Rear tire wear on the outside and insides of the tires, but not in the middle
Hi,
I got in an accident last year and was hit hard in the right rear side of my truck. I got the car back in February. The truck was repaired and given back to me, I am now experiencing rear tire wear on the outsides of the tires and a little on the insides. I have had 3 people look at it, they all say it's maintenance and that's crap. The tires were all at 8.8 tread and now are at 4.7 and 4.6 in the rear and 7.0 and 6.7 in the front. So there is definitely a problem after only 8 months of needing new tires in the rear. What are the possibilities of causing this?
My car has 500
Experienced mechanics share their insights in answering this question :
Without looking at the tires and going on you saying the tires are wearing on the outside edges of the tires I would say your tires were driven with the pressures too low or overloaded on a regular basis. Here is a web page for you to see a picture of tire wear patterns and causes.
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Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced mechanics :
What can cause edge wear? If the outer edges of the tire wears faster than the center, the tire is likely underinflated, says Popular Mechanics. Follow the tire pressure recommendation on the side of the tire and add air to the tire as needed.
Suspension components like shock absorbers, struts, bushings and others wear out with miles travelled. The result can be a tire that is no longer able to roll smoothly down the road; instead, it bounces slightly. This bouncing creates uneven points of pressure on tires, leading to tire cupping.
Front tires wearing on the outside edge is usually a result of aging coil springs. As they lose height, so does the vehicle, causing the whole suspension to misalign, especially in camber. If the leaf springs are also sagging or wearing out, they cause caster misalignment, which may worsen the situation.
Excessive wear on one side of the tyre or patchy, uneven tyre wear patterns may indicate a problem with the vehicle suspension. This kind of wear can occur when the alignment or camber geometry of the wheel is incorrect or when suspension components such as bushes or dampers are in poor condition.
A rear wheel drive vehicle will wear its rear tires faster than its front tires due to the drive (pulling) wheels being on the back of the vehicle. Most vehicle manufacturers recommend rotating your tires every 5000 to 7500 miles. An easy way to remember to rotate your tires is to do it with every oil change.
Tire cupping is a type of uneven tire wear that appears on the tread of the tire as a series of abnormally worn patches among less worn parts of the tread.
The extent to which the tire tread has been carved out at its low points determines whether recovery is possible. In advanced cases of tire cupping, there is no available “correction.” So it`s crucial to recognize a cup wear pattern early on, and understand the causes of tire cupping so you can avoid it altogether.
No, you can`t fix uneven tire wear once it has occurred. Wear comes from the stripping away of the rubber of the tire itself, and that can`t be replaced. If you notice uneven wear, you can take steps to prevent it from getting worse. But if it`s severe enough you`ll need to replace the tire.
Outer Edge Wear
Wear on the outer edge of a tire is rare these days, but it does happen. Positive camber, caster and toe can lead to wear on the outer edge.
Miles wise, you should be able to get at least 20,000 miles out of your front tyres and 40,000 for your back tyres. However, this depends on a few factors, chiefly: The quality of the tyre itself.
Camber is described as negative when the top of the tires tilt inward. Consequently, when the top of the tires tilt away from the vehicle it is considered positive. Camber is used to distribute load across the entire tread.
Since nitrogen molecules are bigger than normal air molecules, it is harder for them to leak out. This means a tire filled with nitrogen will maintain air pressure longer. Therefore, they say, you`ll roll on tires that are always properly inflated, resulting in better fuel economy and longer tire life.
What Is Tire Feathering? Tire feathering (sometimes called tire scuffing) happens when a tire wears down at an angle – more specifically, one side of a particular tire rib or tread block has worn lower or smoother on one side versus the other side.
Cupping on the inner edge of the tread is also an indication of bad ball joints. This cupping is not usually visible, but should be noticeable by touch if a hand is run over the tread of the tire.
The most likely first symptoms are a lower, sagging ride height, or the selectable ride settings that no longer function. Other symptoms include a rougher, noisier ride, and sloppy handling through corners and over bumps.
Unlikely. A vibration when braking is usually break system related or sometimes, but no often, a worn/loose suspension component.
In short, running imbalanced duals increases the odds of a blowout on the overloaded tire and significantly shortens tire life on the underinflated tire. Industry data has shown that the pressure difference at which this becomes an issue can be as little as 5 psi.
Your tires need rotating to prevent uneven wear. Front tires will usually wear on the outsides due to hard, consistent turns. The wheels in the back will usually wear less because they just follow the front tires. You should rotate your tires every six months to 8,000 miles depending on their make and type.
#1 – Causes of Tire Failure: Under-inflation
This problem is compounded when driving at highway speeds during hot weather for long periods of time. When the tire gets excessively hot, the rubber begins to degrade, which if driven on long enough, leads to a rupture in the sidewall of the tire, or tread separation.
