B-ran

So the previous owner of my car lowered. It has Koni adjustable struts. But I believe the springs are stock. It has been eating through rear tires at a freakish pace. My last set lasted about four thousand miles before the insides were just absolutely toast. I'd had it aligned (at a local Porsche dealership) three months ago when I'd had the new shoes put on. Two weeks ago I put on a new set of rears and took the car to a local indy who is known for setting up Porsche's for racing and road. I believe he is also the guy who my dad used for installing his replacement engine on his 03 cab. I took it to him the other day since I did not want to go back to the dealership. He called (or rather his receptionist who does not seem to know to much) and said that doing an alignment wouldn't help my situation. That the car either needs to be raised up or I need to install adjustable control arms. So my question to anyone out there that is running a lowered car, does this sound right to you, and what type of mileage are you typically getting out of your tires?

996AE

Have you had it aligned since owning?

If to low then alignment will be out of spec and cause adverse tire wear.

Need other bits to correct or raise.

A good alignment shop can tell you. Get a base line first. How far out of spec are you?

ejdoherty911

pictures? alignment readings? obviously something is off with your suspension set up. Tires on a vehicle properly aligned for street driving will wear evenly and last more than 4,000 miles. Probably 10,000 miles minimum. The cost of new tires is going to add up so you need to get the suspension fixed. Welcome to the world of used Porsche 911s , you either pay up front or pay as you go. To answer your question lowering a car will affect the alignment and, depending on how low, could adversely affect tire wear.

DBJoe996

Does sound correct - either raise it up or install adjustable control arms. My last set of tires aged out at 6 years/25,000+ miles with minimal wear.

JayG

Adjustable control arms or installing camber plates will give you the ability to get more camber. They won't reduce tire wear if the alignment is off

Lowering the car will increase your camber as well. Raising the car will decrease camber.

You need to get a good alignment. Regardless of lowering or raising, the alignment is not right for the type of driving you do
It sounds like receptionist (or the Indy) does not know what they are talking about

Lots of camber on a street car will cause faster tire wear. Toe also has an effect and lowering the car also effects toe

B-ran

Thanks JayG, I did have it aligned several months ago. But I was a little pissed that they didn't give me a sheet showing the alignment numbers, at a Porsche dealership no less (Hence why I won't be going back there at all). I guess what I'm asking is the fact that it's low make it not possible to get the correct amount of camber or toe, because that seems to be what the Indy is telling me (or his receptionist rather). I certainly understand that it being lower can change the camber and toe, but how does this make it so they cannot adjust it enough so that car isn't roasting through tires?

808Bill

Rotate you tires swapping rims in the meantime...left tire to right rim and visa versa until you get it fixed.

napoleon1981

I would refuse to pay for an alignment without a results sheet.

The problem with the 996 (and many cars) is that the toe and camber are adjusted together with one bolt that changes the position of the lower control arm. If you lower the car, the geometry is different and it becomes impossible to get both right.

Toe is usually more detrimental to poor tire wear than camber.

napoleon1981

That won't do anything. The problem is the same on the left and right side of the car, and the inside of the left wheel is still on the inside when mounted on the right.

Vdubjetta02

I am lowered 2" and my rear tires wear pretty normal. All other suspension components are stock.

Tires last me 10,000 miles because I like to get sideways often.


*I had a similar problem to you back when I lowered an Audi, even after alignment I was going through tires every 4-5,000 miles

B-ran

What tires are you using? So you're saying I need to get her *** out more and my tires will live longer? Sounds good to me! Lol

laphan

Well, mine is lowered with techart/bilstein and we could not get the toe adjusted properly (toe will eat your tires more than camber).
My solution was to get adjustable rear toe link. It cured my toe issue and even with -2.5 degrees camber, I do not see major degradation in tire life.
Got my adjustable toe links from Tarrett with rubber protecting boots, so far 2.5 years and no issue.

808Bill

Thought these where directional tires.
Then you take the tires off the rim and flip them so the inside is now the outside. Evening out the wear and lasting a little longer until you find a fix.

JTT

Damn, I don't know what kind of tires you guys run or on what kind of surfaces but 25K MILES! Really?

My car is stock height, aligned to the mildest spec, driving like Miss Daisy, and I can only get about 10,000 kms (~6000 miles) out of a set of rear Falkens. Maybe our asphalt is more abrasive up here, it certainly ain't the hot temperatures.

First Bridgestones that were on it when I got it wore even faster, but I put that down to excessive rear toe and camber.

B-ran

I thought of trying that Bill, but my contis are asymmetrical I believe, on the tires there is a little stamping that says "outside" on the sidewall. So I don't think that I can swap the tires. Unless the "outside" just means they don't want you driving indoors with them