So I felt an odd vibration on the steering wheel. Check the balance on the wheels, I thought. No biggie. I took a quick look and the tyres were down to the wire! They were only 20K miles old.
I went to the place where I got them (I think of them as a Western Auto, but they keep buying each other more often than banks). They inspected them and were very surprised that they were so far gone and so evenly worn. Not a problem of air pressure or alignment. They were perfectly worn, all four of them. Just that in 20K miles and not in 60K, which is what they were guaranteed for.
So they recognized they were responsible for 70% of their value (me having used about a third of their expected life) and I only paid under $200 for a new set of tyres for my truck. Not bad.
Still, I am puzzled as to what could have caused this. My first set of tyres (original from the factory, different brand) were also gone in mush less than they should have. They guy made a couple of empty questions such as “do you live in a place where you make a lot of turns?” (this is Puerto Rico, dude. Of course I do). I don’t run them too hard, I do not know what the screech of tyres sounds like in this truck. I am almost always on paved roads. I just do not drive my truck too hard (I always have at least one baby on board).
What could be causing me to go through tyres so quickly?
Is this a truck you use for business purposeses? What I’m getting at is whether you are hauling a lot of additional weight or have modified the bed of the truck for a particular purpose that has increased the weight of the truck. Such a thing will wear the tires out more quickly.
People that have conversion vans find that tires wear out much more quickly. The additional weight of the conversion and the change in riding characteristics affect tire wear.
What was the specific make and model of the tires, and what kind of car do you have? Was the guarantee of 60K from the tire shop, or the tire manufacturer?
If they are performance tires, it’s perfectly possible for them to be gone by 20,000 miles. A lot of manufacturers are putting high-performance tires on cars that really don’t need them.
The originals were Goodyear Eagle RS-A. No warranty.
The set I just went through (and the ones I got as replacements) are Dunlop Radial Rover. The warranty is supposed to be the manufacturer’s, but I bought the extended road hazard protection from the shop (go ahead, point and laugh. It just paid itself).
Were the tires irregularly worn within each tire? I know you said that the tires were each worn the same but plain alignment isn’t the whole story. You could have the outside or inside edge worn on each tire evenly if the alignment technician screwed up. If most of the tire has most of its tread left but the same part of each tire is completely worn, that is easy to explain. If all the tires were practically bald all over then that is a weird problem.
In my experience, the Goodyears that come with Fords and Chryslers are only good for 10-15K miles.
The first two sets I had were on '98 and '01 Mustangs. I wasn’t surprised that the rear tires were going bald after 10,000 miles, but the front ones were as well. They were never rotated. The replacement tires I put on still looked new when I traded the cars in at 30-40K. Both of these had Michelins that (I’m pretty sure) you can only buy at Sears.
Then I got a PT Cruiser convertible. I had two tires blow the sidewall before 5000 miles. They were both on the left side, so it’s not likely that they hit any curbs. The other two were bald around 12k, both on the right side of the car. When I turned it in at 36K, the replacement tires, including the two that had over 30K on them still looked new. The replacement tires on the Cruiser were Coopers.
Yes. Regular roads most of the time. Some are pretty messed up with potholes, but that means crawling at 2mph. Nothing that should eat the tyres.
The wear was perfectly even on each tyre. I check the alignment more than I should and I rotate the tyres every oil change (3k miles). Just picture what a tyre should look like after 60K miles on a well kept car. The guys at the shop were equally puzzled and they didn’t even try to weasel out of the warranty.
On the only brand new vehicle I bought in 25 years, a '97 Ford Ranger, the original all-season Firestones still had about 1/2 tread left (7/32")@ 40K miles, but their winter traction stank at that point.
I got over 64,000 miles on premium all-terrain Goodyear Wrangler AT/S tires.
My present Cooper Discoverer AT’s have 16K and look brand new.
My only other brand-new vehicle–a 1972 Ford-- had bias-ply Firestones that lasted only about 30K, typical of bias ply tires of the day.
I wouldn’t imagine this is happening to everybody around here. Otherwise it would be crazy of the shop to offer the warranty. Plus the guys at the shop wouldn’t have looked so puzzled.
Heh. None of the above. English is a second language to me, and although I have never lived anywhere in the Commonwealth, most of my schooling has been on British English, and most of my reading is from British media. I do “tyre” and “colour” but not “centre”. There are plenty other inconsistencies in my daily english. I try to clean up and choose one or the other for more formal stuff.
What is the treadwear rating number from the sidewall. It should be a number from somewhere around 200 upwards of 400. See pic to locate. Performance tires, or aggressive off-road tires can have very low numbers (200-ish) I would expect ideal conditions to stretch these low rated tires to 30k miles. All season radials should be rated over 300, and even higher. Once in this range, getting 45,000 miles should be expected…but it is just a guide.
No such numbers on mine. Where that should be, there is the load and pressure information. And nothing similar anywhere else. Is there a place where I could get those numbers from the model and size?
Wow, I would think that it’s a federal requirement to have those numbers listed. TireRack.com lists the treadwear rating for everything they sell. Huge site.
500 is the treadwear rating for Dunlop Radial Rovers, which is quite high.
But buyer beware!
*When looking at UTQG ratings it is important to realize that the Department of Transportation does not conduct the tests. The grades are assigned by the tire manufacturers based on their test results or those conducted by an independent testing company they have hired. The NHTSA has the right to inspect the tire manufacturer’s data and can fine them if inconsistencies are found. While most new tire lines have their grades established when they are introduced, they are allowed a 6-month grace period to allow the tire manufacturer to test actual production tires. Once a grade is assigned it must be branded on the tire’s upper sidewall and printed on its label.
Unfortunately, the rating that is of the most interest to consumers is the one that appears to be the least consistent. While the Treadwear Grade was originally intended to be assigned purely scientifically, it has also become a marketing tool used by manufacturers to help position and promote their tires.*