[wcoen]

I don't have one (YET) but just wanted to ask, What happens if there is something that the car gets taken in for while under warranty, but it is not properly fixed before the warranty expires?

I had my car in for a noise and vibration on the left rear and it was diagnosed as a cupped tire. They didn't look at anything else. I had the car serviced and tires rotated at that time and the problem moved to the right front. So OK they were right. But after a while the left rear started acting up again.

It goes in the shop Monday and they are saying that it is probably alignment. All of my research points to a suspension problem such as a shock or something loose / broken. It would seem that if I had an alignment problem the front tires would be more of a problem. I'm not going to be happy if I pay for an alignment and the problem comes back again.

The big problem is that it takes a couple thousand miles for the problem to show up again, and I am close to the end of the warranty. If it doesn't get fixed before it expires am I just screwed? or do they have to fix it since it was reported under warranty originally?

 

[Rusnak_322]

Get an alignment done, Ford won't pay for it. Then see what happens over the next few thousand miles.

As long as you have an open issue, you should be able to get some relief. But like every thing with your warranty, it is very dealer dependent.


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[Howelldaddy]

They do 4 wheel alignments. It is possible the rear is out of alignment and the front is fine. There would then be uneven wear on the rear tires but not on the front.

 

[wcoen]

I can understand a rear alignment being an issue for uneven wear but with a solid axle rear there are no adjustments. And the problem is cupping which I have not found any reference that says alignment can cause this. It is caused by the tire bouncing up and down causing flat spots.

 

[MustangLife]

I can understand a rear alignment being an issue for uneven wear but with a solid axle rear there are no adjustments. And the problem is cupping which I have not found any reference that says alignment can cause this. It is caused by the tire bouncing up and down causing flat spots.

BING!! "...but with a solid axle rear there are no adjustments...." This was what I was thinking as I was scratching my head. I don't think you can do a 4 wheel or rear wheel alignment on these cars as they have a solid axle. I have always been told only the front can get an alignment with a solid rear axle. This makes sense as well.

Sounds like you may have either had a bad tire which yes can happen and good brand tires have warranties or like you are wondering it could be a suspension issue.

What you need to do is get the local dealer to work up a open warranty issue and I would ask for a copy so once you are out of warranty you can show you had the issue while under warranty and they should fix it still. Notice I said should.

 

[crjackson]

Any worn or damaged component that connects the wheel to the car (wheel bearing, shock absorber, springs, bushings, etc.) can cause this condition.

 

[candersen]

The question here is why did the tire cup? With a straight axle rear, the only reasons would be a shock problem or a tire balance issue. Are those tires still on the vehicle? If so, you many never get any further as they have already been implicated and will continue to be a suspect unless the problem occurs with a new set. If the issue goes away for good, then the issue was obviously the tires, but if it returns? Then you should be able to escalate the issue with Ford. But if all this happens after the warranty expires, then you are at the mercy of the dealers goodwill policy. Warranty coverage after expiration only applies to VERIFIED vehicle defects where a previous repair has been attempted. As your issue was blamed on the tires, it doesn't qualify as it isn't considered a vehicle defect.

 

[stevegt2012]

Bad shock, bad spring or tire out of balance or worst case would be excessive camber caused by a bent axle housing. Nothing to adjust back there in the factory configuration.


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[PMDmustang13]

Not sure if somebody else pointed this out. But if you have a cupped tire and you moved it to the front right and then you have another cupped tire then unfortunately I would not be wasting time with getting an alignment until you get new tires.

But I do understand you need to determine why the first tire was cupped and then if the 2nd tire was cupped. Or are they all?

How many miles on the car? On the tires? Is the suspension stock?

When you have an alignment done you want to have a 4 wheel alignment so you can check the thrust angle on the rear end/axles to make sure within tolerance. The only way to change the thrust angle is with adjustable LCA's I believe.

 

[wcoen]

Not sure if somebody else pointed this out. But if you have a cupped tire and you moved it to the front right and then you have another cupped tire then unfortunately I would not be wasting time with getting an alignment until you get new tires.

But I do understand you need to determine why the first tire was cupped and then if the 2nd tire was cupped. Or are they all?

How many miles on the car? On the tires? Is the suspension stock?

When you have an alignment done you want to have a 4 wheel alignment so you can check the thrust angle on the rear end/axles to make sure within tolerance. The only way to change the thrust angle is with adjustable LCA's I believe.

I don't want to get new tires because the car would just mess it up again After the tires were rotated the cupped one went to the right front. It shook for a couple of weeks and then it smoothed out. So I have no problem anyplace but the left rear. During this rotation the one that was just fine on the left front was moved to the left rear and after a few thousand miles it started to cup. They are doing a rotation now and I'm sure if they don't fix it the good tire off the left front will start to cup after it is moved to the rear. My problem with that is that it may not get bad enough to be an issue before the warranty expires. My plan is to contact corporate as soon as it comes out of the shop to make sure it will be covered.

