Here's a solution to inside edge tire wear on Ford focus all models: The primary reason is too much camber for too little weight.

This causes the tires to travel on the inside edges rather than on the tread surface. Ford did not make camber setting adjustable, so you have to modify a suspension component, the upper control arm to hub connection point.

Ford will not do this for you. Purchase an aftermarket “camber bolt”. I used the Specialty Products Company part number 81310. I think this is the most common and found at local auto parts retailers, and on the internet.

The following instructions are for this bolt, to remove “negative camber”; i.e. make the wheel perpendicular to the ground (or almost). The kit comes with 2 bolts, each with 2 “washers”, and nuts. The 2 bolts are used on the upper control arm where it joins with the hub, one on each side of the car. The installation is as follows:

1. Set the parking brake. Break the lug nuts free. Block the front wheels. 2. Jack up the rear of the car, and support with floor jack stands. 3. Remove the rear wheels 4. Remove the bolt from the upper control arm. 5. The weld nut is still on the hub, and must be removed. This is the only tricky part, so take your time. I used a “Drummel tool” with a cut-off wheel. I had a 90 degree drive on the drummel tool as it improved control, and allowed easier access. Wear safety glasses. The weld nuts have 3 points where they are welded, as seen by an imprints on the collar of the nut. The object is to cut only 1 weld free. Cut where the weld nut joins the hub, in effect, sliding the cut-off wheel between the hub frame and the weld nut edge. After making as deep a groove as possible without getting close to the brake line (be careful); I used a hacksaw. Remove the blade from the hacksaw and reassemble in place with the blade below the brake line and the frame above the brake line. Take your time and saw carefully between the weld nut and hub frame. Eliminating 1 weld spot and making a grove is the objective. When you have sawn as much as possible, remove the hacksaw. Take a small cold chisel that will fit down into the grove, and give it a whack. The cold chisel acts as a wedge to separate the parts (objective is side-ways pressure). The other 2 weld spots will pop loose. Weld nut gone, and “hard part” done. 6. With the drummel tool cut a notch on the top edge of bolt head, aligned with the high-cam lobe on the bolt body, so I could always feel where high-cam was in the future (make sure it had not moved for some reason). 7. Coat the bolt shaft and cam with anti-seize lubricant (for the future). Leaving the “washer” on the bolt, with the big tab pointing out, install the bolt. Make sure the little tab on the washer fits into the hole on the hub frame (this is the adjustment mechanism). The cam on the bolt now sits inside the upper control arm bolt hole. 8. Install the washer (big tab out, little tab in hub frame bolt hole) and nut. Thread on the nut until the little tabs cannot escape from the hub bolt holes (but not tight). 9. Rotate the bolt head until the notch (high-cam) is pointing to the center of the car (away from you). Keep it in this position. 10. Rotate the washer big tab with a punch and hammer. Take your time. Be careful of brake line and brake bleeder valve. If the big tab is toward the center of the car (away from you on the back side of the bolt) you will have extended the hub frame hole to its maximum outward position. In effect you have “lengthened” the control arm, making the hub more vertical. 11. Tighten the bolt. You’re done.

Now would you like to know what the new camber setting is? If yes, here’s a layman’s way of checking. If done properly I bet it’s more accurate than a 4 wheel alignment for $75. 1. Take the car around the block to allow everything to “settle in”. 2. Park the car on level ground. 3. Take a 2-foot carpenter’s level. Stand it on-end next to the wheel. Make sure the bubble shows it is absolutely vertical. Holding in vertical position, measure the distance to the bottom edge of the wheel; measure the distance to the top edge of the wheel. The wheel edge may have some surface contours so position the car so the same contour on top and bottom align vertically. There should be some measurable difference. In my case, the top distance measured 1/8” greater than the bottom on each rear wheel. I have 16” wheels, so multiplying each by 8 gave a ratio of 1:128. The question is what degree of negative camber does this represent? 4. I’m terrible at math, so I went to the web… http://www.1728.org/gradient.htm Select “RATIO”. Enter “input rise” = 1; Input run = 128. Select “Calculate”. My car now has a negative camber of .447 degree. For the 2009 Focus the range is 0.0 – 2.0 according to local alignment shop.

