Two and a half years ago, I replaced all four tires on my car and splurged a bit by getting the 75K mile version. I have not been the best at getting them rotated regularly, but other than that, I didn’t think things were going too badly.
Just recently, I noticed that the tread is nearly gone on the right tires, but only about halfway worn down on the left tires. It’s so noticeable that replacing my tires again (30,000 miles and at least three years early) is now on my list of priorities.
Honest, I don’t drive around in circles all day long, so what could have caused this strange wear pattern? The treads on the individual tires look evenly worn, but when comparing the two sides, it’s disconcertingly obvious.
The car is a 93 Tempo (I know, I know; I’m never going car shopping with Dad again), and the rear struts probably need replacing. Alignment and brakes are just fine. The clutch was recently replaced at just over 100K miles. Any thoughts?
If your car is right-hand drive I suggest that the excessive wear on the right side tyres is due to the extra weight of the driver. Try sitting in the passenger seat (front) and driving the car from there.
If your car is left-hand drive I have no feasible explanation.
It’s possible that your tires on one side were under inflated, causing them two wear early. Maybe of the four tires, just two weren’t inflated correctly, and they happen to be on the same side.
If it’s four wheel drive, some alignment and balancing issues could lead to premature wear. It could affect one side more than the other. Especially wear on the tire shoulders on one side of the car.
If you have had the tires rotated even once (just fronts to rear and vice versa), and you have an axle that isn’t posi or limited slip, and you like to do burnouts, you would wear out one side first.
Has your car been in a bad accident before? You could have a bent frame and your car might not be driving straight down the road, leading to all sorts of tire wear issues.
there are other types of alignment that need to be checked. They are called ‘toe’ and ‘camber’. Toe is the angle of the tire in the horizontal in relation to the front of the car. Camber is the angle of the tire in the vertical. Camber is probably the culprit in the uneven tread wear. The top of the tire is closer to the car then the bottom of the tire means it is not sitting on the ground correctly and you get excessive wear on the inside portion of the tire. If the top of the tire is farther away from the car than the bottom than the outside of the tread will show the wear.
If this is happening on both tires on the same side, it could be that the car hit a curb parallel to the sides of the tires. The best solution is to take the car to a Firestone or Goodyear shop and make sure they check the camber as well as the toe alignment.
The tires have been rotated all of one time in the last two and a half years (bad phouka! bad phouka!). The wear on the tires themselves is very even. It’s just that the tires on the right side look like they’ve been used three years longer than the ones on the left side. (I swear they were all four brand new when I got them. Had the little rubber threads poinking out and everything.)
If I understand the crown question correctly, I would have to say that no, the roads out here don’t have a high crown. SoCal tends to have very flat roads. Mostly, they scrape off the three inches of top soil and put asphalt on the bedrock. Or something like that. No drainage or snow problems to require crowned roads.
I’m thinking at this point that Philster may have the correct answer. I’ll check tire pressure later today or tomorrow. At any rate, I suspect it’s time for me to sink some more $$$ in the Grey Fuzzy Bunny Car of DEATH.
If you bought the expensive 75K tires you should get some refund for their early demise, especially as you seem to have been very careful in your maintenance. That mileage figure they throw around is supposed to be a guarantee, not an estimate.
Sounds doubtful that you’ve underinflated the tires on that side only - and if you did, the wear would be uneven across the face of the tire, not even. Since you describe the wear as uniform in that direction, the problem would almost have to be in your alignment - forcing the right side tires to scrub a little instead of rolling true. But I can’t explain why the left side isn’t also showing the trouble because of that.
Have you noticed any tendency for the car to pull to one side a bit? If you get a clear, level piece of road, and take your hands off the wheel (just a little bit), does the car go straight ahead like it should?
You don’t drive in the left hand lane do you? I was just reading about this, don’t know if it was here or not though, and cars are made to drive in the right hand lane, US of course so the right side is slightly lower. So if you tend to drive in the left lane it might explane it. I don’t know if it’s really true or not though.
I had very bad tire wear because my front struts needed replacing, in addition, my tires were constantly going flat on me. I would run by 7-11 about every two weeks to get those tires inflated.
Hey I was too involved in my emotional problems to want to sit (for the umpteenth time) and get my tires repaired. Happens when you work for a construction company headquarters, lot’s of nails and screws around there.
Anyhow, I suggest an alignment and have them look at the struts/shocks. Chances are those are the two problems. If the car has ever been in an accident, it can change the way your vehicle will sit on the tires. I have this problem on my 93 Accord, the left tires wore sooner than the right tires. My car sits more heavily on the the driver side than the passenger side, always has and I have noticed some things that lead me to believe it had been in an accident as I bought it used. (heck I am under 135 lbs so it can’t be a larger body that has created this, at least not mine.)