Rear alignment issue, Dealer had to order part to fix it

[TankKiller95]

I have a 2025 Bronco Sport Big Bend with 18,000 miles. My tires are down to the wear bars already and have uneven wear. I took it to the dealer for alignment and inspection. They told me they. Can’t adjust the camber, driver’s side rear, enough to fix the issue and have to order a part so that it can be adjusted in to specifications. I asked what the issue was and the woman behind the counter said she didn’t know and speculated that I might have hit something like a pothole and something must be bent. However I was assured that my warranty would cover the cost of repairs. (Though I had to pay for the alignment). There are two inconsistencies with her story. 1) the wear is evident on both sides of the rear, not just the driver’s side. 2) If it truly was something I hit like a pothole or rock, then why would the warranty cover it?
I am wondering if anyone else has had this issue? Also, know that I haven’t taken it on anything worse than a rough gravel road or two and I drive slow when I do.

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[Robins21]

What was the part they had to order?

 

[thomasm23]

I have a 2025 Bronco Sport Big Bend with 18,000 miles. My tires are down to the wear bars already and have uneven wear. I took it to the dealer for alignment and inspection. They told me they. Can’t adjust the camber, driver’s side rear, enough to fix the issue and have to order a part so that it can be adjusted in to specifications. I asked what the issue was and the woman behind the counter said she didn’t know and speculated that I might have hit something like a pothole and something must be bent. However I was assured that my warranty would cover the cost of repairs. (Though I had to pay for the alignment). There are two inconsistencies with her story. 1) the wear is evident on both sides of the rear, not just the driver’s side. 2) If it truly was something I hit like a pothole or rock, then why would the warranty cover it?
I am wondering if anyone else has had this issue? Also, know that I haven’t taken it on anything worse than a rough gravel road or two and I drive slow when I do.

Have you been rotating the tires every 5000 miles?

 

[Brent@ANParts]

Also do you have any photos of the tires? I'd like to see the wear pattern if possible. If both are wearing the same I don't think it could be related to a single part on one side.

 

[TankKiller95]

What was the part they had to order?

I’m not sure. It was something that allows greater adjustment.

Have you been rotating the tires every 5000 miles?

Yes, sort of. I bought the BS with 4500 miles on it. It was a loaner. They changed the oil but I don’t think they rotated the tires before I drove it off the lot. Then I rotated them at 10,000 and again at 15,000. So wile I did every 5000 miles Ives been driving it, I do think the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle. But even the front tires are showing uneven wear on the outside tread.

 

[TankKiller95]

What was the part they had to order?

I’m not sure. It was something that allows greater adjustment.

Have you been rotating the tires every 5000 miles?

Yes, sort of. I bought the BS with 4500 miles on it. It was a loaner. They changed the oil but I don’t think they rotated the tires before I drove it off the lot. Then I rotated them at 10,000 and again at 15,000. So wile I did every 5000 miles Ives been driving it, I do think the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle. But even the front tires are showing uneven wear on the outside tread.

 

[Robins21]

Which tire brand was on it when you bought it Continentals? We had them on our Bronco Sport & was never thrilled with the noise they made on the highway. We replaced them at approximately 40K miles & went with BF Goodrich Trail Terrain A/T's & are happy with them.

 

[grubby1959]

I was having the same issue. I had a terrible wobble coming from the rear drivers side so I took it in because I "assumed" it just needed an alignment. The tire service rep took me to the back where it was on the lift and showed me that the drivers side tire had a significant uneven wear pattern, you could see the actual waves in the one tire. They also showed me that the CV joint was lose and would need to be repaired, along with all 4 tires that were only about a year old. I told them to repair the CV joint and I'll look around for tires. The CV joint repair was $512.00. AFTER I picked the up vehicle, a 4WD Fault light came on. I took it back to the repair shop and they told me they hooked it up to the OBD-II code tester and it didn't find an issue. Next, I ended up taking it to a Ford Dealership to have them check it out. They told me they found that the "rear speed sensor has gone out. Cost to repair, 7.5 hrs of labor including diagnostic $2,042.10 OTD". I called BS and decided to take it to a local car repair shop for a 2nd opinion. They found the exact same issue. The cost for them to replace the rear speed sensor???, $225.58 including labor. The repair shop said this is happening with a lot of the Ford vehicles between 70,000 and 100,000 miles, so beware. Also, beware of the dealerships charging 10 x more for repairs.

 

[TankKiller95]

Which tire brand was on it when you bought it Continentals? We had them on our Bronco Sport & was never thrilled with the noise they made on the highway. We replaced them at approximately 40K miles & went with BF Goodrich Trail Terrain A/T's & are happy with them.

Yes, they are the Continentals. Thanks for the tip! When it gets fixed I’ll be replacing the tires for sure! I had one shop recommend the Falken AT tires.

 

[TankKiller95]

Also do you have any photos of the tires? I'd like to see the wear pattern if possible. If both are wearing the same I don't think it could be related to a single part on one side.

This is my thought! The wear seems the same on both sides. I don’t know if you can see it in the photos but the outside of the tire is down to the wear bars, and the inside is not quite there yet. The front tires have less wear but, mostly because they spent less time on the rear of the vehicle, but still show more wear on the outside than the inside.

 

[Robins21]

Your description of how the tires wore it sounds like they were underinflated which would cause more of the outside of the tires to wear more than the center.

 

[TankKiller95]

I don’t believe that is the issue. For one, I check them at rotation, ans did the technician, and the tpms shows that they are at proper inflation level. Additionally, the wear is across the tires but gets worse as it approaches the outside of the tire.

 

[thomasm23]

I’m not sure. It was something that allows greater adjustment.

Yes, sort of. I bought the BS with 4500 miles on it. It was a loaner. They changed the oil but I don’t think they rotated the tires before I drove it off the lot. Then I rotated them at 10,000 and again at 15,000. So wile I did every 5000 miles Ives been driving it, I do think the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle. But even the front tires are showing uneven wear on the outside tread.

Then I rotated them at 10,000 and again at 15,000. So wile I did every 5000 miles Ives been driving it, I do think the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle.

What does this actually mean? If you rotated the tires, how can the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle?

 

[Dude]

Then I rotated them at 10,000 and again at 15,000. So wile I did every 5000 miles Ives been driving it, I do think the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle.

What does this actually mean? If you rotated the tires, how can the rear tires have spent the majority of their time on the rear of the vehicle?

I’ll take a guess:

At 4,500 miles: purchased vehicle
0-10,000 (10k rotate: rear tires to front)
10,001-15,000 (15k rotate: rear tires back on rear)
18,000 current mileage
Rear tires spent 10,000 + 3,000 = 13,000 on the rear

13k out of 18k likely is what OP is saying the rear tires spent in the rear position

we don’t know if the dealership used a recommended X-pattern to rotate:
Rotate: fronts to rear in straight pattern
Rears to front in cross pattern
Cold: 33psi front, 33psi rear

X-pattern can explain why “wear is evident on both sides of the rear, not just the driver’s side” as OP stated

They are Continental tires and many owners have reported their OE Continental tires needed to be replaced close to 20k

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