If the results are not to your liking, loosen the bolts and tap the washer around until correct degree is achieved. To my knowledge it is not required the rear wheels have exactly the same camber (shops only seem to care that each is within range). If you would like to know how successful this is, you could perform this same measurement before starting the job; allowing comparison of before and after.

There are many considerations for the desired amount of camber including weight typically carried in the rear, aggressiveness of driving, etc. The internet is full of good articles.

If the inside edge of the tire is not only wearing but also “cupping” (also called “feathering”); then worn suspension parts may be the cause. Most common is the shock absorber. My opinion is, with an entry level vehicle, Ford did not spend too much on the rear shocks. These are easily changed to an aftermarket product with more responsive characteristics. But, removing negative camber will always help as the entire tread surface is now in contact with the road, not just the inside edge.

Good Luck.

I purchased this vehicle last yr, a 2009 Ford Focus with 18,000. I have had it one yr and it now has 28,000 and I had to replace all 4 tires???? Tires should last longer than that. I have been informed that this will happen again if I do not regularly have an alignment and balance the tires. Really, I was out of town when this happened. I purchased 4 new tires and will have to pay another business to rotate them, balance them as I do not live where I purchased the tires. I was unable to drive the 360 miles home without buying new tires. I have written a complaint to Ford, but I do not think they will help me. I no longer have the tires, but did not realize others were having the same problem! Worried for the future with this vehicle.

We bought a 2009 Focus new off the dealer lot. I'm on my third set of tires at about 31K miles and those are worn 3/32 already. We have done all the needed maintenance and have documentation. (rotated tires, had alignments, etc. )

Had a go around with Ford customer support. In the end after weeks of back and forth they said there was nothing they could do because all the alignments were within specs.

Something is obviously wrong here. Never had a car go through tires like this. I think Ford knows there is a problem but don't want to publicly admit it. I gave them every opportunity to make this right and they hung me out to dry. Have been a Ford customer for over 20 years but no more.

Around the 20K mile mark, I noticed noise coming from the rear of the car. I had it checked for a bad wheel bearing, but this was not it. When I hit 30K, I took it to the dealership and they said the rear tires are no good. Because I hadn't rotated them, they claimed this was the problem. I had them do a 4-wheel alignment, and only the front was out slightly. At 34K I purchased 4 new tires and plan to rotate them each oil change. I have NEVER had to rotate tires this often to 'even' out the wear. Something is definately wrong with the design; especially when I read a lot of others are having the same problem.

Prior to buying new tires, I removed each rear tire to inspect them. The face of the tire was so wore so badly that it would not stand on its own but immediately fall over - the tread face was wore that much.

I purchased my focus in April 2009. I noticed the factory tires wearing odd. So in August 2010 I took it in and had the tires rotated and alignment checked. The company said the alignment was out a tad bit but NOT worth the cost to fix it. So all that was done was rotation of the tires. I went back in November of 2010 and purchased new tires. (60,000) at $600.00. Now this should not have needed to happen on a year old car. At this time I had like 20,000 miles on the car. I have gone in regularly for my tire rotations. Went back Feb 2011, and then June 2011 the regular scheduled 5,000 mile rotation. It is now Oct 2011 and it is time for the regular tire rotation and oil change. The tires have worn so bad since Jun 2011 that they are cupping on the inside of the tire. The 60,000 wear tire is now shot. The company said they have heard many complaints on the Ford focus same complaint from all customer that come into them. This is a GOOD YEAR tire company. So i'm currently having them do an alignment check again. Another $50.00 that a NEW CAR shouldn't have to have done. Had I been told that Ford Focus is notorious for this problem I wouldn't have just spent $600.00 on brand new 60,000 mile wear tires. Seriously. Why would you make your car wear tires like this and expect us consumers to have to pay $800.00 out of our pocket to fix your problem. Ugh this isn't right. Not happy with FORD right now. I've grown up with Ford as our name in our family. Come on now. Get with it!!!

