Causes of uneven tyre wear

obi_waynne

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What are the causes of uneven tyre wear and what do they mean?

1) Wear on the outside edge only
2) Wear on the inside edge only
3) Wear on the middle of the tyre
4) Wear on both outside edges
5) Worn out patches around the tyre in places - not even wear around the tyre.

What causes these symptoms and what can you do to correct it?

Here is my take on a few of them, feel free to add explanations to the others or refine my suggestions.

1 & 2 are caused IMO by tracking issues, getting the toe/camber set should correct this
5) is caused by heavy braking or faulty ABS sensors where a wheel locks up.
 
I had a massive flat spot on one tyre on the astra when i went round a corner and a merc was overtaking another car coming right at me. No ABS, inexperienced, big cloud of tyre smoke. Quite an experience
 
3. Over inflation
4. Under inflation

5. Failing suspension dampers and/or worn bushes very commonly cause this type of wear

1 & 2. Yes, edge wear is generally caused by geometry issues. Incorrect camber will cause EVEN edge wear, incorrect toe will cause the tread blocks to 'feather'.
 
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1) Wear on the outside edge only-too much toe-in.
2) Wear on the inside edge only-too much toe-out.
3) Wear on the middle of the tyre-over-inflated.
4) Wear on both outside edges-under-inflated.
5) Worn out patches around the tyre in places - not even wear around the tyre.-this I would put down to several reasons, tyre out of shape, wheel out of shape, possible worn suspension I'm not so sure about as this is random.
 
It's probably also worth noting that in the UK, cars will trend to wear the nearside tyres more quickly.
 
The front nearside tyre will always wear slightly more on the outside in the UK and Aussie and anywhere else who drives on the correct side of the road (;-> as we always go round roundabouts the same way.
 
I had a massive flat spot on one tyre on the astra when i went round a corner and a merc was overtaking another car coming right at me. No ABS, inexperienced, big cloud of tyre smoke. Quite an experience

Massive lock up = flat spot and thr tyre tends to lock up on the flat spot every time you brake heavily.

You need to learn "threshold braking " and with practice you will/should be able to stop the car in the same distance or better than the same car with ABS
 
Sudden Right Foot syndrome with extreme steering wheel rotation left to right and right to left! Add a cup of coffee or tea to this extreme symptom and wallah, you have donuts! :D
 
i noticed i have 1 tyre on my car that wears on the outter thread alot faster than the rest , its the one on the passenger side .. so its case 1 ive gotta ask what do you mean by Toe/camber .. i have yet to come across these terms
 

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