Understanding tire wear patterns will help you get the best performance out of your vehicle, and prolong your tire life.

Tire Wear on the Outside Edges

What causes tire wear on the outside edges, or shoulders of a tire? The most common culprit is underinflation. When the tire does not have enough air pressure, the weight of the vehicle must rest on the shoulders of the tires, causing them to wear down very quickly. Another cause of this type of wear is frequent cornering, which can also put extra pressure on the tire shoulders and cause excessive wear. The solution? Make sure your tire pressure is at the manufacturer’s recommended levels, and check it frequently, especially when seasons change. Make sure to check your tires for slow leaks or punctures that may be causing low tire pressure. If cornering is the cause, take corners less aggressively, or look for a performance tire that is constructed to handle the extra stress of aggressive or high-speed cornering.

Tire Wear on the Center of the Tire

What causes tire wear in the middle of a tire? Typically this type of wear is caused by overinflated tires. When tires are inflated beyond the manufacturer’s recommendations, the center of the tire bears more of the weight of the vehicle than it should. This causes the tire to wear more quickly down the center of the tread. As we always recommend, make sure to check your tire pressure regularly and frequently, especially during weather changes and fluctuations in temperature. 

Tire Wear Caused by Improper Camber

Certain types of tire wear can be caused by the camber on your vehicle. Camber refers to the angle at which the tires are mounted on a vehicle, either with tops tilted inwards towards each other (Negative Camber), away from each other (Positive Camber), or completely upright (Neutral). Driving with improper camber can cause your tires to wear more on the outer or inner edges, giving them a slanted look. You can easily have your camber checked and adjusted at an automobile service center. 

Tire Wear Caused by Toe

Toe refers to the angles that the wheels roll relative to the other wheels on the vehicle. Normally, tires are adjusted to angle slightly inward (“toe-in”) to counteract the natural forces of physics that will pull them away from each other while they are in motion. However, due to bumpy roads, aggressive driving, or even car accidents, the alignment of the wheels can be altered, changing the way the tires contact the road while driving, and causing some parts of the tire to wear down faster than normal. This also causes unnecessary stress on your tire’s inner construction, causing them to wear out much more quickly.

Toe Wear can appear as irregular wear on the insides or outsides of your tire, and can also cause a type of tire wear called “feathering” which is when one side of the ribs of tread are worn down, but the other side is not. Most tire dealerships and automobile service centers can adjust your wheel alignment, which includes both toe and camber.

Tire Wear Caused by Worn-Out Shocks

The type of tire wear caused by worn-out shocks is called “cupping” or “scalloping”, and looks like cups or dips in the tire tread. Shocks help the wheels absorb the weight of a vehicle when it goes over bumps during driving. When shocks get worn out, they stop being able to help absorb the impact of driving on uneven ground, such as potholes, speed bumps, or rougher driving surfaces. When a car or truck with worn-out shocks goes over a bump it bounces more, and the tire absorbs more of the impact, causing it to wear excessively in small cups or dips. Worn shocks can also cause issues with braking, driving stability, and ride comfort, so this is definitely worth addressing. An automobile service center can replace worn out shocks with new ones.