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Gen III - 2010 - Weird tire wear question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by nukem, Apr 30, 2014.

  1. nukem

    nukem Junior Member

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    I'm looking for some advice on what might be happening to my right rear tires.

    I am getting significantly more wear on the center of the right rear tire. I noticed it when I removed the winter tires a week or so back. (see photo). Note that the center portion of the tread is worn down in addition to a section on either side of the center portion.

    I checked the inflation pressure of the tire and it is exactly the same as the left rear and exactly in spec. The winter tires are P195/65R15 - pressure measured at 33 psi. At first I thought it might be the pressure but I am pretty diligent on checking and keeping it correct.

    So I was really surprised when I put on the summer tires (215/45R17) and noticed the exact same wear pattern on the right rear summer tire (32 psi). This is also right on spec for inflation pressure.

    I thought perhaps it could be alignment but I can't quite see how only the exact center of the right rear tire could be effected and no other tire.

    Please note that all of the other 3 summer and 3 winter tires are showing normal wear.

    What should I be looking into or researching or fixing? I'm stumped.

    Thanks in advance.
     

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  2. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    Normally I would suspect over-inflation or tire belt issue, but in 2 different tires?

    Do you rotate the tires?
     
  3. Grren4ever

    Grren4ever Active Member

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    stumped too... good luck. keep us updated on your findings!
     
  4. nukem

    nukem Junior Member

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    Thank you for the suggestions.

    Yes, I have rotated the tires at a regular interval (between 7,500 & 10,000 km).
     
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This is a classic sign of over inflation.

    When you rotate the tire, does the front tire that's rotated to the back develop the same symptom?

    Are your tires too big for the rim? They look pretty wide
     
  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    • Center Wear
    • Center wear is typically due to over-inflation. The maximum inflation pressure, listed on the tire, is for when the vehicle is fully loaded. Center wear may also be caused by mounting oversized tires onto narrow rims.
     
  7. nukem

    nukem Junior Member

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    Thanks JC91006 & all others who have posted.

    I've had the garage & dealer rotate the tires until about a year ago so I don't know. I don't drive enough kms to have done the rotation myself.

    The winter tires were OK when I put them on in November. I drove about 5000 km on the winter tires. Now the right rear tire is noticeably worn in the center.

    The tires are stock size for the rims & the rims are stock and came on the car (sports package).

    While I agree with you that the center wear is usually due to over inflation, the center wear happened on both the summer and winter right rear tires. Both tires have the same wear pattern and all (8) tires are bang on the recommended inflation pressure. So I thought that perhaps the alignment was a problem but no picture that I've seen regarding wear patterns due to alignment issues shows the center wear pattern. Could there be some other mechanical issue?

    I suppose I could rotate the summer tires on the weekend and watch to see if the "new" right rear tire develops the same wear pattern. But if that happens and the pressure is OK for the other 3 tires, then I'm still confused as to why the right rear tire get worn?
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i keep my tyres at 42/40 psi and have never seen this. how many kms on the winter and summer gyres? it is possible you didn't notice the wear when you changed them last fall. can you post a pic of the worn summer tyre?
     
  9. nukem

    nukem Junior Member

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    The summer tires are at 33 psi front and 32 psi as the door plate says.

    I don't know how old the summer tires are as I bought the car used. I've had the car for ~30,000 km of which about 20,000 were on the summers.

    The winter tires are at 32 psi all around as per spec. The winter tires I bought about 10,000 kms ago.

    I'll post a picture of the tire later.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it seems odd that with regular rotation, only one out of four tyres is worn. but if it happened as you say, you may have something wrong with that axle. but i don't know what would cause that kine of wear except overinflation. maybe run it by the peeps who rotate them for you for their opinion?
     
  11. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    The same here, 9 years of two Prius one 05 and this one 2012. 42f/40r psi, Tires have worn evenly across the face.
    I don't recall any one with such a problem. I think it may be a bad tire or rim, just my guess.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would agree if it were only one. have to wait for the pic of the summer tyre.
     
  13. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    I assume you have the snows on their own rims so you just take off summer tires and rims and put on different winter tires and rims, just a swap? If that is the case and you have two sets of tires and rims both with same problem? then it can't be the tires or rims. Have a front end shop check it out, something is just not right!
     
  14. nukem

    nukem Junior Member

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    Hi everyone. Thanks for all the great advice and suggestions.

    I wanted to circle back but got side tracked. My apologies for the delay.

    Yes, I have the winter tires on separate rims, so the change is easy.

    I did the summer tire rotation and had another good look at what I thought was the weirdly worn summer tire. On second look with two summer tires side by side (which I didn't do when I put them on), it doesn't look too different. They are getting worn and I'll have to replace the set sometime in the next 20k km. I'm feeling much better since I no longer think this is something wrong with the car but rather something happened to the winter tire.

    So I pulled out the winter tire with the weird wear pattern again and have noticed something new. I found the end of a screw in the edge of the tread. The screw was sheared off near the tire so I missed this the first time I looked. I guess the tire is really screwed (ha ha) now with a bizarre wear pattern and a hole. So this has to be replaced.

    Looks like I'll be supporting the tire manufacturers this year but I'm thankful that it isn't anything more serious than that.

    thanks again for everyone help.
     
    retired4999 likes this.
  15. Stratman

    Stratman Member

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    Over inflation in a radial tire can actually cause edge tire wear. The tread face has a finite amout of stretch and over inflating can cause the sidewalks to push outwards. Makes them wear like they're under inflated. I used to see the center wear pattern all the time on boat trailers with very little load on them with the old bias ply tires back in my Goodyear days. We used to tell people to keep them under inflated a bit as most used low grade bias ply's.