Causes of accelerated tire wear and tear

Causes of accelerated tire wear and tear

Nothing can be as annoying as discovering that your newly purchased car tires are wearing out faster than you expected despite the manufacturer’s assurances about the tire’s longevity.

Here we look at the causes of accelerated tire wear and tear and share tips on how to get more mileage out of your car wheel rubber rings (and thus save money).

 
Let’s dive right in:

Now, there are a couple of factors that may be making your tire’s tread to wear disappointingly faster. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a cheap tire.

Some of them are pretty straightforward and it’s important to understand how each contributes to abnormal tread wearing in order to maximize your tire’s life span (and ensure your safety when driving).

Take a look:

(i) Fitting the wrong type of tire

Tires are engineered to serve different conditions and ordering the incorrect tire type might negate your vehicle tire’s lifetime.

For instance, all-season SUV tires tend to have deeper treads compared to summer tires and should outlast the latter despite being less responsive at highway cruising speed.

You, therefore, need to be super keen on comparing the various tire ratings when buying new auto tires.

(ii) Failure to observe optimum tire pressure recommendations

You’re risking irregular tire wear when you fail to follow your manufacturer’s recommended tire inflation for specified load capacity and speed.

You see, too low tire pressure causes premature wearing (especially on the outer parts of your tire) because a larger surface area is touching the road causing more friction.

Over inflation will, on the other hand, quicken wearing because it distorts the affected tire’s shape, causing the central area to wear out rapidly.

The solution here is to maintain the right tire pressure always.

(iii) Improper wheel alignment

Another reason behind your tire’s accelerated wearing and a major cause of poor car fuel economy is wheel misalignment.

The thing is each vehicle comes preset with specific manufacturer’s specifications on angles that position the wheels correctly for proper road contact and you have to keep them adjusted as indicated.

The recommendation is to take your car for regular checkups (and at the worst after every 6,000 miles).

After all, tires can be pretty expensive.

(iv) Unbalanced wheels

Wheels typically lose their balance as you clock more mileage bringing erratic wearing because of unbalanced weight distribution around the tire and it’s vital that you routinely have them balanced.

The rule of the thumb is to go for wheel balancing after every 3,000- 6,000 miles.

Additionally, check that the wheels have been balanced whenever you mount a new tire.

(v) Poor driving habits

Another key cause of irregular aggravated auto tire wear problems is bad driving behavior.

These include:

  • Braking hard – you are time and again scrubbing the rubber off the tire treads and you shouldn’t be surprised to notice several bare patches within a few days of installing a fresh set of tires.
  • Harsh cornering – the outer portions will wear swiftly as they are shouldering much of the vehicle’s weight when cornering at speed.
  • Aggressive acceleration– just like repeated high-speed cornering, hasty acceleration ramps up the stress on your tire’s surface significantly quickening its wearing.

You have to choose between maintaining the above-mentioned habits and becoming a regular customer at the neighborhood tire dealer.

(vi) Mechanical issues

Irregular tire wear patterns could point to a fault in the vehicle’s braking system, steering, or even suspension systems.

The remedy here is to present your vehicle for inspection ASAP– delays could eventually force you to spend on new tires.

Wrapping it up

The primary causes of accelerated wear and tear of car tires are incorrect tire pressure and improper tire alignment.

In addition, imbalanced wheels, bad driving tendencies, and mechanical faults such as worn suspension linkages can all expedite tire wear.

The other factor is fitting the wrong type of tire in your vehicle.

Address all these possibilities to lengthen your tire’s service life.

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