[Octane]

so for the last week I felt the rear of my rav4 was acting a bit weird, didn't have time to look until today...

pressure is good on all four tires. I get on my knees to check if a stabiliser bar is broken, but then I see how the tires are worn on the inside! i went to my mechanic, he says nothing is loose/broken.

only thing I can think of is that towing the travel trailer (400# on the tongue with a 600# weight distribution hitch setup and rear air spring) was too much for the alignement, and something became loose. we did about 1200km with the travel trailer this summer (not that much) and with the rear air spring I should be good for 800# in the back

new tires have been ordered, and car is in for an alignement, no suspension recalls as it's a 2012. bummer...

 

[kevcules]

Looks like the classic "out of alignment" problem on your rear wheels. Did you ever have it aligned since you've owned it?
I'm guessing the alignment shop will tell you your rear alignment is off, but if it isn't, something has be loose or worn back there.
What do you mean when you say you could feel something was wrong when driving it?

 

[Octane]

Looks like the classic "out of alignment" problem on your rear wheels. Did you ever have it aligned since you've owned it?
I'm guessing the alignment shop will tell you your rear alignment is off, but if it isn't, something has be loose or worn back there.
What do you mean when you say you could feel something was wrong when driving it?

It was never aligned, guess I never needed one in the past...

I could feel the steering response was a bit off, and yesterday it rained a lot, I didn,t like the feeling when going on the highway, rear felt light. when I got home I felt if the wheels had movement, but didn't get on my knees since it was raining like crazy.

 

[Octane]

just got a call from the dealership, car is ready, camber was normal, but there was a bit of toe in on all 4 corners.

he says wear like this is normal on a rav4 when towing . my weight distribution setup was probably incorrect (no agressive enough), and the rear was too low, and even a inch lower is enough to wear the rears like this....

expensive mistake on my part I guess. but a new set of tires is cheaper than trading my rav4 for a truck ;-)

 

[RTexasF]

Good thing you got down and looked. Those were looking pretty bad. A rear tire popping while towing (or any time) is no bundle of fun I can assure you.

 

[MrPulldown]

Too much negative camber and toe OUT usually causes inner tire wear. Your currently alignment numbers don't really matter, as they were done at the current ride height. Camber dramatically changes as the ride height changes. In almost every case, your camber will become more negative as you compress the suspension. This is by design. More negative camber more corning traction. As you corner the outside tire compress. I assume that the wear occurred when you were pulling your trailer. How sagged where you? Pump up those airbags!

I smoked a set of tires so bad once on a 1000 mile trip where I was hauling almost 1000K worth of rafting gear. Halfway through the trip I had to rotate tires as I thought I might wear through them.

 

[Octane]

Too much negative camber and toe OUT usually causes inner tire wear. Your currently alignment numbers don't really matter, as they were done at the current ride height. Camber dramatically changes as the ride height changes. In almost every case, your camber will become more negative as you compress the suspension. This is by design. More negative camber more corning traction. As you corner the outside tire compress. I assume that the wear occurred when you were pulling your trailer. How sagged where you? Pump up those airbags!

I smoked a set of tires so bad once on a 1000 mile trip where I was hauling almost 1000K worth of rafting gear. Halfway through the trip I had to rotate tires as I thought I might wear through them.

the air bags were at 20psi, believe me, I will raise the pressure on those airbags and readjust the wd hitch next time I pull the trailer! I also think that the air pressure in the tire was a bit low when towing, I always run 35psi in the back, and the outer shoulder more worn than the middle.

since the camber was normal, I'm guessing the wear was from when I was towing, I'm just surprised I didn't realize is sooner, I usually check the whole car once a month

new yoko parada spec-x will be in soon, and I don't plan on messing those up!

 

[RTexasF]

For what it's worth......when I used to tow a 5,000 lb boat EVERY weekend my rear tires wore out very quickly, although evenly. I had air shocks back then. This wear was common over several vehicles but none were trucks. This was not a RAV by the way. You should be in good shape now.

 

[Octane]

I did my front brakes last night, and didn't see any bolts that looked new or touched. ( I was charged 8$ for 2 new bolts- lol)

what would they touch to adjust the front toe in?

 

[KSNancy]

Adjusting the toe is simply loosening clamp bolts on the tie rod sleeve, between the steering rack and wheel hub. The sleeve is threaded like a turnbuckle so turning the sleeve will adjust the length of the tie rod. Sometimes those clamp bolts get rusty, they do get a lot of road crud. And some bolts have a black finish.

 

[KSNancy]

Also, after the rear suspension recall, the rear toe is no longer adjustable. But I don't see the recall sticker on your lower suspension arm.

 

[Octane]

Also, after the rear suspension recall, the rear toe is no longer adjustable. But I don't see the recall sticker on your lower suspension arm.

mine is a 2012, so the arm is not adjustable , but the mounting bolt is, it's kind of an "off center bolt" that can be moved to push out or in the suspension arm.

 

[Octane]

Adjusting the toe is simply loosening clamp bolts on the tie rod sleeve, between the steering rack and wheel hub. The sleeve is threaded like a turnbuckle so turning the sleeve will adjust the length of the tie rod. Sometimes those clamp bolts get rusty, they do get a lot of road crud. And some bolts have a black finish.

thanks, that's what I figured after...
so I guess they didn't change any bolts up front, since I would of seen it

 

[Parkland]

There are are no alignment adjustments on the rear of my 2009 RAV. My dealer didn't mention any possible solutions when he informed me of the wear on the inner side of both my RAV4 tires. There is also excessive tire noise. I don't see how I can replace tires until that is fixed. Something is out of whack. I was told that a replacement part may have an adjustment on it??

 

[MrPulldown]

There are are no alignment adjustments on the rear of my 2009 RAV. My dealer didn't mention any possible solutions when he informed me of the wear on the inner side of both my RAV4 tires. There is also excessive tire noise. I don't see how I can replace tires until that is fixed. Something is out of whack. I was told that a replacement part may have an adjustment on it??

There is a tie rod that allows for toe adjustment. These have been known to loosen up over time. There was a recall or service bulient that said epoxy it so it won't move. Buy new bar. Make adjustment.

 

[Parkland]

I will have to look again. Thanks MrP. Still funny my dealer didn't suggest a rear wheel alignment given the wear on both rear tires?? They usually aren't slow to suggest more work..

 

[MrPulldown]

I will have to look again. Thanks MrP. Still funny my dealer didn't suggest a rear wheel alignment given the wear on both rear tires?? They usually aren't slow to suggest more work..

The 2012 fixed this turnbuckle link with a cam bolt. Wonder if this is something that can be retrofitted.

Your RAV might have sagged a bit over the years making the camber very negative, and contributing to wear. Might want to freshen up the rear suspension with some new springs and shocks too. As far as I know only toe is adjustable in the rear.

 

[Parkland]

After talking to the Moog Tech center, There are Moog parts available to adjust the rear toe and chamber on a 4W 2009 RAV. You can get a upper adjustable arms, Driver RK100356 and a Passenger RK100357 as well as a lower ball joint RK100170 (also shown as RK621848 on the Moog site, some duplication there). My components seem tight as do Phen01s. I guess a wheel alignment is in order with these parts as a possible option. I don't have much confidence that new Toyota parts with no adjustment is the solution.