For the past few weeks I have noticed some shaking in the steering wheel. I did not know what to make of it.

Yesterday I happened to leave the car parked in such a way that the steering wheel was turned fully to the left, which exposed the inside of the left front tire to my view.

I was shocked to see that the inside edge of the left front tire was worn down to the steel belts, while the other two thirds of the tire had at least 1/8 inch tread on it. After seeing that, I jacked the car up in the front and shook the tire left and right and top to bottom. There was no play at all.

Does anyone know what problem this may be and how to fix it.

 

You need a balance and alignment.

 

Inside tire wear is normally caused by a CAMBER issue. Camber wear is uneven wear on one side of a tire and may show up when control arm bushings have collapsed, ball joints are loose, a spindle or strut is bent, or a strut tower is out of its normal position (due to factory misassembly, collision damage, body sag or severe corrosion). Another overlooked cause of camber wear can be a front-wheel drive engine cradle that has shifted out-of-position to one side. A weak or broken spring can also allow camber changes in the suspension that produce camber wear on a tire.

 

I have the same problem with my 2007 Taurus but it is wearing both of my tires on the inside edge. I rotated them to the back and so far after 10,000 miles the new front tires are showing little or no inside edge wear on them. Any ideas on what to do about this problem.

 

How many miles were on the tires you moved to the rear compared to the miles that are now on the front?

 

The tires that I rotated to the back had approx. 30,000 miles on them( probably 20000 of that on the front) and the ones that are on the front now have about 10,000 miles on them. They have been on the front now for 9,000 miles roughly. I have been meaning to take it to a dealer and have the front end alignment done but there isn't one in my town and I havent had time to travel to one. Is there something that I can check and maybe replace myself before I take it in and have them do it.

 

I would check for broken front coil springs. Even though Ford had a recall only on the 1999-2001 model front coils, there are numberous 2002-2007's that have had front coils springs break. I just installed full strut kit assemblies on my friends 2007 Taurus as he had one broker coil in the rear and one in the front. This was causing uneven tire wear. I did all four corners with new Monroe assemblies with Sensa-Trac struts. Fronts are Monroe part #171615 and the rears are #141616. I believe the cost was about $650 total from ROCKAUTO.COM including shipping.

 

I checked the front coils and they seem to be ok. I'm not a mechanic but couldn't see where they are broken. Any more ideas.

 

I think you need wheel alignment in your car. Basically you should do that once in a year. So if you will do that, everything will be settled down automatically.