Front wheel alignment
 

This has been mentioned before but your Escape may have a factory set alignment that is not neutral. I took my vehicle in and the local independent alignment shop vertified mine was in need of adjusting. I'm in good shape now.

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

Wouldn't an alignment shop want to do an aligment if you take it in? They may not be the most objective place for this info. It's kind of like how Jiffy lube says of course you need an oil change at 3,000 miles.
If your Escape tracks/handles ok and tire wear is normal, shouldn't the alignment be ok?

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

It is my understanding that Ford does set the alignment specs so the inside of the tire will wear but helps prevent rollover. Some have posted in the past that some type of modification was needed to solve the problem.

When I first got my '05 FEH I had Goodyear lifetime rotate and balance as well as bought road hazard protection for the Eco-Plus tires. Had them also check the alignment and it needed an adjustment and I got the warranty. A few thousand miles later I noticed the inside wear and brought the '05 back to Goodyear. The owner and manager told me that it was still within specs and that the Escape has that problem.

I noticed the inside tire wear stopped when I increased the tire pressure at or above 44psi. No inside wear on my '05 Michelin Latitudes at 44 - 50psi. My alignment was not changed since the first time.

GaryG

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

There was wear on the inside of the tires. GaryG posts in previous years about this alerted me to this possibility but I never had it checked out. It was in the Ford specifications but not neutral. I's assuming this is true for all 2005-07 models. Someone with a newer version needs to chip in and lets us know if this still exists.

The local shop has been own by the same family since the 1940's. They are well thought of in this small town in Southwestern, Pa.

I normally run my tires between 43-45 psi. I did have a slight modification to neutralize this condition.

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

The fix for the front wheels for camber adjustment is cheap. Unfortunately it comes with no such adjustment, but all you need to buy is a couple of cam bolts for around $20. These replace a bolt at the bottom of the strut where it mounts to the front axle as I recall. Mine wears bad on the inside but is within Ford spec. I'm going to install these bolts and then talk to an independent shop about a better setting.

The rears tend to be out of line, too particularly camber. This is just my observation having tailed many Escapes. The rigs seem sorta tired, the tops of the wheels obviously leaning inward. I figure if you can see it just looking at it, then it's pretty significant. The fix for the rear is adjustable upper control arms. Those are considerably more expensive at something near $60/ea, but it's possible. I still think it's just shameful that Ford didn't see fit to equip camber adjustment as standard equipment.

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

I should have stated I did have a 4 wheel alignment performed today.

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

I'm noticing now that I have wear on insides of the front tires at 30k miles with rotations at 10k miles. Guess I will look into the 4 wheel alignment that Billyk mentioned.

Any new information on this issue in the last six months?

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

Looks like I need a "camber kit" for each front wheel at $20/ea plus installation labor. After that, the front end alignment runs $65 from my local independent front end shop. Going to do it on Monday.

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

Don, Ford set those specs to help prevent rollovers because of no RSC. I eliminated inside wear with higher air pressure in my '05 FEH. Are you sure you want to alter your alignment?

GaryG

Re: Front wheel alignment
 

Gary, not sure, kind of confused about this. There's really noticeably wear on the inside edges of the original (front) tires right now. The wear is visible enough that friends have commented on it. I rotated the tires every 10k miles in an "X" pattern including the spare. I've run 38psi on average since new. Don't want to go much higher in psi because I drive a lot of rough dirt roads and the ride gets pretty harsh.

What would you suggest? What psi are you running?

Won't we all need camber kits eventually to align the wheels?