Tires severely cupped at 39,000 miles

[Don Berey]

All 4 tires on my Crosstour are severely cupped. 3 are original and one was replaced at 27,000 miles. All are cupped.

At 33,000 miles both front wheel bearings were replaced. I brought in the car earlier this month and the adviser told me the bearing could have caused or contributed to the cupping. Now Honda is saying the opposite and is refusing to cover costs.

My questions is if the bad bearing could have caused the cupping. Also, what would cause the new tire to be almost as severely cupped as the original 3.

The car has been properly maintained. Tires rotated at proper intervals. An alignment was was done at 27,455 when the new tire was installed. The front end suspension was aligned at 33,135 miles. The dealer told me a few weeks ago that it did not need another alignment.

I am going to buy new tires but don't want to have the same problem again. If Honda was responsible I want them to accept responsibility.

[deathwish]

I'm assuming that if you've had a new bearing and alignment done, the chassis has been looked at, and there are no major issues there. Were the tires balanced when rotated? Poor balance can cause cupping.

Was the 27k and 33k alignment done by the same shop? Did they give you a printout of the before/after numbers?

That begs the question, did the cupping happen since the new tire and alignment at 27k? Or since the 33k alignment? If so, you may have had a poor alignment job done . . . that would explain why all 4 are cupped the same, the problem may have been caused for all four at the same time. Therefore the damage was done in the same period of time.

FWIW, I have nearly 141,000 on my Accord with the factory alignment. It's not something that should need attention unless there is damage, excessive wear, or major parts replacement.