Hello all Fit owners... with oversized wheels!

Proud owner of a '07 Sport A/T Fit, black with limo tint and oversized wheels and tires:

http://enkei.com/Performance%20specs/evo6.html

17x7 hyperblack http://enkei.com/jpeg%20files/Wheels/EVO%206%20hb1.jpg very beautiful combination... and the car runs excellent, in 2 years I've done over 140K km (almost 90K miles) with no issues whatsoever...

But I have a permanent and constant issue with the tires, they are getting premature wearing no matter what, since May '07 when I bought the wheels and tires, all brand-new, I had to buy a new set of tires (the ones I'm using right now) and since April 1 and about 40K km the FRONT tires are getting bolder on the inside BUT uneven, the left faster than the right one... also the car's dashboard is shaking a lot at pretty high speeds, this is not the case with the stock tires (15") that I use during the winter season, also the stock tires have no such issue at all... for the first set of tires I did not know that I have to do the alignment but with this new set of tires I finally went to the dealer showing them the beginning of a premature tire wear and ask them what to do, they said "you definitely need alignment!", before the dealer I went to other 4 different reputable tire shops to ask for advice and all said "alignment!", so... the dealer (that's Honda dealer!) got the car for testing (of course I signed for a $100 alignment job!) and after an hour they came back to me telling me that they cannot do the alignment as the Fit (also Civics as well, they told me) does not allow alignment for the rear wheels, then I said "but the issue is with the FRONT wheels, the rear ones are in great condition, no wearing at all so far!", they said that the alignment job (the computer readings) shows that the front wheels need no alignment, the readings in red are only the ones for the REAR wheels, specifically the TOE only!!!

They said that I have to get used with this issue and the only thing I can do is to use the 15" stock wheels and tires, the 17" ones will always give me this problem no matter what!!!

At least I was able to pay just $30 instead of $100 as they were not able to perform any alignment adjustment, for $30 I got the print-out and... some verbal advice about dealing with oversized tires!

Q for the tire experts and/or Fit owners using oversized wheels/tires: any similar issue for you, is this a common issue, if any of you have had such tire problem have you been able to fix it in any way, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

BTW, I have the stock suspension!

If of any help, I can provide all the readings of the alignment test.

TIA

Chris

 

if you absolutely have to have those wheels, you could just get adjustable links for the suspension, look around the internet and do the alignment yourself until you get your desired settings.

 

That's an ALLINGMENT job, computerized, and not a simple oil change!!!

And the wheels cost $1,500 for the set of 4, a very unique model...

 

I have 17x7/42 wheels and 205/40x17 tires and are not experiencing abnormal wear including getting even wear across the tread. I expect to get 20k miles same as I do for virtually all my tires in front. (slowing for corners not permitted). I did remove the antisway bar.
Are your tires really wearing heavily on the inside half of the tread?
Sounds like too much understeer and too little toe under load. Uneven -cupping- of he tread usually indicates poor shock control. Perhaps too much lowering.

 

Thanks a lot for the reply!

Again, these are my wheels:

ENKEI PERFORMANCE EVO 6 the hyperblack model

First off, no idea what the antisway bar really is!!!

Yes, the tires are wearing ONLY on the INSIDE, front ones only!

No lowering, STOCK suspension!

And the alignment printout showed just the following readings in RED:

REAR TOE: 0.20" LEFT AND 0.00" RIGHT

Specifications for the toe: 0.00" min to 0.15" max, left and right

All other readings, FRONT caster, camber and toe, REAR camber as well, also the setback are all within the factory specifications...

The Honda technician mentioned that they cannot adjust the REAR toe as the Fit (same as for the Civics) does not allow for this job, so either I keep on changing a new set of tires every 12 months or get rid of the Enkei wheels and use only the 15" stock ones... unless I find somebody with a pretty positive and constructive advice to tell me if it's anything I can do w/out investing a fortune to fix this issue once it for all!

Also I'm getting (dashboard) vibrations anytime over 70 mph, my XM sat radio and the Garmin 350 start shaking like hell, no such issues, vibrations and tire wear on inside, or any side, when I'm running on the 15" stock tires during the snowy season!

If you have some advice for me, God Bless You!

TIA

Chris

And I have the Fit Sport, 5AT, 144,000KM (about 90K miles)

 

Because the only thing that changes is the wheels, let's concentrate on those. What offset and size are they? If they are well out and have limited backspace they may be letting the springs be too soft (Longer lever arm for springs). Are they stright with no runout (side to side movement as they rotate)?
The other possibility is bad shock(s). Did the tech do any checking of those?
BTW, the antisway bar is that u-shaped bar stretching from the lower suspension arms; it causes the outside wheel to not comress so far while causing the inside wheel to lift. The car doesn't 'sway' as much.
In your case if the springs are 'soft' the inside wheel is lifted easier and when the wheel lifts the inside wheel tread is wearing on the inside half.
Too soft springs can also affect the shock action but you didn't mention ifd the tread is uneven. That is, as you rub your hand on the tread going around the tire the tread seems to be going up and down. That gets worse with time.
PS the rear toe is adjustable by shims but takes horridly long time; anyway yours doesn't seem to be that bad. The axle squaring would be fine. (making sure the axle is perpendicular to the line of travel.) I don't think thats your problem though. I think its the wheels or bad shock(s).
good luck.

 

the rear has really bad toe. Mine has so much rear toe its insane. I just zero'd out the fronts today, but the rears you cant adjust shit

 

How much is insane toe? And what is the difference between left and right?

 

My first set of summer tires that was on the car from factory had heavy tear on the inside on both front tires. Rear was fine. Just discover it by luck as I was parking the car with the steering all to one side.
The car was just a little over one year old and had traveled about 20.000km.

Took it in to the dealer for a check. Not sure what it is called in English but it is a hightech messuring of all four wheels at the same time. They found out that the the front needed heavy adjustment. They did it on the warranty. Stupid me forgot to ask for new wheels...

But the front wheels had so much treadwear that I was afraid for driving long with them. Got a new set of wheels with 17x7/42 wheels and 205x40/17 tires. Have not had any trouble with tire wear since, but maybe too early to tell since I have just traveled about 6000km with the new tires.