Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
-
- Posts: 1094
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:28 pm
- Has thanked: 585 times
- Been thanked: 395 times
Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
My car's front, passenger side tyre is wearing more on the outside edge than the rest of the tyre. I wonder if it is due to cornering hard on roundabouts? Or if the tracking or other alignment needs adjusting.
The drivers' side front has the slightly accelerated wear on its outer edge but not nearly as much.
This happened before, when the last pair of front tyres were wearing out: viewtopic.php?p=307741
The new tyres have done about 15,000 miles and are down to about 4mm on the passenger side, while the drivers' side one has a fraction more left on it. So a little over half worn I guess.
What do you think? My instinct is to swop them with the rears (diagonally). The rears are almost new. They're all the same make / model / size of tyre.
Maybe I'm worrying about nothing and should just leave them alone.
The drivers' side front has the slightly accelerated wear on its outer edge but not nearly as much.
This happened before, when the last pair of front tyres were wearing out: viewtopic.php?p=307741
The new tyres have done about 15,000 miles and are down to about 4mm on the passenger side, while the drivers' side one has a fraction more left on it. So a little over half worn I guess.
What do you think? My instinct is to swop them with the rears (diagonally). The rears are almost new. They're all the same make / model / size of tyre.
Maybe I'm worrying about nothing and should just leave them alone.
- KungFooBob
- Posts: 13827
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:04 pm
- Location: The content of this post is not AI generated.
- Has thanked: 528 times
- Been thanked: 7352 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Are the tyres directional?
If so won't swapping them diagonally reverse the direction?
Or is it only bike tyres that are directional, I'm confusing myself now.
If so won't swapping them diagonally reverse the direction?
Or is it only bike tyres that are directional, I'm confusing myself now.
-
- Posts: 1094
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:28 pm
- Has thanked: 585 times
- Been thanked: 395 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
It's a very good point. Some car tyres are directional. I believe these are not, although it took me about 15 minutes of looking at them and imagining and taking pictures etc to work that out.
-
- Posts: 4784
- Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:51 am
- Been thanked: 2553 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
You can tell if they are not rotating by the big flat bit at the bottom of the tyre.
My Transit used to wear the outer edge of the front tyres, I used to take them off the rim and put them back on the other way to even it out. And I'd switch them from front to back to even out the overall wear.
My Transit used to wear the outer edge of the front tyres, I used to take them off the rim and put them back on the other way to even it out. And I'd switch them from front to back to even out the overall wear.
-
- Posts: 13618
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:57 pm
- Location: Milton Keynes
- Has thanked: 2515 times
- Been thanked: 6064 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
I live in MK, I also wear out my front left tyre first. Two things which might be related.
Car tyres can be directional, yes.
Car tyres can be directional, yes.
- KungFooBob
- Posts: 13827
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:04 pm
- Location: The content of this post is not AI generated.
- Has thanked: 528 times
- Been thanked: 7352 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
So directional tyres must come in left and rights then, two separate skus?
Or are they symmetrical?
Or are they symmetrical?
-
- Posts: 13618
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:57 pm
- Location: Milton Keynes
- Has thanked: 2515 times
- Been thanked: 6064 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Yeah they're usually symmetrical and you can put them with either side facing 'in', whereas other ones have a side marked "this side out" don't they?
I would imagine really high end ones do come in left and right though. But if you're buying those you're probably replacing all four at once right, so you'd get a complete set.
I would imagine really high end ones do come in left and right though. But if you're buying those you're probably replacing all four at once right, so you'd get a complete set.
-
- Posts: 1094
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:28 pm
- Has thanked: 585 times
- Been thanked: 395 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
They come in symmetrical and asymmetrical, the latter typically having marked 'in' and 'out' sides.
And directional or non-directional, the former having directional arrows.
Or both.
I think mine are asymmetrical, non-directional. So I can swop them side to side as well as front to back. Which I will do, because I'm a rough old scrimper.
And directional or non-directional, the former having directional arrows.
Or both.
I think mine are asymmetrical, non-directional. So I can swop them side to side as well as front to back. Which I will do, because I'm a rough old scrimper.
-
- Posts: 875
- Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 7:14 pm
- Location: West of the Tamar
- Has thanked: 222 times
- Been thanked: 560 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
I’d just swap those front to back, and not worry about diagonally. Why would you do that?
My view, FWIW, is that wear on the outside edges of wide tyres, which most decent cars have these days, takes place because of scrubbing. Think of a wide tyre as an axle with no differential: the inside edge travels a shorter distance than the outside when you turn a corner, especially in slow, sharp turns eg when parking, so part of it scrubs. You’d expect the inside and outside edges to scrub equally, but weight distribution and other things beyond my comprehension could affect that.
Those tyres will last for ages on the back.
My view, FWIW, is that wear on the outside edges of wide tyres, which most decent cars have these days, takes place because of scrubbing. Think of a wide tyre as an axle with no differential: the inside edge travels a shorter distance than the outside when you turn a corner, especially in slow, sharp turns eg when parking, so part of it scrubs. You’d expect the inside and outside edges to scrub equally, but weight distribution and other things beyond my comprehension could affect that.
Those tyres will last for ages on the back.
- Yorick
- Posts: 16402
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:20 pm
- Location: Paradise
- Has thanked: 9971 times
- Been thanked: 6718 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Sometimes the directional thingy is to protect the makers.
On track we used Dunlop D211 track tyres. They were supposedly directional, but once the right side had worn out, the tyre guy changed them round for us to double the life
But he wouldn't do it for the punters
On track we used Dunlop D211 track tyres. They were supposedly directional, but once the right side had worn out, the tyre guy changed them round for us to double the life
But he wouldn't do it for the punters
- wull
- Posts: 3029
- Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:09 pm
- Location: Alloa
- Has thanked: 870 times
- Been thanked: 1515 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Those tyres look symmetrical so can be fitted any way.
You either get rotation signs and or the word “outside” if you can’t see either of these they can be fitted anyway.
But looking at the tread will tell you what you need to know, if they look like asymmetrical tread pattern then you’ll have an outside indicator.
You either get rotation signs and or the word “outside” if you can’t see either of these they can be fitted anyway.
But looking at the tread will tell you what you need to know, if they look like asymmetrical tread pattern then you’ll have an outside indicator.
- Dodgy69
- Posts: 5333
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:36 pm
- Location: Shrewsbury
- Has thanked: 1714 times
- Been thanked: 2022 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Looks like it's rubbing on something to me.
Yamaha rocket 3
- dern
- Posts: 2086
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:51 am
- Has thanked: 990 times
- Been thanked: 1727 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Measure the tread across the tyre. If the tread depth decreases towards the worn shoulder then you’ve probably got an alignment problem. If all the measurements are roughly the same then it’s your driving. As long as the tyre wear is consistent across the tyre then I wouldn’t do anything as you’re likely to wear the tyres out before the shoulder wear becomes significant.
- Yorick
- Posts: 16402
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:20 pm
- Location: Paradise
- Has thanked: 9971 times
- Been thanked: 6718 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
When we all had company cars in Milton Keynes, it was a race to see who shagged the tyres quickest on the roundabouts
There's some quiet roundabouts away from populated areas with my tyre marks still on
There's some quiet roundabouts away from populated areas with my tyre marks still on
-
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:44 pm
- Has thanked: 652 times
- Been thanked: 358 times
Re: Uneven car tyre wear / rotating wheels
Apply more throttle on roundabouts and steer with the rear to even things up wherever possible. Ya fanny.