# Tire wear pattern, alignment or shocks? (pics)



## Norrick (Jun 26, 2014)

Girlfriends 2005-ish Altima has very bad tire wear on the inner half of the rear tires. The baldest sections of tire are scalloped in addition (represented by the dark/light alternating patterns).

*Is It Shocks/Struts?*
I haven't noticed her tires bouncing around when driving along side her (my thought on scallops was a tire dribbling along like a basketball from worn out shocks/struts).

*Alignment?*
There is noticeable negative camber when viewing the car from directly behind (did not notice until I saw the tires and inspected). My thought is, "oh its alignment" but not really sure why it would be scalloped? What about bushings? Can worn out shocks cause bad alignment (gas charged ones behave somewhat like mini springs don't they??)

*Can Bearings Do This?*
Also I have noticed that it sounds like she needs new bearings (that low constant droning whirring sound) in the rear. Not sure if that could have any effect on tire wear.

Or of course, could it be a combination of everything? I'm fine with fixing whatever it is, but I am not the best at diagnosing, and I know mechanics are trained to upsell upsell upsell. She has taken it to one place so far and they recommended replacing the shocks/struts (I don't remember which her car has) and having an alignment done in addition.

Any help is much appreciated.


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## kbmike520 (Jul 11, 2006)

I have just over 250k mile on my 06 3.5 SER. Everytime I saw that wear on my rear tires it was a combination of my shocks and the rear camber. The rear shocks are really easy to replace as all it take is three bolts after the tire is removed. 

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