Tyre wear

[m1lky]

Hi all,

I got 2 new re001 18" potenzas for my vy about 2 or 3000k ago. They arent wearing the outside ~15mm on each side. Is this normal as the tyre wears in? They are running recommended pressure with nitrogen in them.

Cheers

[EDGE3]

The camber isnt correct

[m1lky]

But it's doing it on both sides of the tyre on both sides.

I also had a wheel alignment when they were fitted.

[sweefu]

Is this front or rear? Are the RE050 or RE05A? I used Potenzas myself in a 245/40R18.. I'm guessing those are the newer RE050?

[m1lky]

Front two. Theyre re001 ones, 235 45 18

[Sabbath']

What pressure have you got them set to?

[sweefu]

+1 For pressure. Is your suspension setup on the front stock FE2?

[m1lky]

They have 32psi in them and yes stock fe2 suspension

[sweefu]

If the centre is wearing more than the edges, then you'd think that the pressure was too high but thats really low.. The max of these tyres is a lot higher than that, maybe try bumping up the PSI to 40 and see how that goes? The ride will suffer, traction will suffer slightly but its a good sticky tyre so you won't have any real troubles, I run my 245/40R18 close to 40psi always

[Mavericks Choice]

Run my 18's on the Tonner @ 40psi & good alignment no probs.

[m1lky]

Only thing I could think was that maybe because they're new they're a little bit rounded on the edges and it needs to wear flat? Since the rears are about half worn and aren't doing that....

Might bump them up to 36psi which is what Holden recommend for high speed or full load.

[sweefu]

Yep, no harm in giving it a try.

[EDGE3]

Maybe this is what happens with nitrogen in them its making the tyres an oval shape-rounded on the edges.And usually when one side is wearing out more than the other means the camber is out and also have the steering wheel checked that might not be straight,everytime I have an alignment done I have the steering wheel straightened.An alignment keeps the car going straight on the road but the camber positions the tyre on the road.

[Dr HaxZaw]

are you checking the pressures hot or cold??
something small like that could be messing you around although somehow i doubt it

[glenn l]

i would say its a toe problem, when you had the last wheel alignment did they give you a print out.

[db_notso]

wowowowowo calm down kids

1:the air around you contains nitrogen
2:if the inside and the outside of the tyre arent wearing at all its either too higher pressure OR normal wear
NOTHING ELSE
3:camber wears an inner or outer edge if incorrect
4:toe causes feathering on the tyre and with NEW TYRES YOU SHOULD HAVE TOE ADJUSTED ANYWAY!~
5:i am bored~!

[EDGE3]

Its the camber that wears out the tyres on the inside and the outside,the toe is where the tyres are pointing inwards or outwards,thats why a castor is the best thing to have as this solves the problem

[TI3VOM]

Only thing I could think was that maybe because they're new they're a little bit rounded on the edges and it needs to wear flat? Since the rears are about half worn and aren't doing that....

Might bump them up to 36psi which is what Holden recommend for high speed or full load.

If they are not the original tire that your car came off the factory floor with, it will mean that those (recommended) tire pressures are useless IMO!

[Drewie]

I would say it is pretty normal, you can see the edge of the tyre is curved by design and probably only has good contact with the road when cornering.

[som]

your tyre pressures are far too low.the recommended pressures on the sticker are for standard tyres and are always too low anyway for maximum tyre wear.(car manufacturers are more concerned with giving you a comfortable ride than caring how often you have to replace tyres ) i think that the minimum you should run for your tyre size is 38psi but that won't help you get decent life out of those that are already half shot.wheel alignments are also pretty cheap when you consider how much extra life you will get from your tyres.

[m1lky]

I would say it is pretty normal, you can see the edge of the tyre is curved by design and probably only has good contact with the road when cornering.

This is potentially what I was thinking.

Both sides of both front tyres are wearing the same. So it's very unlikely to be camber or toe since that will usually wear only one side. I'll google castor wear now.

Unfortunately I don't have the printout since my missus took it for the wheel alignment and didn't ask for it.

The tyres are the same size load and speed rating as the factory tyres, so recommended pressures shouldn't be too far off. Should they?

I don't want to go goo high on pressure last thing I want is it to understeer on me!!!!



Edit: this was a good read. Learned something. Ill see if I can get a printout from the place just to check everything out. Doesn't sound like an alignment issue to me though.
http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

[Calaber]

Milky

Let's try to clear up a couple of misconceptions you might have.

Raising the tyre pressure from your low present level to a higher, but sensible level, isn't going to cause understeer. Performance tyres are designed to run high pressures to ensure the tread of the tyre is at maximum contact with the road under most conditions, so there is definitely room for improvement on what you are doing at present. Some guys say they run 40psi, which will "harden" the ride of the car, but will also improve the tyres' grip and performance. If you don't want to go that high, at least start around 36psi, and take it up in 2psi increments. You will notice the improvement in steering response straight away and can rest assured that the higher pressures are not wearing the tyres out faster or increasing the chance of understeer. In fact, understeer tendency should be reduced because, under fast cornering, the higher pressure reduces "plough understeer", caused by front tyres rolling under the rim because they are too soft.

Secondly, different brands of tyres, even though of the same size and load rating as the originals, can have different recommended optimum pressures.

Finally, looking at the photo of your tyre, is the inner tread worn more heavily than the outer? I can see that the innermost grooves, on the shoulder, don't link up with the centre grooves, but the outermost grooves do link up, withmuch smaller grooves. Were those innermost grooves originally connected in a similar manner to the centre grooves? If they were, and the tread has worn to that extent after only 3000km as you say, I would think the toe out is to blame, rather than the camber. Excessive toe-out will tear the rubber off the tyre much faster than excessive negative camber. I doubt that getting a print-out from the original aligner will help, because it will say that the settings were adjusted to specification, when clearly something is still amiss. I would go back to the aligner, show them the tyres, and get the alignment rechecked. If it is out, I would take the matter up with them regarding replacement of the tyres at their cost.

[m1lky]

I'll bump up the pressure to 36 and go see the place that did the wheel alignment and fitted the tyres this week thanks.

I would say the inner and outer are worn or not worn evenly. Pretty crap photo sorry.

[Bravotwozero]

Hi all,

I got 2 new re001 18" potenzas for my vy about 2 or 3000k ago. They arent wearing the outside ~15mm on each side. Is this normal as the tyre wears in? They are running recommended pressure with nitrogen in them.

Cheers

They look fine to me. Ran the exact same tyre with nitrogen on my lowered VY SS at 33psi and never had a drama with them. From your photo I can't see any issues myself. Excellent choice of tyre by the way!

[m1lky]

The firestone who did the wheel alignment aren't open today. Went to another branch they said they'd never seen that before but 32psi was too low. They've got 38 in them now. I'll try get the place that did the alignment to check it.

I do like the tyres and they grip well

Cheers for the help guys