Tire wear question

[fastivaca]

Hello all,

I'm experiencing some unusual wear on my front driver's side tire. There is some "feathering" on the outer 1" or so of the tread evenly spread around the whole tire.

I'm running Sumitomo HTR200 185R60-13 on 13"x5" early Mazda alloys all hung on KYB GR2 struts and FMS lowering springs. All of the bushings have been replaced, along with the strut mounts, in the front suspension with the only thing left is the tie rods.

I'm assuming that could be the problem.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Festiva_tunner]

sounds like your out of alignment my friend, rotate those tires and get her aligned so it quits scrubbing those tires

[FestYboy]

^^ yup, yup!

also have all 4 tires rebalanced as the balance changes over time.

[blkfordsedan]

I have always had problems with tire wear on my '93. I rotate every 6K miles, have the tires balanced every 20K and always have a 4-wheel alignment done every time I buy new tires. The struts are only 20K miles old and all the tie rod ends, ball joints and bushings are tight. My car drives perfect and I STILL have a funny wear pattern on one of the back wheels! (I wonder if a bent rim may be the culprit?). Most alignment shops don't even turn a wrench if the measurements are "within spec". I thought about having them actually get it as close to perfect as possible to see if it helps. Also, it seems that most tire shops never get the tires balanced the first time. I don't know if it's because of the small diameter or because they don't train their employees, but I almost always have to get them rebalanced within the first few days. I don't have that problem with larger tires.

[batstiva]

So, when you get the tires rotated, is it still just the one tire position that wears strange?

[CharlieZ]

This info is from a tire site may 'splain it..
What's Happening
The tire is not tracking straight down the highway, but is bouncing sideways during parts of its rotation. It may be wobbling on the axle or rim. On trailers, the condition is aggravated by running empty. Because of the light load, the trailer begins to bounce, creating more irregular wear, which creates more bouncing, and so forth. The bouncing can create vehicle suspension component wear.
Probable Causes
- loose wheel bearings
- mismounted tire/ wheel assembly
- out of balance wheel assembly
- tread design/ tire design
- worn bearings, shocks, springs or other suspension compnents
- mismatched duals
- inconsistent dual inflation (10 PSI or greater)

http://www.kaltire.com/commercial/medium_truck_tires/cupping.php