Ford Focus/Mazda3 And 6
Uneven tire wear, cupping and feathering Bloomington, Shakopee

I leased and owned two Ford Focuses, which are the same as Mazda3's and 6's. Both of my Focuses experienced uneven tire wear on the inside edges and unusual tire wear known as cupping and feathering, which is when you run your palm along the tread and it has hills and valleys.

The first time this occurred I leased my vehicle through American Ford in 2001. I had been hearing loud road noise as though a semi-truck was always driving beside me. I hit a curb while making a turn and it knocked my alignment WAY off. I brought it to Sears (open on a Sunday) and had my alignment fixed and they rotated my tires as well. The noise then was real bad in the back of the car vs. The front.

I took it to Ford and they said it was the fault of Sears and the rotation. I went back to Sears and the gentleman explained that the rear tires are self-balancing and that the unusual wear had nothing to do with their work; it was pre-existing.

I bought new tires. Not cheap! $126 a piece because I had directionals. No more than a few months later the noise came back and there was cupping and feathering on the new tires already. I ignored it. I eventually turned in the lease for a purchase of a minivan and forgot about the issue.

In 2004 I purchased a 2003 Focus. Same thing. I was getting terrible road noise and there was cupping and feathering once again and excessive wear on the inside of the rear tires.

It happened one day that I walked out to my vehicle and saw how crooked the rear tires were. They slanted inward at the top. I took it to Apple Ford Shakopee where I purchased it, and they said it was normal and that I needed to rotate more often. I told them it was not normal. That it happened on a previous Focus. Lo and behold, they stumbled on a tech bulletin stating a stabalizer needed to be installed to correct the slanting tires. (I complained more than once before they found the bulletin. They tried to pass it off as my driving style.)

The stabalizer was put in and the tires were straight once again and problem resolved!!!

Don't let any Ford dealership talk you into new tires or alignments or rotations to "solve" the tire issue! Look at the back of your car from a distance and compare the profiles of the front tires to the back. Do they line up or do your rear (maybe even front) tires slant inward at the top? If so, hound your dealership to get a stabalizer in there and make them fix it at Ford's cost, not yours! You weren't there to assemble it. How is it then your financial responsibility? Manufacturer defect!!!

Company: Ford Focus/Mazda3 And 6
Country: USA
State: Nationwide
Site: ford.com

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