I just bought my 2007 Shelby GT500 in September with 12000 miles on it. I drove it from Indiana 8 hours to get it back home. It was a rough drive but didn't really have a choice road construction for hours. Potholes hell. Anyway when I got home I let loose the steering wheel on the interstate to see if it was out of alignment. It didn't seem to pull or vibrate. It sat most of the winter I started it occasionally but didn't drive it much. Then started driving it in the last few weeks. I had it parked covered under a carport outside. I hear this "whoomp whoomp whoomp" at low speeds sounds like a tire or tires. Finally it doesn't seem to be quieting down any so I checked my front tires. The inside tread on both front tires appears to be wearing and on the driver side the front tire only on the inside like half way round or so has a knot then flat bald spot 5 inches or so a knot bald spot knot bald spot and so on...and if you take your hand around the inside tread not smooth at all. What is that? Thanks Dan.
Bad tires is what it is. When you get new ones have the front end alignment checked. Also starting a shelby and letting it idle will run the battery down,,,you have to drive it to charge the battery. If you have to store th car for any length of time get a battery tender $20.00 and put on it. If the car sits for 3 to 4 weeks the battery will run down.
I just got back from the Ford SVT dealer that services Cobras in my area. They were very through I got a good deal on two factory size tires from Discount Tire two of them for $282 on Ebay. I think they are a few dollars cheaper on their website but I wanted them fast i.e. feedback on Ebay. And I got them 2 days later ordered on Monday got them on Wednesday. I also needed a inspection sticker as Indiana doesn't require one but West Virginia does. Also I asked them to check the alignment. To be safe. They took their time which I was fine with that. I was there 3 hours. The rims even with the curb rash from the potholes I hit when I brought the car home balanced out true with the new tires. The mechanic and service manager said that it was good I took the car in when I did as it had busted cords in the front drivers side. Both had decent tread but it was way out of alignment. They said that tire would have blown if it went much longer. I was charged a total of $92.xx for the tire mount and balance, alignment and inspection sticker. Plus he pulled up my warranty info as I have the free Premicare 3yr 36000 mile extended warranty with Ford at no charge because the bumper to bumper warranty was ready to expire just before I bought it. So that was nice. He said everything checked out perfect from tire tread to brakes to rotors. He said the only thing it would need in the future is an oil change. The only warranty work done was the gentleman that had it before me was older and he complained of noise in the car. Well being an 2007 I guarantee it. lol The engine, supercharger road noise, exhaust resonance probably drove him and his wife ape as they were much older. I'm use to the sounds. So he had the differential cover removed and inspected and put back. Nothing was replaced. That's all it's ever been in the shop for under warranty. That and I would imagine oil changes and those rear tires are new. So they said parking it probably didn't cause flat spots that made that tire do that. Probably was were the tire was around 50% tread and I nailed 1000 potholes after I bought and drove it home. I regret that but what can you do. If I had it all over I probably would have paid to have it delivered. But oh well. Its pretty tight I don't have any issues with it. If something comes up those guys have my back. They use to service a 97 cobra that I bought new some years ago and did a great job. I plan on leaving it bone stock. I might replace those front rims in the future. As the curb rash shows. Other than that I'm good. I appreciate all your info. Thanks. Dan
Inside tire wear usually indicates your car has negative camber, which can be due to the car being lowered. Has your car been lowered? On the Shelby GT's, the cars will wear the inner front tires due to the cars being lowered about 1 1/2 " when built by Shelby creating negative camber. You'll need a set of camber bolts, cost $30, or you can by camber plates, cost about $250. Unless you plan on tracking your car and making changes to the camber all the time, I'd forget the camber plates and go with the bolts. The camber bolts are elliptical in the middle and allow for adjustments to the camber vs the stock bolts which aren't. The bolts go in the top whole of each strut where the camber adjustment is made. I went with the camber bolts. While negative camber might make your car handle and track better when racing or tracking it, it is not necessary for street driven cars and you won't even notice a difference once the camber is properly adjusted back to factory specs. You shouldn't need more than two bolts, one for each side. You can obtain the Ingalls fastcam bolts here, as well as instructions for installation: http://www.ingallseng.com/81260-14mm-fastcam-bolts_pair.html The tire wear problem with the 2007-2008 Shelby GT cars is very common since they were lowered by Shelby American before delivery to the dealers.
Negative camber? The guy that did the alignment said the tires were either towed in or out but nothing about camber. And yes I remember I had my 97 cobra lowered how the front wheels use to sit and the service manager then said plates would straighten it up. But almost every picture I've seen of a 07 or newer GT500 they all sit like that on the front wheels. My guess is the weight of the cast iron block. I have not lowered my car and it doesn't appear to be lowered. But when I first noticed it sitting like that I thought it was just my Shelby and when I went online looking for pics I notices a lot of others doing it too. So maybe it's just the GT500's. But I will keep my eye on the tires if its chewing the tires off the front of it I will have to get some bolts or plates. Thanks Dan.
I replaced all 4 tires at 21K miles. All were worn on the inside edges & the middle & outside edge could have gone another 5K + miles (my opinion). The front pair were pretty gone though. I had Tucker Tire do the tires but my dealership did tell me that this is very common for GT500's. One note - Tucker Tire said to quit babying my car ... I should NOT be getting 21K miles on a set of eagles. Nice advice on the bolt thing. I'll look into that. ;8)
