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Tire damage due to excessive negative rear camber that can't be adjusted

32545 Views 130 Replies 44 Participants Last post by  Jonnylowkon
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On a recent road trip our 2019 RAV4 Hybrid began vibrating on the highway. We pulled over and discovered that the left rear tire was damaged as it was cupped and missing much of the inside shoulder. The rest of the tire had approx. 5/32 tread wear. (3/32 is the minimum according to the tire manufacturer) We have been getting rotations every 5K miles at the dealer. All 4 tires had similar uneven wear, the current left rear being much worse.
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We replaced it with our full size spare and took it to a dealer in the area, they attempted an alignment; however, we were told that the left rear had excessive negative camber, this was not adjustable, and something was defective. They advised that we take it to the dealer where we purchased the car to see if they could do something. (Car is still in warranty)
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The dealer where we bought it new changed the struts and springs in an attempt to increase the ride height and decrease the camber with little effect. They said that it is now just within the "Acceptable" limit from Toyota so all is OK; however, at this camber the tire wears unevenly as evidenced by the tire in the photo above. We would expect it to be in Toyota's "Recommended" or "Preferred" alignment as represented by the smaller center green range. I understand that angles out of the recommended range can cause uneven tire wear. The replacement is also starting to show similar uneven wear after less than 1,000 miles.

What does a normal alignment report on a RAV4 Hybrid look like? Has anyone else had issues with uneven tire wear?
Would be very helpful if some of you could also post pics or results of your last alignment reports if you have them.

Thanks in advance.
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At about 20k miles I had tire cupping and really loud road noise. Had tires replaced and alignment redone (don't have the numbers since its been 10k miles since then). Toyota tech blamed it on the original tires being crap. They checked bearings etc and said they were all fine. Will be curious to see if it comes back in another 10k miles, if so I'll raise a stink.
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