Tire Wear Question

[Bezoar]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I bought a used 2002 Explorer XLS with 4WD from a small used car dealer who in turn got it from another dealer who was going out of business. The rear tires are more worn than the front. I have no idea if the previous owner paid any attention to tire rotation or ever rotated them. I would like to know if the tires on a stock explorer wear faster in front or back so that I can make an intelligent decision about rotating the tires. If the rear tires wear faster, I should rotate them to even out the wear. If the fronts go faster, I should leave them as they are until the tire wear evens out. Can anyone give me some advice about this?

Thanks!

 

[EasyRhino]

I rotate my tires every 5000 miles, so if one axle wore faster than the other, I wouldn't see it.

Mine, at 101K miles, is on its second set of tires, the first having lasted to 50K miles, although I did replace them early (riding poorly and winter was coming on with little tread left).

The second set at 51K miles is about 60% worn (I also measure tread depth when I rotate them) and wearing evenly.

My guess is that these trucks do not wear out one axle's tires faster than the other, but perhaps if you never rotated them you could make this happen.

 

[jp450]

IF there is a significant diffrence then you may want to get an alignment to make sure things are ok. If the alignment checks out then I would suspect that one of the dealers rotated them prior to you getting the vehicle. The front tires typicaly ware faster then the rear.

 

[civil86]

I've found that the rear tires wear significantly faster than the front. I put new Bridgestone Revo tires on 3 years ago, and after 73000 km, the rear tires are practically bald. Passenger side has the least tread. Front tires still have "lots" (I haven't measured depth).
My bad for not rotating them.

When I bought the vehecle 3 years ago, the rear tires were badly worn - I assumed they were not original, but now I suspect they were original.

 

[tbe2002]

Even if the truck is 4 wheel drive the rear tires will wear faster. Explorers are rear wheel drive trucks when they are not in 4x4 mode. If its no 4 wheel drive then its only rear wheel drive. If the tires are warn evenly on the rear then I am going to guess that the PO never rotated the tires. Tires will wear faster on the drive axle because that is whats providing the power to move the truck.

 

[gruss01]

My guess would be they replaced only the fronts at some point. my experience has been regardless of fwd or rwd that the fronts wear faster if not rotated because of the cornering loads they have to endure.

 

[jrford]

AWD here, my fronts get chewed up the most. Note, i'm always in 4wd.
they say over a 1/4" will cause problems how differenent are they?
Check the tire depth.
Also the Owners manual says to replace 4 at the same time. . .

 

[Repair37]

I've found that the rear tires wear significantly faster than the front. I put new Bridgestone Revo tires on 3 years ago, and after 73000 km, the rear tires are practically bald. Passenger side has the least tread. Front tires still have "lots" (I haven't measured depth).
My bad for not rotating them.

When I bought the vehecle 3 years ago, the rear tires were badly worn - I assumed they were not original, but now I suspect they were original.

We get our 2006 ford explorer aligned right after new tires and even in between because the rear tires tow outward and wear the inside of the tires very fast. My son a mechanic says it's because of Fords weak suspension in the rear. The rest of the tire will show hardly any wear around 8000 miles and the inside will be will have already worn a lot of the tread off if we don't catch it in time and rotate them. We have replace support. New wheel bearings and other parts that could possibly cause misalignment problems, despite having 4 wheel alignment every 6 months.