I noticed a couple of months ago that the front left tire was wearing faster than the others. I checked out a search for premature tire wear for the 2009 Ford Focus. Last week I made an appointment with the Ford dealership where I had purchased the Focus. I explained to the service manager about the problem. I also explained about my internet search about the problem An hour later he came out to the customer waiting room and sat down to explain what was happening. He also showed me a computer printout of what the settings were before the alignment and after the alignment. All four tires were pretty well off. At this time I had less than 19,000 miles. He explained what happened. This car is very light regarding its weight. One pothole can get it out of alignment. I will admit I have hit a couple of potholes, and in my area where I live some of these roads are in pretty bad shape. I live near Champaign, IL, and my state is NOT doing a good job keeping our roads in shape. After the alignment I took a trip on I-57 S leaving Rantoul to Champaign. I noticed a much better ride.The car did not move side to side as bad. When the roads get a little snow-packed or icy this car doesn't do a good job on the road. I will have to change some driving habits. I still have a high regard for my Focus. It does get 38 mpg on the highway. It also came with a really good stereo system, and I love the Microsft SYNC program. In closing it would have been nice if the dealer had told me of this problem. Ford knew about this. If you should have this problem get to your dealer and tell them before the tire/s get worse.

I bought this Focus new in July of 2009. Had oil changed and tires rotated at 7800 mi. at Ford dealer. Had an ny inspection and oil change at dealer w/12000 mi. Did not have tires rotated as it was not time (every 7500 miles). At about 16500, I began noticing a thumping/ oscillation that was most noticeable < 40mph. Took it to the dealer at 17500, and they told me there was excessive cupping/chaffing on the inside of all 4 tires, and because I didn't have the tires rotated at exactly 15000, there was nothing they could do. They refused to rotate them again, saying that would make it worse.

I'm 61, and I've owned a lot of cars, and I've never had to be concerned with being that precise about tire rotation (most cars both front and rear wheel drive, I never rotated them, and I got good mileage from my tires)

A couple of nights ago, out of curiosity, I 'googled' 'excessive tire wear 2009 ford focus' and I found this site and many others with hundreds of complaints similar to mine; people only getting 10-20k on a new set of tires etc. After reading a few postings, I feel that Ford must be fully aware that there is a problem, and my dealer was using overdue rotation as an excuse to avoid liability for the problem.

I love the Focus other than this and I don't know where to turn to get this remedied.

Purchased 2009 brand new in April 2009, in May 2010 purchased 4 new tires with only 10,000 miles on the new tires we had to replace the tires again Jan 10, 2011 all 4 tires were worn to nothing. When we were shopping around for new tires we were told that the Ford Focus was horrible on tires! This type of information would have been nice to know before I purchased this car but of course the dealership won't fess up to the problem! Needless to say, I will think twice before purchasing another Ford (Fix or Repair Daily!)

I went to Country Ford was told I had to get New tires, alignment and that should take care of the problem ($500). I got tires then I was off to get the alignment were I was told that I might still have the problem that there wasn't really anything wrong with the alignment, but they tweaked it a little (maybe so they could charge me 85 bucks). I was told that the problem with my tires wearing on the inside might continue to happen. I don't get it I have my tires rotated every time I get a oil change. So, I might have to do this again. They told me if I wanted to pay 800 bucks for the parts that I could have my tires wear evenly. I called Ford and told them I have had this car a year and how is that my problem that the tires wear like this in 20,000 miles! I love Ford, but this is straight up wrong!

hi there i am a disabled man who as to have my car modified with a switching unit for hand controld so as you can tell this car is needed as i cannot drive any other car.i have gone in all the time to ford about the tracking and tyres they have kept saying they are fine .it went for its first check and they said they wanted to see my car back after 300 miles to check the wear .i took the car to ats who told me it was about a mil from being condemed and that the car should not have worn like this .i have been all weekend wothout it fixing and they say i will have to pay for it .i dont think this is fair as i bought the car myself and look after it .it as not gone over a pothole and as not been used as a boy racer car i am disabled.what can i do now my 1st year warranty runs out on the 26 sept so isnt out of its first warranty yet.

i feel ripped off and cheated .its disgusting .me and my dad are going in on mon the 13th to speak some harsh words i will update later i am not going to pay because this is a fault with the tracking not me .i will take them to court first .