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Tyres nearly worn through after 3.5 months!

3K views 38 replies 8 participants last post by  KNIEVEL77 
#1 · (Edited)
I had 4 brand new Pirelli P Zero Nero tyres fitted to my 156 SW at my main dealers just over 3 months ago and from day one they just haven't felt or sounded right, let alone one of them losing about 10 PSI of air every week. Today I took it to my local tyre specialist only to find that both front tyres are nearly down to the core on the inside edge.

Would this lead to the excessive noise i've been hearing and more to the point how and why have this set been wearing so badly yet there was no problem with the previous set? Could it be a faulty batch of rubber?

And finally as the car has been serviced by the very same on the button everytime and any advisory acted upon immediately would you that the two front tyres would be replaced by the dealer/supplier as they are so new?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
 
G
#2 ·
It does sound like the alignment may need adjusting, especially if your last set were better. However, I ran these tyres on my 2.0 147 a few years back, and after even, but appalingly quick wear, I vowed never to go near Pirelli ever again. I'm a Michelin man now.
 
#3 ·
Agreed, it's going in on Tuesday and they have suggested doing an alignment check on the machine that they have!

TBH the previous set wore quite well bearing in mind that 99% if my mileage is on the motorway!

I only went back to Pirellis as thats what the car originally came fitted with!
 
#4 ·
I had same tyers on mine had simlar problem with uneven wear. When I got my tyers changed recently I had my tracking checked etc and was fine so must be the Pirelli P Zero Neros.
 
#11 ·
My advice is take it to another tyre fitter. Some equipment could be reading wrong at the dealer or not calibrated. (and yeah they will all swear blind that it is)

I had a set of tyres put on (although Toyo's on another car of mine) the wear after a similar mileage was crazy and the car was always pulling to the left. Took it to the garage 3 times, they took it for a drive and rechecked the alignment etc, still they said all was perfect. I took it elsewhere and got the alignment checked, they said it was out.

Stormed to the other garage, spoke to the boss, told him the situation and his guys giving me a false answers because they did not do the job properly in the first place...After 10 minutes of calm discussion he got me two brand new tyres, all fitted and tracked correctly for FREE.

Annoying but the outcome was pleasing.:cheese:
 
#12 ·
Well as they are the only garage who have touched the car and as they fitted the tyres and as it has been back to them several times regarding my concerns about the tyres, I would hope they will do the decent thing and supply me with 2 new tyres come what may.........they can't say that I haven't been on to them about it!
 
#17 ·
That's your answer then.

Firstly you need to get the toe adjusted, this will solve most of the inside wear on your tyres. Make sure the toe is set at zero degrees, it used to be minus two degrees, since revised by Alfa Romeo as this setting was causing too much inside tread wear.

Second avoid Pirelli they're absolute rubbish.

Third I'd take it to a good tyre outlet that you've used before, generally dealers are barely adequate for general servicing but as far as consummables such as tyres are concerned they'll often hike the prices and care very little for how it's done. The fact that you were losing 10psi a week from one tyre shows this. That is unacceptable, and dangerous. Remember your life may depend on tyres being fitted correctly, clearly that wasn't done properly before and I would seriously consider confronting the dealer with the facts!
 
#18 ·
Cheers lads.........I only went for Pirellis as thats what the car came originally supplied with and P Zero Neros because my thinking was that if they are good enough for the Alfa 8C then they must be good enough for my 156!

I'm taking it down to our local Performance Centre to get the alignment checked to see what they say before giving it back to the dealers to sort out!
 
#19 ·
Had the P-Zeros on the front of my 53 facelift 156SW 2.4JTD a few years ago and thought them rubbish, at the time Goodyear GSD3s with the v shaped tread were the best for the car, so as soon as practical all four were changed.

As for the revised settings are you confusing a wheel alignment issue with the well reported probs with the 159? When the 159 is running on 18s or 19s and the alignment is set to parallel they tend to stop eating tyres?

I never had a prob on the 156 and it was always set as per Alfa's recommendation. From what KNIEVEL77 has said about springs guess the geometry is out?


Rgds

Phil
 
#20 · (Edited)
These are the front toe settings for the 156 taken straight from the handbook (facelift 156 November 2005):

Turismo etc (standard suspension): -1, plus/minus 0.6mm

Veloce/Ti/Sport (i.e. if it's lower than standard): zero, plus/minus 0.6mm

The settings were revised on the 156 due to excessive inside tyre wear (the previous settings were -2).

The issue of 156 tyre wear and toe settings has been discussed many times on here before.
 
#33 ·
The Performance Centre that sold me the Sportlines suggested that as the car was already 9 years old that the original springs would no doubt have sagged so much that fitting the Prokit might in fact raise the ride height rather than lower it hence going for the 40mm drop Sportlines.
I'm sorry but that is one of the most ludicrous sales pitches I've ever heard:lol::lol:

Good luck with it though, hope you get it all sorted.
 
#35 ·
Right........just got back from having my alignment checked by my local Performance Centre prior to taking it to the Main Dealers tomorrow!!!!!!

The print out shows that the Toe is out on both wheels by a massive -0/41!

Lets hope when the dealer checks it they get the same readings!

However am I right to think that you should always change both tyres on the same axle instead of just one?
 
#37 ·
Update!

The car has been back to the dealers and after checking settings they agreed to fit 2 brand new tyres and realign the relevant components free of charge..............nice to see a main dealer admitting fault and offering to rectify the problem hassle free!

It is now driving like a brand new car!

:thumbs:
 
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