillation. The fact these tires didn't last as long might be a clue.
BTW what tires did you mount?
cheers.

 

^ VERY good points...

And if you are at 115K, the shocks are not "good." Even if you are on your second set, shocks realistically begin to give up the ghost around 60K.

If your carrying any type of heavier load in the rear, you can go the Monroe Air Shock method. There are also a set of Koni Yellows available to go on the rear of a GD Fit via RedShift Motorsports. Otherwise OEM Honda shocks run around $100 each, while KYB's are $60-70.

 

I had a flat tire today and I went to the tire dealer who I purchased the last set from. They checked the shocks and said they "weren't leaking." They replaced the tire and charged me half price.

tires are Yokohama AVID ENVigor tires

Cheers!

 

Shocks "not leaking" is not a confirmation of them still providing adequate compression and re bound.

Not to mention, how did they even check the shocks?! The OEM Honda dust boot cannot be removed with out the shock off the car (not to mention a drill.) So there would be no way to visibly inspect the shock shafts....

I have swapped suspension setups on 10+ Fit's locally. Trust me, if you are at 115K on OEM shocks, they are blown. At the LEAST they no longer have as much rebound.

 

Worn shocks usually result in "cupping" - circular wear spots on tires due to tires constantly bouncing up and down on the road when the car is in motion.

Even if you're in doubt, replacing the shocks would still be cheaper than replacing the tires every few k miles. Just my take.

 

I'll trust you on this and get new shocks. Thanks!

 

Regardless of shitty shocks, you really need to get into the habit of rotating your tires every 4-6 thousand miles.


The factory Dunlops on the 09+ base are absolutley HORRIBLE GARBAGE and Mine are wearing perfectly even. No shoulder smearing, no tearing, no chunks missing.

Just an uncanny ability to leak from tiny rocks or occasional staple on a construction zone.


Been there done that with crappy old suspension. Never had tire issues with uneven wear, except when the balljoints of old cars were bad and it caused a noticable clunking that tore up a brand new tire in 1200 miles

 

I have uneven wear like that because of wheels out of round. Only noticeable over 75 mph or so. I hit a pavement lip where bad road met bridge pavement once and I'm pretty sure that is what knocked the wheels out.

 

Tire dealer sold me new two tires at 70% off. He did not have shocks and discouraged me from buying shocks as the car "has always done this."

However, I really dislike the cupping (the noise).

What shocks would you recommend?
Is this a DIY job?

Thanks!
-dog

 

Shocks are DIY as long as you have a jack, several metric wrenches and deep well sockets. An impact gun is a great help but not necessary. I'd also recommend replacing the lower shock bolts at a Honda dealer or Bernardiparts.com for around $5.

I am VERY happy with my Koni Sport Yellows from Chris at Redshift Motorsports. If you don't need an adjustable sport shock, whatever KYB lists should be a decent OEM replacement.

 

Rear shocks are super easy if you just want to see if that fixes the problem. A jack and some metric wrenches or sockets is about all you need. Front is a little more of a pain in the ass if you're not experienced with auto repair at all.

Just pick up some KYB Excel G's and throw them on.

Also +1 on rotating your tires. Maybe it's just how I drive, but if I didn't rotate my tires my fronts wouldn't last more than maybe 10k miles. My wife's car is rear wheel drive and I rarely rotate, it doesn't need it.

 

Some of us don';t rotate cause we replace the tires in 2's rather than 4's. cheaper on the budget.
As for shocks, KYB makes both standard and adjustable shocks at fair pricing. We have installed a bunch with no come-backs.
An alternative would be air lift shocks from Monroe and I think others have used Gabriels. Search posts from as far back as 2008 to see which one. We carry Monroes and have installed them on about a dozen Fits, all with great success, particularly if you load the rear. Cost about $60 a pair., pretty much same as competition for regular shocks. I think they were intended for a Citation but are direct fits, nuts and bolts and all.
cheers.

 

I find this thread very interesting. I have owned, over the years, a 1970 Dodge Dart, 2 1984 Jettas, a 1970 VW Squareback, a 1994 Saturn, a 1998 Saturn, a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer, a 2006 Odyssey, and now a 2013 Fit.

Not ONCE have I ever replaced a shock absorber. It's never come up. Transmissions, sure. Radiators, a couple. Alternators, water pumps, even an oil pan or two, and tons of tires, brake pads and rotors, but never have I had to replace a shock. It's never even been recommended before.

It's not that I don't drive a lot. The Jettas ended up over 100K, the Saturns too (one almost 200K). Must be the roads around here.

 

Sure you could drive 300k miles on shocks if you wanted to i'm sure. My mother-in-law's shocks are 15 years and 175k miles old. You can tell when you drive the truck lol

A few of my old cars had OEM shocks when I got them and the cars were 25 years old

 

+ 10000

Our OE set of Fit tires (Dunlops) lasted 80K miles (actually maybe 50K because we run snow tires in the winter). There was no cupping or feathering or undue noise. Our rotation schedule came out to about 10K miles each time, but hey.


THANKS for the cross ref to the Citation shocks, and the advice to replace the bolts. That's the kind of advice that shadetree mechanics always appreciate because we don't see that many cars in a lifetime.


Places like Costco, Sam's Club, and many independent tire shop include lifetime rotation with tire purchases, so you aren't losing any money, just time. (Unless your wife likes to spend money at Costco, as mine does...)

 

Just to evn things out, I've replaced many shocks, no alternators, no water pumps, or oil pans, which is unusual for racers over 50 years. I have replaced engines, suspensions and thosands of tires, literally.

We do have a shock tester that measures force vs travel and many went
on to service on street cars that failed race service.