Hey guys,
New to the forum but have been lurking for a while gaining some valuable information.
I have had the TH Wagon for about 10yrs. 3 years ago I moved to a place just outside Brisy and have to drive about 15km on windy roads at 80-100kph to get to outer suburbs.

Since the move I have noticed the outside edge of the passenger front tyre has worn significantly. Even after rotating, the tyres were shot after 40k. I have had the car to 2 suspension joints and there is nothing wrong with the front end and alignment is fine.

From this forum I realsied I was running tyre pressure too low and am now using 40psi. I have just replaced the tires Maxxis MAV1 225/50 16 on OEM alloys. (same tires as before that wore on the edge)

Tyre pressure has helped but I think the problem is in the rear end. The high speed driving causes a lot of body roll that can be felt in the front end when cornering particularly on the passenger front wheel.

The rear shocks are 50k old and work fine but feel soft. I have also read on this forum that rear sway bars are highly sort after for the TH Wagon.

Could someone please recommend a decent set of rear shocks and were to get them in QLD. Also if sway bars are the go, which is best for country driving. I don't want to lower the car or pay for full sport suspension. It really is only used for a kid moving shopping trolley.

cheers

Boge shocks would be a good choice on a wagon. Madmagna runs them on his wagon (albiet with lower/stiffer springs) and from his reports he seems quite impressed with them. If you have someone who can fit them, he can supply them (see the Mitsfix sponsor section).

Whiteline make a range of aftermarket sway bars. Any good suspension store should be able to stock them.

I could be wrong, but would narrower tyres help? The factory rims are only 6" wide afaik, which would make 225 width tyres are too wide - as a comparison Mitsu used 215 wide tyres on the factory 16x7" rims on the Sports models. If the tyres are bulging from being too wide on the rim, could that contribute to excess wear?

Have you also had any other tyres to compare with? I have a set of Maxxis MA-Z1s on my car, which are the model up from the V1s. Because they're performance-orientated, best case scenario they're good for 40-45,000km. I would assume the V1s to last longer but again I could be wrong.

40,000 Km out of front tyres isn't bad. The Magna is front heavy and pushes out - understeers - under spirited cornering. Also the front tyres do most of the braking.

Stick to 215 X 60 tyres to avoid the tyres from rolling over onto the shoulders and wearing them out quickly.

A rear sway bar will make a huge difference.
I had a similar problem with a KS wagon. This does not have a rear sway bar as standard.
Had a Whiteline one fitted.
Stops the rear of the car transferring weight onto the outside edges of the front tyres when cornering.
Massive difference in chuckability, but also substantially reduces the tendency of the car to understeer.
I cannot recommend this highly enough as a first suspension modification.
You are also making things much worse with wider than normal tyres on standard rims. The front tyres will want to move araopund more than normal because of the extra flexibility in the sidewalls.
Gerry

Thanks for the advice guys.
Unfortunately I posted on the forum a bit late and have already replaced the tyres. I am pretty sure I have the 7 inch alloys off a sport. I have the Advance model but the sport alloys were on it when I got it if they are not "standard". The tyres do not appear to bulge as you would expect if the rim was too narrow. The 225's were on it when I got it and have stuck with them. No tyre man has ever commented on them not being the right size. (Probably because they cost more)

I am thinking of getting the sway bar. Even if it doesn't fix the tyre problem it will improve the ride.

At 40k the tyres still had heaps of tread left just no outside shoulder which I thought was getting to dangerous levels.

thanks

Thanks for the advice guys.
Unfortunately I posted on the forum a bit late and have already replaced the tyres. I am pretty sure I have the 7 inch alloys off a sport. I have the Advance model but the sport alloys were on it when I got it if they are not "standard". The tyres do not appear to bulge as you would expect if the rim was too narrow. The 225's were on it when I got it and have stuck with them. No tyre man has ever commented on them not being the right size. (Probably because they cost more)

I am thinking of getting the sway bar. Even if it doesn't fix the tyre problem it will improve the ride.

