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Here is the deal. I have 215 40 17s on my tour. Tires have 50,000 miles and low on treatd. I had a tire that was steadily getting low on air. I took my car in to Colony Tire to see about gettin the leak fixed and new tires.
Instead they tell me it is not safe to drive my car because both front tires are experiencing tread separation. This was happening only on the inside of the tire and quite bad. I still have the stock suspension.
The guy behind the counter said it was because the overall hight of my tires is shorter than the factory spec and that was causing my tires to sit at an uneven level thus the insides will wear quicker on the inside and cause tread separation. Is this true or is it just because my suspension is worn out and needs replacing? I was planning on ordering a new suspension from BAT.
With a slightly lower suspension am I going to have the same problem?
Thanks for your time
Mystang
Mazda6 3.0 5spd sports package
Traded in...96 Contour SE V6 5sp
ICW Racing 606H 17 inch wheels
BAT suspension
63,000 plus; more problems
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Joined: Oct 2002
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Hard-core CEG'er
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,408 |
Tread separation is from heat and stress.
Underinflation, bad alignment, hard cornering, and driving to fast for the speed rating all contribute.
I always buy S or T rated tires since I drive the freeway a lot.
Lowering or not, just make sure your camber is in spec.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" -George Santayana
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 195
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
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If you got 50 thou out of em. Good to go I as far as I'm concered.
1998 ContourLX V6 ATX
Cats Gutted+MIL Eliminators
Grandma gave me the finger
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 122
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
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Posts: 122 |
Originally posted by Mystang:
The guy behind the counter said it was because the overall hight of my tires is shorter than the factory spec and that was causing my tires to sit at an uneven level thus the insides will wear quicker on the inside and cause tread separation.
I'm not sure, but I think you're saying "the guy behind the counter" was telling you your camber was changed by using a tire with a different overall diameter than the OEM (stock) tire. Uhhh... no.
All else being equal, installing tires with a different overall diameter changes the ride height of the car and the number of revolutions per mile (which in turn affects the accuracy of the speedometer/odometer). The camber, however, is not affected. The springs compress as much as is needed to support the sprung weight of the car, and that doesn't change just by changing tires.
Installing lowering springs, OTOH, will certainly change your camber ("tilt" of the wheels as viewed from the front) unless you have an equal-length dual control arm setup, which we most assuredly don't. With a single control arm, the longer the arm, the less camber is affected by lowering springs. At any rate, changing the neutral ride height of your car will create more negative camber and will accelerate the wear of the inboard tread shoulder to some degree. Get "before" and "after" alignment measurements to quantify the change in camber.
As was pointed out, 50,000 miles on a set of tires isn't bad, especially if the car was flogged at all. As a tire nears the end of its useful life, the slightest misalignment issue will become readily apparent, and eventually the tire will simply fall apart.
As regards the expected life of a tire, look at the sidewall of the tire for the "Treadwear" rating (a 3-digit number with a couple of letters behind it, such as "300 A A"). You can use this number to compare different tires as to their expected rate of tread wear (a 400-rated tire can be expected to last twice as long as a 200-rated tire).
HTH... Sorry for the dissertation, but I'm sick at home today, and the Web is preserving my sanity... sort of... 
//> //> //> //> //>
Garrick
2006 Mazda6 Grand Sport wagon, silver, MTX
I'll never forget you: Silver E0, #3895 of 6535, built 10/2/97 
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50,000 miles? I'm surprised they have any tread left at all.
Doug
2006 Mercury Milan V6 Premier Dark Blue Pearl
Former owner of a 2000 SVT Contour
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Originally posted by CueballSVT:
50,000 miles? I'm surprised they have any tread left at all.
With 215 40 17s I agree with you. What kind of tires are they anyway? 40s are a low profile tire and you just don't get 50,000 miles out of a tire like that. I have 55s and I have 40,000 on mine and they need to be replaced (I only have about a 1/16" of tread over the wear bars). I probably could get 50,000 but I would have to drive like a grandmother when it rains.
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Garrick.. thanks a load. Your reply was very informative. I will have to pay a lot of attention when they do the alignment. I might have over estimated my tire life. I think it was more like 46,000. They were supposed to be 68,000 mile tires I thought. Yes they were flogged on occasion. They were the Kuhmo Ecstas 712s they have been really good tires. They were not as sticky as I might have liked, but they life extention was well worth it. I am "trying" out some Toyos on the front. They are running a 500 mile if you like em deal. If you don't return them for no cost. Sounds like a good deal considering my problems  My Yokohama AVS ES 100's are on the was. As is a new suspension. Bat springs with the Sach gas shocks sold by batinc.net. I do hope this set up will be great. I will be keeping my car for a while since I can't afford to ensure anything else. Thanks for all your responses Mystang (David)
Mazda6 3.0 5spd sports package
Traded in...96 Contour SE V6 5sp
ICW Racing 606H 17 inch wheels
BAT suspension
63,000 plus; more problems
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 667
Veteran CEG\'er
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 667 |
On my other car (a Bimmer), I had my first set of Pirelli tires rated for about 50,000-60,000 miles go at 32,000!
I then bought a better pair of Pirellis (read more $$$), which still went at about 33,000!
I switched all four tires to Michelins MXV4Gs and one pair lasted 48,000. I'm still on the second pair (which are currently at ~ 55,000).
Although the Michelins are awesome tires, I decided to switch to Dunlop SP Sport A2s, since they are much cheaper (and my Bimmer is about 10 years old now).
96 Contour SE
Duratec V6 24-valve 2.5L ATX
108,000 mi.
Replaced: crankshaft w/ DMD, EGR valve (clogged), EVR, DPFE, PCV valve, evap emissions hose & tube (cracked), window regulator (broken), LH & RH PCV tubes, UIM gasket (leak), ignition coil
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