I have been having tire wear issues on both front tires both inside and outside edges. The tires are wearing as if they were scrubbed around curves on a very rough surface as small pieces of rubber appear to be torn off. I have attached photos. I have reviewed tire wear charts but have not seen this type of wear on any of the pictures. The car tracks straight with no wander or wobble. I had a 4 wheel alignment done awhile back at a Chevy dealer which took 3 trips to get it aligned properly (I think)as they left rear tie rod bolts loose etc. Any thoughts on this?

 

If both edges are wearing, why didn't you show the inside too? What's the PSI?

 

It's called "feathering" or "cupping". Tire wobbles when rotating. Wild guess would be worn out hub bearings or ball joints or tie rod ends or AOTA. But tie rod ends should have been caught during alignment.

 

How often do you rotate the tires ?
What air pressure do you carry in those tires?
How many people drive the car?

 

this is an issue of A: out of balanced tires. or B: driving faster then the speed rating of the tires. cheep tires just cant handle speeds above 70. they literally fly apart.

 

okay heres some answers to all questions I dont drive at high speed usually around town but occassional highway trips at 75 mph. They are goodyears mid price tires so not cheapo tires, tire psi 32 all around. tires are rotate about every 5K since I have the pre paid at walmart. I am the primary car driver. And since the wear is identical on the inside as the outside edge the photos should give you an idea regardless of which edge is shown.

 

I would add more air to them, looks like classic under inflation wear.

 

On a second thought. i think you simply have crappy tires. Look at the wear pattern. It's actually very even.
Scalloped/damaged areas are all over the tire though and they do look like as if chucks of rubber were simply falling out of treads. Like as if tread rubber is simply falling apart. You have cracks, dents, peels.
You either drive on sharp river rock all the time, so that rubber is damaged by sharp edges, or rubber is over cooked and falls apart.

 

It looked very odd to me as well. They are good year tires but i guess they could be defective. I dont see that same wear on the rears though.

 

Rears are under much less stress because they do not steer..

 

your answer is Walmart tires. they buy the use of the name but the quality is not there. take Fram for example. go look at an air filter from walmart and then go look at one from an auto parts store you can clearly see the difference.

 

how many miles do you have on these tires and how old are they? other than the excess wear the small cuts in them is likely from gravel.
would also probably run a little more air pressure and when you do end up getting new tires would also have your alignment checked also at the same time.

 

"It looked very odd to me as well. They are good year tires but i guess they could be defective. I dont see that same wear on the rears though."

That's why you rotate them.

There is something wrong here and I don't believe it's the tires.

 

Coded into the sidewall is the date of manufacture (I think it's the Year and Julian date) and it's my understanding that the rubber of tires begins to become embrittled almost immediately . . . . becoming somewhat unsafe after 5 or 6 years, whether they're used or not, so the tread could still look like new, but it's brittle.

I have some mounted lawnmower tires that are over 40 years old (1973) and the sidewalls are chipping off, little by little . . . . but I don't take the mower out on the highway.

That thought about GoodYear and Walmart conspiring to make a cheaper tire version especially for the frugal Walmart Customers ought to be investigated. That would be quite an expensive procedure in deception to orchestrate. and for very little money. Would Firestone, General and Uniroyal do the same thing ?

It would not be good for Public Relations.

 

Tire companies make "special" tires for it's customers all the time.

For example, it is a known fact that Goodyear makes an INTEGRITY tire for many auto manufacturers as OE tires and they are made to the car manufacturer's specs .... each tire, even though it says INTEGRITY on it, could be different from car company to car company.

Goodyear would also make a replacement INTEGRITY tire for sale as aftermarket and these tires could easily have properties different than OE tires with the same name.

Could Wal-mart order a series of tires from Goodyear to their own specs?? ... certainly.

Over at BITOG (Bob Is The Oil Guy) Bob Is The Oil Guy | The Internet's Number One Motor Oil Site there is a "Tire & Wheel" forum with posts by tire experts covering this subject.

If the original poster puts the DOT codes of the tires in this thread I will reply with the date of manufacture and the plant that built the tires.

I have a special interest in this thread as I have a 2007 Chev Uplander (very similar to Impala) with Wal-mart Goodyear Fuelmax tires on it.

 

There is a decal in the driver's door jamb that gives the manufacurer's specified tire pressure and the tire sizes offer on this model. I'd be interested in the tire size, is it the proper size the car came with? What does Chevrolet say the correct tire pressure should be? If you rotate every 5,000 miles, how many miles are on the front tires?

I have heard that before, but not sure I believe it. Does that apply to tires from Sam's Club too?