Hi guys this is my first post. I have a stock 2006 MCS with ~50 K miles on it. I have changed from the run flats to Yokohama Parada Spec V tires at 36K. The new tires were rotated at 43, 000 miles and the tires were wearing fine. Approximately two months ago, the tire noise started to increase. At ~49.5 K miles, I had the tires rotated and the rear tires had sever cupping on the inside. The front tires had cupping on the inside as well but not as bad. I am running the tires at 35 PSI.

I brought the car to a performance alignment establishment. They found that the front control arm bushings are worn and need to be replaced. The cupping they say is caused by bad shocks in the back.

Any Input on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

The input they gave you is probably correct. Cupping is usually due to worn suspension parts; usually shocks, bushings, and/or wheel bearings.

 

+1

 

+1a

 

The inside edge of the rear tires are susceptible to accelerated wear due to the MINI's normal negative camber of the rear wheels. This wear can be manifested in certain types of tires as cupping. Then, when these tires are rotated to the front, the asymmetric wear adds a lot of NVH. It gets worse at each subsequent rotation.

I experienced this cupping on Hankook Ventus II tires, and again on a set of Yokohama S.drives, on my previous MINI. I even had the alignment and suspension health checked out to see if there was a different root cause, but it all traced back to the normal rear camber.

 

I believe that you are correct. I spoke to Dan at Grassroot Garage and he thought that the shocks are fine. 50K is a little premature to have the shocks fail. He also mentioned which makes sense that if the shocks were at fault the whole tire would be cupped. He believes that the issue is a function of the tire. What tires have you run that you liked and did not cup?

Thanks,

loryway

 

Yeah, I had Parada Spec II's on my '03 JCW and it only took about 7K before they got very noisey.

They became my track day tires and I ran Kuhmo Ecsta ASX all seasons as my dd's. They were terrific right up to the end, which was just what the mfr said they would do, 33K miles.

However I bought a new set for my '09 Clubman and did not rotate them soon enough, and the rears are feathered on the inside edges badly and noisey as hell now!

Sighs.....

 

Hankook iPike 195/55-16 snow tires.

We'll see how the 17" OEM Conti SSRs on my new MINI fare over time.

 

I hope they fare better than mine. A flat after 2K miles and a pothole at 8K that both needed replacement. $600 for two tires.

 

I bought my 03 used last March with 4 of the SSRs on it... Seller told me they were about a year old (didn't give me an indication of mileage)... The tires still look good, but you have to look at the wear indicators. According to that, the fronts are bald and the backs are really close to bald...

Had my car inspected and it would not pass because of the front 2 tires. Apparently there was some chord material from the inside of one of the tires peeking out through a crack in the bottom... Yet no air loss! I have never had a tire make it that far... They seemed to lose tread extremely quickly though, so I will definitely not buy again. I went with Goodyear Eagle F1 All Seasons this time. Had them on my 04 Acura TL and loved them...

 

If you have lowered your car, that would be why. You need to buy a camber kit and get an alinment.

 

I see a lot of Mini's in my business. The stock rims and Conti's work well

 

I've seen a lot of cars with cupping wear on the rear tires. Always due to weak shocks and rear alignment. Especially if rear toe is out. If you look closely at the tires the cupping will be diagonal across the tread.

 

Addendum to my earlier post....

I track my car a few times a year on the 2.5 mile roadcourse at Heartland Park, 1 session of *ahem* agressive cornering and my tires are as quiet as can be. Seems I wore the worst of the cupping off or something. Now 10K later, they've been rotated twice and they're still quiet. They're also pretty much worn out!

 

Having worked at Sears Auto for three years when I was in college, I can tell you that you guys are generally waiting entirely too long to rotate your tires.

Mini, God Bless them, have long service intervals of between 7,500 and 10,000 miles.

As a man who has seen everything that can be done to a tire to prolong or kill it, look at it like this. Maximum interval should be 6k miles. If you do an alignment at the same time, you may get away with that. Really, your interval should be more like 3k.

If you had a regular car, it would not be hard to rotate the tires every oil change. But, since we are Mini owners, we benefit from longer intervals. Instead of getting them to rotate every oil change, get them done every 3-4k miles and an alignment every 6-10k, if you're really interested in keeping your tires in good shape.

One more word of advice. Go outside and check your air pressure. If it's too high or low, you're just asking for some cupped or shoulder-worn tires (don't rely on your TPMS, be proactive).