I had some irregular wear on the front tyres of my Red Spécial - more on the RHS than the left, and confined to the inner side of the tyre.

The local garage - normally OK for 2CVs - did the tracking for me a few weeks ago, but I'm concerned that I'm still getting a bit of irregular wear.

Can this be anything other than the tracking? 2CV suspension is pretty robust - good solid suspension arms, etc, - and I can't see what else could cause the wear.

I'd appreciate advice ......

I should add - the car is on a 2CV City chassis. And the roads round here are hilly and very winding, with loose gravel on every bend. It's a RHD car being used in France (ie I'm driving on the right....). The garage's advice was to have the tyre pressures slightly higher than recommended, and I've done that.

Suspension arm could be bent, suspension could be cross-loaded, tracking could be off and the 2CVCity chassis is a bit like a shitty 2CV chassis, the 2CVshitty chassis i bought was twisted quite badly, but this was corrected with 2 beams and 2 heavy men

if the rack hsnt been centered before the tracking was done , if the track rod ends are too loose or the ball ends worn, if the kingpin is worn, if the arm is bent from heavy kerbing if the rack is worn. If your chassis is a wobbly one or has poor alignment ( always measure the diagonals of the peg holes when doing a chassis change Ive never seen one More than 1mm out on the diagonal but then im not cheap on the major component of the car)

Dont pay for alignments do it yourself with a couple of axle stands and a piece of string! once you have it pretty much straight on run it for a few hundred miles and check for feathering on the tread. Ru your hand over the tread blocks and find which side of the block is sharp and which side is soft. If the feathers point to the outside of the tyre then lengthen the tie rod 1/2 turn of the adjuster Once you get the tracking set so there is no scrub with your normal driving ( as opposed to a empty car sitting in a tracking bay) itll be set for life. Works best on good tyres If youve scrubbed the tyres and then adjust, it can be a bit tricky to judge.

Thanks Sean, I'll try doing it myself. I've done it a good ten years ago, on a different car, with long strings and bungies to hold them tight, and at least I'll be able to check how things are at present.

Is the advice to set the front wheels parallel unless there's wear in the track rod ends, in which case go for 3mm toe out (measured at the front rims)? And to do this with the suspension arms supported on axle stands, rather than when the car is on the ground?

I appreciate you are suggesting checking again later, and I'll certainly do that too.

Lastly, does it really matter if the rack isn't quite central (and mine definitely isn't)? I can't recall ever having owned a 2CV where the steering wheel spokes pointed straight ahead when the wheels did. This one is about 5 or 10 degrees off.

well there shouldnt be wear in the track rods set everything parallell to start then feel the tread after a bit it'll tell you where it needs to be for your car.

All setting up should be done on a level surface wheels on the ground you dont even have to have the rear wings off - set the string so it touches, but is not deflected by the wheel humps i use an old set of caliper guages but a steel rule will do - measure the gap between the string and the rim.

Would this be of any help, or is it a hindrance?

tracking by slcchassis, on Flickr

I think it's a Dyane, Ken.

Mine is an Austin 7, with a similar problem, so I might have a go with this advice.
BobH

An Austin Seven is a major want of mine. Been looking for a decent Chummy for sub-£10k for a while now. How do you find the job of brake adjustment? Been told it's a bit of a faff.

On the basis that A7 brakes are just a bit better than a couple of sea anchors, I jack the whole car up on axle stands. Depending upon age/model release the tension on the wing nut on the cross shaft, then adjust the front cables using the screw tensioners such that the wheels are just "off binding" and run freely. Press the foot brake down a couple of times to make sure that the cable centralises and re-check the front brakes.
Now attend to the rear brakes, adjusting the tensioner on each side to give just a little 'grab' - same each side, then back off an equal number of turns on the tensioner and Press the foot brake down a few times, re-check.
Now check the handbrake and adjust the wing nut on the cross shaft such that the brakes just begin to bind after the 3rd or 4th click, and are rock solid when the hand brake is full on.
Points to check before all this is that the shoes are dry and free from oil etc. If you need extra leverage, re-make the steel shims on the ends of the brake shoes. Also check that the correct brake arms are fitted (rear longer than the front ?) also that the ball ends point inwards.