My Dads Rover 75, The Tyre Eater!

[pistonpopper]

This is my Dads Rover 75 Estate (incase you've wandered in here from outer Mongolia, its the one on the right!) He has owned it from new, and it has the diesel engine, and is an automatic. It usually has 'stuff' in the boot, but its not heavily loaded by any stretch of the imagination. The thing is that it chews through tyres at an alarming rate, it always has done. My Dad usually gets between 5,000 to 10,000 miles from his set of tyres, and to get this he has to swap fronts to back, left to right, and even rotate the tyres on the wheels! Strangely it's the rear tyres that wear the worst. It's always been like this, even when it was brand new. It went back to Rover several times who told my Dad that their was nothing wrong with it, and this was normal tyre wear! It's had the tracking checked literally hundreds of times, and it's always been ok. So i'm wondering if anyone else out there has a Rover 75 estate which chews through tyres as i can't believe that they all eat tyres like my Dads does. Also, if anyone knows how to fix this, share the knowledge please. Cheers

[sowen]

I probably get 20-30k miles to a set of tyres on mine mostly motorway and fast A/B roads.

Has it been 4 wheel aligned at a decent reputable specialist? Is you dad a closet street racer? Have you tried looking on the ZT/75 club forum for anything similar?

[markgenesis]

Damn it, i was expecting one of the rare Mustang engined RWD 75's not a Diesel Auto

[welshpug]

cheap tyres?

[Kieran]

Does it wear the tyres evenly or just the inner edges?

[surprisingskoda]

The posts above plus has it had the rear checked for camber or toe alignment (which isn not normally part of "alignment" checks.

[Dom]

That awkward moment when you realise your dad is a drug runner.
"To give ya Mum a nice holiday and that, son."

[sowen]

Aug 15, 2015 2:07:59 GMT surprisingskoda said:

The posts above plus has it had the rear checked for camber or toe alignment (which isn not normally part of "alignment" checks.

I had mine 4 wheel aligned at a local specialist after fitting a set of -30/40mm springs and a few bushes, they had a right job adjusting the rear and it still sits with a little negative camber on the back, tyres seem to wear ok.

[homeforsummer]

I recall reading somewhere that 75s need to have a full tank of fuel when the alignment is done too, otherwise everything is thrown out of whack as soon as you fill up.

[dodgerover]

If it's any help we got over 20000 miles with our mg zt on Ching ling bamboo and plastic specials which were the cheapest I could find. Are you sure nobody is swapping them when it's parked up?

[pistonpopper]

Drug runners a bit much... I could see him indulging in a spot of street racing though ha ha. He's had the alignment etc checked dozens of times at first by the Rover main dealer that sold it to him in the first place, then by other tyre shops and they've always said it was fine. He buys half decent tyres, I think at the moment he's running Firestones. The tyres wear on the inside at the back, and on the outside at the front, or vice versa. I think one of the rears wears more than the others. It drives and handles quite well, and when you follow it along the road it doesn't appear to be 'crabbing' or anything like that. Like I said, Dads had it since New and in the 13 years he's owned it it's always done it. It's very strange, thanks for your ideas and input guys.

[dodgerover]

If it's not wearing them evenly them there is an adjustment out somewhere our zt was absolutely even across the tread. Does it carry a lot of weight?

[retroade]

Street racing? In a diesel Rover 75 estate? The more I'm picturing it in my mind the funnier it gets!

Do you live in Milton Keynes / Basingstoke or any other new town that would have an abundance of roundabouts thus causing excessive tyre wear?

[ettorebugatti]

Giving the age, I would highly suspect the bushings in the suspension arms.

Also an issue on BMWs which have with similiar suspension.

[lusciousthelock]

My last new car was a little Kia Picanto and my front tyres only lasted 4k miles. I blamed heavy parking. The rears only lasted 10k though after being swapped to the front. I believe they were Hancock tyre's as standard.

I've never managed to get more than 15k on any set of tyres.

[fogey]

I run a 75 Tourer as a daily. I mainly only do around town stuff and yes it eats tyres - At the front, wear in the bushes and the main joint of the lower suspension arm can exacerbate this, as can knackered ARB drop links. These drop limks are a problem in themselves - many of the non-original drop links available now are quite simply curse word and many have been known to fail inside 6 months. Many owners on the OC site replace them routinely before each MOT !

[village]

he's not accidentally had left hand drive tyres fitted has he?

[Phil H]

Don't forget the good old Rover build quality possibilities..

Get a full alignment check done first by someone like Wheels in Motion (as has been suggested); a quick "tracking" check and adjust will probably do even more damage. If it's done it since new, either he's screaming the tyres on every corner or it just wasn't built right in the first place..

I believe these are known for knocking out the rear subframes?

[ChasR]

When you say it has stuff in the boot, what does it have in the back exactly?

[duggers]

there was a question on this in a recent edition of Practical Clasics and iirc there is quite sophisticated ( for Rover!) multi arm , meaning lots of bushes, rear suspension and as ususal Rover used curse word materials for their bushes. i'll see if i can find the issue and report to confirm or otherwise.