Even if you’ve just started to drive a car, you’re probably aware of the general guideline advising you to change your tires regularly.
In a perfect world, you’ll find that the right time to replace all of your tires, both the ones at the rear and the front, is the same. But more often than not, you’ll be surprised to find that your tires have eroded unevenly.
If you’re confused about the causes of uneven tire wear, and which tire wears faster the following section might be of some help.
Understanding Tire Wear
There’re a lot of factors that contribute to tire wear that isn’t just limited to your tire’s quality. These factors include the interactions between the tires and the road as well as the locations where the car has been driven.
Even your driving style and the speed at which you usually drive can affect your tire wear. Be it long drives at high speeds or aggressive driving, both actions can have a detrimental effect on the overall lifespan of your tires.
Don’t Tires Wear Out Evenly?
You’ll be surprised to find out that uneven tire wear is a common occurrence. Usually, uneven tire wear can be caused by a magnitude of reasons related to improper alignment, overinflation, suspension, and more.
Moreover, tires subjected to high stress and those on the driving axle will wear faster than others. Most car owners aren’t familiar with the causes of both uneven tire wear as well as premature tire wear.
Do you know that you can guess the causes of uneven tire wear just from visually checking where the wear is occurring?
For example, if you’re facing high wear on your tire’s outer edges, then the main culprit can be misalignment.
The car can be sloped towards one side, adding more pressure on the tire causing it to erode unevenly.
Which Tires Wears Out Faster? Front or Rear Tires?
The answer isn’t simple. Whether you face high wear on your front or rear tires depends on what type of car you’re driving.
Most people usually drive a passenger vehicle. In this case, you should expect your front tires to wear faster than the ones at the back.
Passenger vehicles usually have a front-wheel-drive arrangement, meaning that the pressure of accelerating is mostly exerted on the front wheels.
The power generated by the engine is transferred to them while the tires on the rear end of your car generally don’t receive any power on their own.
On the other hand, the responsibility of steering, braking, etc. also falls upon your front tires. All of this places immense stress on them, causing the tires to erode faster.
Why You Should Care About Your Left Front Tire
Even under normal circumstances, you’ll find that the left front tires of your car undergo excessive wear.
Left front tires usually are heavily loaded and are responsible to manage the steering for every right turn you make.
Not only that, but most roads also have a slope that is leaning towards the left. This naturally creates more pressure on your front left wheel as they have to work harder than the other tires.
Is Tire Wear Different For RWD?
Rear-wheel drive, or RWD for short, is typically found in high-powered and high-performance vehicles. This includes both luxurious cars, sports cars, and trucks.
RWD cars put the drivetrain pressure on the shoulder of rear tires. From transferring the power of the engine to the road and to bearing additional traction management, rear tires tend to wear faster in RWD cars for the above-mentioned reasons.
Managing Uneven Tire Erosion
The best place to start would be to learn more about the causes of uneven tire wear.
By understanding the essential components of your car such as alignment and suspension, you can drastically reduce overall tire wear.
You should also understand that monitoring your tire and their performance is the best way forward to increase their overall lifespan.
Whether you’re driving a passenger vehicle or a car integrated with an RWD system, the following tips can help reduce uneven tire wear.
1) Tire Pressure
Regularly check your tire pressure and maintain it to the level specified by the manufacturer.
Going both under and lower than the recommended amount should be avoided at all causes. In both cases, you’ll be creating the perfect conditions for your tires to undergo accelerated wear.
Tire pressure should also be the same across all the tires.
Even if one tire has a different pressure compared to the rest, it can eventually lead to uneven tire wear
2) Understand When You Should Replace All Tires
If you’ve exhausted and dealt with all the possible reasons causing uneven tire wear, you should understand that you might have to replace all of your tires.
Though you might be concerned about the amount of money you’ll have to spend, getting new tires is worth every cent for your comfort and safety.
3) Tire rotation
Tire rotation can be a crucial step to maintain tire performance and lifespan. It’s through tire rotation that you can optimize the life of your tires while saving costs.
Just by regularly making a small investment to rotate tires, you can avoid any expensive repairs that might pop up.
So, how do you rotate your tires? It’s simple, all you need to do is to reposition your car’s wheels following a specific pattern.
The most common pattern tells you to go from front to back or from one side to another.
Try to rotate your tires after every 5,000 miles. Make the habit as common as getting your car’s oil changed.
Every car has its own recommended pattern for tire rotation so you must remember to check in with the professionals to determine the best approach you could take.
4) Same Brand
One of the easiest ways to avoid uneven tire wear is to use the same brand and model for all four of your tires. Mismatching your tires can create tons of problems for you both in the long and short term.
Can You Replace Only Two Tires at A Time?
You might be tempted to replace only two tires instead of the recommended approach of replacing all four of them.
It may seem like a decent solution that also saves you some cash but it is not recommended.
Replacing only two tires can create uneven distribution and cause vehicle instability.
But if you can only change two tires, the recommended approach suggests that you should install new rear tires while replacing the previous rear tires in the front.
This is the best approach that you could take as it prevents your car from spinning out or oversteering on wet roads.
Final Thoughts
Uneven tire wear is a common problem that drivers across the world face due to a multitude of reasons.
Usually, tires at the front end of your car wear faster than the ones at the back. That’s because most cars have a front-wheel-drive arrangement.
On the other hand, you can expect excessive wear on the rear tires if you’re using a car with an RWD arrangement.
There are several tips you can implement in your routine to help manage uneven tire wear and increase your tire’s lifespan. The most recommended option is to rotate your tires regularly.
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