# Cupping / heel-toe wear on the insides of my rear tires...spacers to blame?



## Nihilator (Nov 6, 2004)

So I've got bad cupping on the insides of my rear tires.
I'm driving a MKIV wagon. The car has Eibach Pro-Kit springs for a modest 1 1/4" drop, and Koni yellows on the softest setting. In addition, I'm running an Eibach 25mm rear sway, and spacers...8mm up front and 20mm in the rear.
The tires are 205/50-17 Avon Tech M550 M/S (Ultra-high performance all-season) on OEM Arietta rims. I have them rotated front-to-back and balanced every 10k. I'm just past the third rotation, so the tires on the front now have seen 10k + 10k of time on the rears, and are NOISY, especially when passing through 20mph.
I've read the archived posts with "cupping" in the title, and the consensus seems to be that MKIVs *will* cup tires without frequent (every 3k-5k) rotations. Things that might make this worse include a poor alignment and blown rear shocks, neither of which are a problem on my car.
My questions are: If the rear sway and spacers were making the cupping worse that it would be in a stock car, would an alignment show them to be a problem? Will frequent rotations cure the problem? 
I really don't want to get rid of the spacers...they really help set the car off. But if it will *greatly* help the cupping, I'll do it.
Any suggestions?
--Chris


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## Alex @ Tire Rack (May 3, 2005)

*Re: Cupping / heel-toe wear on the insides of my rear tires...spacers to blame? (Nihilator)*

Sounds like toe issues, rotate more like every 3-5k to prevent the wear, can you check your alighnment adn post the specs? Spacers may have contributed, but are likley not the root issue. Are they hubcentric? Can you post tire wear pics?
Alex


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## Nihilator (Nov 6, 2004)

*Re: Cupping / heel-toe wear on the insides of my rear tires...spacers to blame? (Alex @ Tire Rack)*

May be a little bit before I can get the alignment checked.
The spacers on the rear are hubcentric, I believe. They're H&R's.
I'll post pics when I get the chance. Next bit of warming we get, I'm going to rotate the tires front to back (to get the quieter tires up front, and to keep them from getting cupped), and *then* I'm going to swap the rear tires side to side. 
I know I'll lose some traction efficiency and water removal by running the tires backwards, but I want to try to "erase" the heel-toe problems on those tires. Would that have the desired effect, or am I just going to wind up in a ditch when my rears slide out from behind me in a rainstorm?
--Chris


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## Nihilator (Nov 6, 2004)

*Re: Cupping / heel-toe wear on the insides of my rear tires...spacers to blame? (Nihilator)*

The spacers *are* hubcentric.
No alignment check yet...haven't had the chance.
But here are two pics. This tire has spent 10k + 10K on the rear. This tire most recently had been on the front, but the noise forced me to move it back to the rear...I put it on the *opposite* side, so it's running against it's rotational direction. I'm hoping to erase the toe-induced heel-toe wear.

















--Chris


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