Tire Wear & Roof Checking

Comment

Comment by Oneoftheguyz on November 26, 2010 at 3:09pm

Believe it or not, front tire wear can be improved by changing the rear springs! I have a car with new rear springs I originally put in for better handling and less body roll in the corners. before the spring change, I had similar wear issues with the front tires. An unexpected added benefit of the spring change is reduced understeer (Push), which reduces the side wear on the front tires, and makes the steering lighter as well. The car now has over 60K Miles with much better wear and ride. I recently changed wheels and tires to a very different aspect ratio, but the difference was evident with the alloy wheels and original equipment tires. Here's a tech link: http://www.3guyz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=118

Comment by Robert Ricewasser on November 26, 2010 at 5:36am

Go over to www.smartcarofamerica.com and research the roof crazing issue. From what I have read, smart has a new replacement roof from a different supplier. Make sure you get the updated roof as a replacement. I live in Southern California and so far my panoramic roof has not had any issues.

Comment by Michael Everett on November 25, 2010 at 11:56pm

The Continnental brand tires have a bad wear rating. They are soft tires. My rear tires picked up a ton of nails and screws. I switched to Kumho tires. They have more pressure in them and give a stiffer ride but no repairs after 10,000 miles. Will switch the fronts soon, and will brand shop them as well. My roof has developed some checks as well?

Comment by Tony on April 10, 2010 at 9:07pm

Hi Dave. I've had no issues with my tires, I did a swap to "all same size" early part of September 2009 ahead of the outSmart the Dragon event. The car handles much better now with all 15" front now the same as the back is stock. I think with about 23,000 miles I will be replacing my rear tires in about 5 or 6000 miles. I think by the end of 2010.

As for the roof. The roof is made of a polycarbonate material. It seems that in some of the excessively hot climates such as Florida Texas and Southern Cali, this issue showed up first. I had my roof replaced I believe mid October 2009 due to the spider cracking, crackling, hazing, ... so many names. Basically it cracked up but didn't break. smart replaced it under warranty. I was told that if I had to pay for it, the cost would have been over a grand. Wow. They gave no clear reason why it did what did, but did not give me any issue with replacing it.

Comment by Bum-Bling-B on March 11, 2010 at 10:05pm

I've had two roofs replaced on 2 of my smarts. At first the dealer was surprised to hear of something but it is now beginning to be a common problem so they are a bit more used to it.