I talked to them today and are still talking alignment (the service writer). ALL tire wear is related to alignment. He wanted to charge me $29 to check the alignment and then if its out it would be $89 instead of the $29 to do the alignment. Since the check is grasping at straws to troublehoot I told him that I shouldn't pay for them to troubleshoot when what they are doing doesn't cause the problem. Finally convinced him to not charge for the check (threatened to go to corporate). If they do the alignment there better be something that was out of spec and not just "it was a little off"

 

[5.0 Coyote]

This is just my $02,as a mechanic for 35 years,if they can't trouble shoot a problem they can't find the solution to your problem,the mechanic that is working on your Mustang, has to be paid weather he is seeking the problem, or fixing the problem.Diagnostic has one charge,and repair has another charge,I can see your frustration and I can also understand the dealers standpoint of view.I would have the alignment checked and reset if necessary,I think you will then be happy.

 

[PMDmustang13]

I found this interesting video about tire cupping. Maybe this will be of some help.

Based on what you have described possibly you have a bad shock on the left rear? I would have somebody drive your car on the interstate and you follow and see if the tire is jumping up and down at highway speeds and compare to the rest of your tires.

 

[candersen]

I talked to them today and are still talking alignment (the service writer). ALL tire wear is related to alignment."

I understand your frustration, but you need to understand that if the tech has checked for defects and found none, they "the dealership" need to rule out the most common issues first as part of the diagnostic process. Alignment really is the problem in 99% of cases such as yours, and it can be knocked out by bumping a curb, bad pothole, and even just happens over time due to suspension settlement. It is a good practice to have an alignment performed every year just as preventative maintenance. After all, it is far less costly than replacing expensive tires 10K miles sooner than you should have.

That being said, it seems clear one hasn't been performed on your vehicle at least since this all started. Why wasn't this done after the last tire rotation if cupping was found? You could have ruled alignment out then if the cupping came back in the same location. And at the same time it would have ruled out tire balance, the tire, the wheel, etc if the problem returned in the same location. See? It is a process of elimination - problem moved? Tire or wheel suspect. Problem gone? Alignment. Problem returned in same location after alignment? Then either axle or suspension problem in that location - further investigation needed to pinpoint. You can't jump to the end and get the solution you were looking for without following the proper steps to get there. I know it sucks, especially if you can't trust the service writer or tech working on your vehicle, but you need to let them do their job the correct way or this could last FAR longer than you OR they will want.

Eliminate the obvious, and go from there until the culprit is found and dealt with. This isn't Minority Report - we can't see the answer before the problem occurs.

 

[wcoen]

This is just my $02,as a mechanic for 35 years,if they can't trouble shoot a problem they can't find the solution to your problem,the mechanic that is working on your Mustang, has to be paid weather he is seeking the problem, or fixing the problem.Diagnostic has one charge,and repair has another charge,I can see your frustration and I can also understand the dealers standpoint of view.I would have the alignment checked and reset if necessary,I think you will then be happy.

The mechanic is getting paid by Ford since it is a warranty issue. But they ended up doing the alignment that I have to pay for. The only thing they adjusted was the toe. It was dead on for the total, one side was in a little and the other side was out a little so the steering wheel wasn't perfectly straight. But not anything that would make the tires wear. And definitely nothing that would make the rear tire cup.

So as soon as I pick it up in the morning and have all of the paperwork I will be contacting corporate. I'm not going to wait till the warranty runs out and pay to fix it myself. Now I have to wait till the good tire from the front that was rotated to the back starts to show symptoms.

I have attached the alignment sheet. If anyone can see where what they did will fix a rear tire that is cupping please show me.

 

[wcoen]

I understand your frustration, but you need to understand that if the tech has checked for defects and found none, they "the dealership" need to rule out the most common issues first as part of the diagnostic process. Alignment really is the problem in 99% of cases such as yours, and it can be knocked out by bumping a curb, bad pothole, and even just happens over time due to suspension settlement. It is a good practice to have an alignment performed every year just as preventative maintenance. After all, it is far less costly than replacing expensive tires 10K miles sooner than you should have.

That being said, it seems clear one hasn't been performed on your vehicle at least since this all started. Why wasn't this done after the last tire rotation if cupping was found? You could have ruled alignment out then if the cupping came back in the same location. And at the same time it would have ruled out tire balance, the tire, the wheel, etc if the problem returned in the same location. See? It is a process of elimination - problem moved? Tire or wheel suspect. Problem gone? Alignment. Problem returned in same location after alignment? Then either axle or suspension problem in that location - further investigation needed to pinpoint. You can't jump to the end and get the solution you were looking for without following the proper steps to get there. I know it sucks, especially if you can't trust the service writer or tech working on your vehicle, but you need to let them do their job the correct way or this could last FAR longer than you OR they will want.

Eliminate the obvious, and go from there until the culprit is found and dealt with. This isn't Minority Report - we can't see the answer before the problem occurs.

Why wasn't an alignment done when the tires were rotated last time? Because they didn't recommend it. It wasn't until I picked up the car that they told me the reason for the noise and vibration was a cupped tire. After that is when I did the research to find out why. (and even then found zero references that point to alignment). No uneven tire wear except for the cupping.

And thinking back to it, it probably should have had an alignment done under warranty then because they changed both front lower control arms for the bushing problem.

 

[PMDmustang13]

Unless I am missing something (A lot of words to sort through) it appears you now have enough information that something at the left rear tire is causing the left rear tire to cup. Assuming that the tire was diagnosed properly as being cupped.

Test drive the car on the highway as I have already suggested to see if the left rear tire is bouncing up and down differently than the rest. If so likely a bad shock. Then ask the dealer to do the same and have them change the shock.

And yes they probably should have aligned your car after replacing your front lower control arm bushings.