Anyway to fix abnormal tire wear?

[Cdexplorer]

I have my cobra r's off for the winter and am looking into a new set of tires. Last fall they were getting really noisy because of extremely uneven tire wear. Sucks because I've had em for 2 summers...probably 15-18,000 miles. I doubt there's anything to do besides get rid of them and get new ones but decided to ask first. The outer edges of the tires are the problem...when I run my hands around the tire it goes in an up and down pattern. Does anyone know what may be causing this? I had my camber adjusted and got an extensive alignment when I got the new wheels so it's really frustrating. Any input would be great!

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

Cd, that's called "cupping", and it's sometimes caused by worn suspension components. It can also be caused by the wheels being too far outboard from the stock setting. This gives a wider scrub radius on turns, and wears the outside of the tires in a cupping pattern.

I've been trying to solve this on my Bronco for years. All suspension parts are tight, but I do have wider rims than stock. Rotating them front to back helps a little, so for now I'm just living with it.....

 

[james t]

get new shocks. and also, are you lowered? do you really trust the alignment shop you had it done at? my first alignment was at a very reputable shop, and they really didnt have it in spec. 2nd shop got it right.

 

[Cdexplorer]

thanks guys. I am definately in need of new shocks and will have some by the time summer rolls around. I will also get another alignment done this spring. Hopefully this will help a bit otherwise I'll just have to deal with it.

 

[MO_GUY]

also check the tires air pressure, too much air wears out the inside of the tire, too little wears the outside, easy way to check if they are under or over inflated is to do a small burnout and look at the tread marks, it should be a nice even color from one side to the other

 

[jimbo74]

moguy, that isnt completely true... underinflation cuase both sides to wear out faster than the middle, over is the middle wears faster.... in my mechanic point of view, it sounds like your alignment is cuasing the problem....

 

[MO_GUY]

sorry jim, but when i said it causes the outside to wear faster i did mean the both outside edges of each tire

 

[jimbo74]

oh ok, i get it... the way you worded it sounded odd... as he mentioned that his outer edge was all jacked up... not the inner as well.... leading to a belief the alignment is off

 

[X-1]

cupping or scalloping of the tire tread is caused by worn or weak shocks. This causes your tires to take over the shocks job of dampening, and seperation with in the tread pattern will appear. Rim width will not cause this, rim width can cause pre mature camber wear due to the offset from wheel bearing.