so I was getting cupped tire wear on front tires of a new xB. Took it to the dealer under warranty, they said it was due to misalignment, they did an alignment and rotated the tires. problem is not solved, the newly rotated tires on the front are rapidly cupping. Has anyone else had this problem? I don't read much about it here, so I assume it doesn't happen often.
I want to cross-rotate the tires to even out the bad tire wear. The service advisor told me this was a bad idea but I didn't understand his explanation. Is this true? should I avoid the cross-rotation?

 

TireRack's rotation guide at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=43 recommends two types of rotation for FWD cars, both of which involve crossing.
However, the rotation diagram on Page 203 of the Scion xB Owners Manual shows no crossing.

I doubt if if makes much difference. However, cross-rotation requires lifting all four wheels off the ground. For the owner rotating tires with jacks in his driveway, it is much easier to follow the non-crossing Scion diagram using two jacks on one side of the car at a time.

I have found a second jack very useful. Go to an import car junkyard and look for a jack from an older Honda Civic. Might have to look at several cars to find trunks that open and have a good clean jack. It is a scisoors jack with a top plate similar to the xB jack. I have collected 3 of them so far, at a cost of only $5 each.

I also have small and large hydraulic floor jacks, but don't use them on the xB because it is sensitive about lifting points. Hydraulic jacks also should be backed up with car stands, and it is hard to find enough safe points to use both jacks and stands at the same time. Two scissors jacks on one side are easiest on the car and serve as jack stands, too.

 

every 6000 miles is recommended for a tire rotation....cross rotating is better...discount tire offers life time rotate & balance for around $60....best thing ever......
proper rotation and inflation will prolong the life of the tire along with alignment...i would call the dealership tell them your going to take it to another shop to have it checked out and if it needs aligned you would like paid back ......

 

I have had the same problem with one of my previous cars. It was caused by a combination of lowering the car and swapping on wheels and tires that were bigger and wider.

The problems was later improved by getting another suspension setup, which was a little lower than stock but much higher than the setup that caused the cupping.

Also, some tires cup much easier than others. In my case, it was Yokohama Prada2.

 

what exaclty is cupped?

 

Why is that, and why does the rotation diagram on Page 203 of our Owners Manual show only swapping fronts and rears without crossing?

 

A wear pattern of little scallops all around the edge of the tire.
It is a product of normal wear that occurs from the tread blocks being pushed into the grooves between them.

Frequent rotation of the tires to other positions will even out the cupping wear and ensure the whole thickness of tread is used evenly.
Severe and fast cupping of the whole tread face also can be caused by things that allow the tire to bounce or wobble as it rolls, such as bad alignment, worn shocks, loose bearings.

 

I'm running 17's and dropped 2" and I have the same problem and still haven't found a solution!

 

Simplest thing to do is to check the toe in with a laser pointer or laser level against the side of the front tires and see where the dot points - it should converge on a point WAY down the road like about 500 to 1000 feet for a degree of toe in. If you have cupping on the inside you may find that you are toed outwards. If you dropped the front end you need to check the pivots of the steering linkage and how it aligns with the lower A arm pivot points so that you are not creating an alignment problem as the suspension angle changes.

 

i had the same problem, installed a camber kit i bought off ebay for 20 bucks, problem solved.

 

UMMMM, they should have replaced the worn tires under warranty. Not made you have to deal with them. It's not your fault they wore funny.
I'd get Scion Customer Service involved if the dealer won't take care of it.