So: Camber and caster will cause your vehicle to pull if they`re uneven, but will cause little tire wear, while toe in won`t cause your vehicle to pull, but can cause extremely fast tire wear. This is why your vehicle can pull and not wear out tires, or it can drive perfectly straight and destroy them in a hurry!
One tire that is wearing faster than the others can be a sign of a larger issue with the suspension system, which will only become further damaged if it is ignored. You should always schedule an inspection as soon as you notice that one tire is wearing faster than the others.
Normal tire wear simply looks like evenly diminishing treads around all parts of the tire that make contact with the ground. It`s when the treads wear unevenly that you have a problem.
New tires or factory tires wear out quickly because car manufacturers use soft rubber for their tires. This soft rubber wears out much faster than aftermarket tires.
Relevant Questions and Answers :
the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue
Rear tire wear on the outside and insides of the tires, but not in the middle
ANSWER : Without looking at the tires and going on you saying the tires are wearing on the outside edges of the tires I would say your tires were driven with the pressures too low or overloaded on a regular basis. Here is a web page for you to see a picture of tire wear patterns and causes.
The inside of rear wheels have more wear than outside
ANSWER : Yes, the inside tire wear is most likely attributed to the negative camber setting that can be accelerated by excessive toe-in as the tires are competing to determine the track of the vehicle. If you do get the alignment you can ask for the least amount of negative camber as specified by the manufacturer and the least amount of toe-in and this will give you the least amount of inner tire wear without affecting the vehicle’s handling characteristics. If you want to have this looked at and diagnosed, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to your home or office to inspect your tire wear issue and recommend the appropriate adjustments.
Rear driver side tire is slanted, causing wear on the inside.
ANSWER : Hi, thanks for writing in. Camber on the rear wheels of your vehicle is not adjustable. Your vehicle was set up at the factory with fixed negative camber in the range of one-half to to 1 degree although values as low as 0 degrees (i.e., no camber) are acceptable for certain wheel diameters. With negative camber, the top of the wheels are leaning inward (again, by design) which lean will tend to wear the inside tread of the tire, just as you are observing. Regular rotation of the tires, every 6,000 miles, tends to minimize that effect. I would ask the shop if your camber exceeds 1 degree negative. If it does not, then the solution (to tire wear) in your circumstance is more frequent rotation of the tires. However, if the camber exceeds 1 degree negative, the suspension parts are worn, bent or damaged because camber was set at the factory based on OEM parts. If camber is no longer within the allowed range set at the factory, obviously one or more parts has worn out although it possible the frame could be damaged, too. Before considering aftermarket fixes, you have to confirm that there is no way to restore the measurement to that which it was built with originally. If you would like help, consider having an expert automotive technician from YourMechanic come to your home or office to inspect your vehicle for you and speak with you about what’s going on with the car.
Inside edge of tires wearing out too fast
ANSWER : There is a technical bulletin from the manufacture to check the alignment camber, and if the camber is out of specification, replace the right rear lower control arm to correct the alignment. As far as the other tires, you should have the complete system alignment checked, and if out of adjustment then the suspension checked for damage or worn out parts. Your camber is out of adjustment if it is wearing on the inside or outside of the tires. Make sure you get the alignment done at a place that has a state of the art newer machine, and not some old machine that may make things worse than they are now. Alignments need to be very precise to keep the tires from abnormal wear.
Constant inside tread wear front tires
ANSWER : Unfortunately, many sports cars will experience some inner edge wear on the front and sometimes back tires as well. This means that the vehicle has positive camber designed into the suspension. When a vehicle has positive camber designed into the suspension, this will enable the vehicle to take corners better and will provide some more stability during harsh manuvers. If you are very concerned with the tire wear, I would recommend having your vehicle aligned out of specification to make the wheels more towards the zero mark on the front camber. This may however affect the way the vehicle handles and is not recommended under normal circumstances.
Right rear sets lower than left side pulls to right with tire wear on rt. Front outside of tire
ANSWER : You should have the entire suspension checked for sway bar links that are broken. If the links are broken or bushings are worn out then the links should be replaced.
Tires are wearing out from the inside
ANSWER : If you are under factory warranty then you may be able to have the dealer correct the problem for you. The camber is too negative and will need an alignment. If a camber kit is needed then the dealer may install it for you if you have less than 12,000 miles. A camber kit is needed since the manufacture puts in a set camber angle to keen them from having to do an alignment on every vehicle that is on the assembly line. Your vehicle may be one of them that is different and needs the alignment done.
If a tire is plugged twice right beside each other, would you be able to see if it had been plugged from the outside of the tire?
ANSWER : An inspection is only as good as the time spent and the person doing the inspection. I can say that a plug may be hard to spot. If the plug was there for a while, then it would be road worn and even harder to spot. If the dealer wanted to do the right thing then they should help you out with a replacement tire. However, various dealerships will obviously have different policies for handling these types of situations.