At 40k the tyres still had heaps of tread left just no outside shoulder which I thought was getting to dangerous levels.

In a lot of reading, I've picked up hints that there's an art in wheel alignment and if the places who you've taken the car to are using "by the book" settings without carefully analysing the tyre wear, you may not have an optimum setup for your car and driving patterns.

While I think that the other advice you've got is worth checking out first, if you continue to have an inconsistent wear problem you might want to try and find a serious suspension operator rather than just a tyre fitter. Things like the front camber and caster settings can sometimes come into play.

A few things to note, unless the wheels are a TJ Series 2 set and are the VRX, they will be 6" wide, 225 are not a good thing on them

The wagon has a factory bar fitted, it is not a bad set up but it does only tie the rear arms together

The rear dampers play a massive part in the back end as they are a live rear end, I have tried everything from Std, KYB, Monroe etc etc and the best by a country mile ahve been the Boge. I do not drive the car often however when I do drive it is often through windy roads. i run Kumo KU31 and have perfect wear which is surprising given that since the front end went in I have not yet done an allignment lol

Another note, if I had tyres for 40k, I would toss them out and get something softer as hard tyres do not grip, especially in the wet

my TW wagon has done 71k and the original RE92s are still going strong, great tyres,

Peter

RobR,
Even though your car has a rear bar on it, my advice is that it is just not stiff enough.
Especially with wider tyres that are very unforgiving to bad bad wheel alignment of non-optimum suspension geometry.
I originally had a KS Verada manual touring wagon. I agonised for several months about the wisdom of fitting a rear sway bay. Did it, This is why I am strongly telling you to run, not walk to your nearest suspension place and get the thicker Whiteline or selbys bar.
If you have an OEM bar set up it is very easy to take the old bar out, slide the new bushes onto the new bar and bolt it back in.
If you are still running standard ride height you can do this on your driveway without even having to jack the car up.
Next improvement, IMHO, would bo to increase the front caster by changing the rear inner bushes on the front suspension arms. Bit more difficult and getting the arms off the front uprights is a bit difficult and you really need a press to get the old bushes out and new ones in.
I had these bushes start to break up on the KS so I had increased caster ones fitted. Dramatically helps tyre wear, also makes the steering a bit less sensitive and definitely helps roadholding. I did them about 3 years ago on my AWD and makes me smile every day!!

Summary :- FWD car in order.
First. Tyre pressures, try about 5 to 6 PSI more than standard. Look at the tyre wear pattern on the front and rear tyres. If you are not sure, post up pictures, tyre size and current tyre pressure to get a good idea of what to increase to.
Then in order.
1) Rear sway bar - This really should be the first modification
2) Caster bushes at front
3) Better shocks
4) Lower, do not go crazy, Magnas do not have muck front supension travel so you will likely regret going to something like Super Lows. King SPs or based on recent recommendations Dobinsons are the go. If your car is high distance also renew the bump stop rubbers at the front as well.
5) Optimise front and rear camber after lowering.
All these together help wider/ better tyres work properly.

Gerry

Again thanks for the info.
There seems to be some concern on rim size. I don't know what is standard for this model but they appear to be at least 7 probably 8 inch wide (running a tape across the inside of the rim). They have the Mitz symbol on the cap in the center which is why I thought they were factory. I may be wrong. They were on it when I got the car.

I took some photos but cant work out how to post them at this time. I'll look for the instructions and try and post them.

MadMagna. What is the cost of a set of Boge's for the rear?

Spud. Love the enthusiasm, but I cant justify spending the coin for all those mods. i will look at the sway bar though.

WytWun. I thought the castor and camber were non-adjustable. I have read that you can by camber bolts and caster bushes but will only go there as a last resort. I do agree with the suspension expert. If you guys know one in Brisbane please let me know. The last mob I took it to I "thought' were the experts and I nearly fell over when they suggested i take it to an expert. :nuts:



cheers

Those photos.

http://www.picturestack.com/733/946/tqdIMAG0028aMl.jpg
http://www.picturestack.com/733/946/6lEIMAG0029w2G.jpg