Tire Wear

[sbleiweiss]

Thanks for the links about posting pictures. I am trying again. Hopefully here it is.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

My steer tires are starting to show slightly more wear along their edges than in the middle of the tire (47,000 miles). Not extreme, but noticeable if you look. Am I right that that indicates too low pressure? I have a compressor and can easily enough up the pressure from 95 to 100.

How often have you rotated the tires? Steer tires are asked to turn the vehicle and this extra side force "bends" and deflects tires sideways which results in the tread "rolling" a bit so the edge of the footprint gets more wear than if the tire is on the drive position.

While low inflation may lead to faster edge wear this is less of a concern with radials than with bias tires. Your chassis owner's manual has guidelines for tire rotation which is intended to even out the slightly faster center wear on the rears with the slightly faster edge wear of the shoulders in the steer position.

The early rotation mileage is MUCH more important to follow than in later miles as the rate of wear slows down as the tire gets more worn.

The guide may say "Every 5,000 miles" but I rotate at 3,500, 7,000 and 12,000 then 20k and not after that on my passenger car.

[Quincy]

IMHO that looks like under inflation more that anything else. While rotation will help I would still make sure it is not just an under inflated tire.

Respectfully submitted by Q

Spending our kids inheritance one trip at a time!

[CampDaven]

The wear looks like mine just before getting the alignment adjusted and replacing the steer tires. My issue was toe-in.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

The wear looks like mine just before getting the alignment adjusted and replacing the steer tires. My issue was toe-in.

Yup Toe-In can definitely give faster shoulder wear on the outer rib.

[Jake21]

I am not a professional, but i would say alignment also. I had the same wear. It was an alignment issue.

[Campering]

Ditto on the alignment.

[AITG]

Rub your hand across the face of the tire in both directions. If it feels like each rib has a sharp edge in one direction but not in the other you have a toe problem.

[Crasher]

From my experience with hundreds of service and personal vehicle over the last 50 years, if the wear in the picture is only on the outer rib of the tire and the innermost rib does not show the same wear, it is most likely an alignment issue. However with 47,000 miles on the tires, the minor wear showing could be from the normal rolling of the tire in a turn. I had a similar wear, but the wear tapered across the tread. It was a toe in issue. If just the outer rib is worn, it isn't very much out of alignment.

Now if both edges of the tire are worn, it is an under inflation problem.

[Old Scout]

Seems like 45-47K miles is the magic number for tire wear--at least GY anyway. Agree, once it gets started, its pretty hard to stop.....

[cruzbill]

For Tireman, My tag tires have less wear than the steers, should I rotate them to the steer position?

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by cruzbill

For Tireman, My tag tires have less wear than the steers, should I rotate them to the steer position?

Sounds like a reasonable plan. IF YOU can confirm the tag tires have NEVER been run underinflated.

Steer tires are definitely the most critical. I wrote a blog post on rotating two tires a year into your tire situation starting at about year 5 or 6. The focus was on spreading out the hit on the wallet but it also kept the best (newest) tires on the front most of the time.

[sbleiweiss]

Originally Posted by AITG

Rub your hand across the face of the tire in both directions. If it feels like each rib has a sharp edge in one direction but not in the other you have a toe problem.

I will try this, but the wear seems to be on both shoulders so I am still thinking underinflation. These were aligned at 15,000 miles, but I know alignment can get knocked out of whack. Thanks to everyone who responded.

[cruzbill]

Thanks Tireman. We bought our coach in 2015 with tires dated 2010. One inside dual had a slow leak, replacing all valve stems with bolt-on metal stems solved that problem. Since I don't know more history, I guess I'll sit tight until we replace all rubber. Thanks!