40000 tires worn out and excessive shoulder wear!!!

You're lucky: I replaced the Goodyear Integrity tires on my 2004 after 15K miles. There's no treadlife warranty on the original equipment tires.

 

The OEM tires are a known weakness. However, shoulder wear is an indication of other possible problems. If it is both shoulders, it is obvious that the tires were underinflated. Increase the pressure until you see even wear, no matter what the recommendation is on the door plaque.

If it is just the outside or inside shoulder, it is an indication of bad alignment. Both camber and toe can cause this. You said it was all four tires. Did you ever rotate them? If yes, it could be just the front alignment wearing them out. If no, it would be interesting since the rear isn't very adjustable (and doesn't tend to contribute to out-of-allignment wear).

In any case, new tires are in order, and I wouldn't do that without getting a good alignment. Then monitor wear and adjust tire pressure accordingly to prevent a reoccurence of this.

 

If both shoulders are worn it indicates tire need more pressure. I center is worn and shoulders are OK it indicates too much pressure. On you next set of tires try bumping the pressure up a bit and check tread wear at about 5,000 miles when you rotate the tires. If they are not wearing evenly as described above adjust pressure accordingly.

 

Many owners are going with Max psi on front (per sidewall rating) and Max - 2psi on the rear.

 

I've got a 2008 Prius with almost 20k miles now, and all 4 tires are wearing as if they were drastically under inflated. Both inside and outside of all 4 are nearly bald, but the center looks great. I've been running exactly what the door plaque says (35 front, 33 rear). Are there many other people with similar results? I guess I'm going to have to jack up the pressure quite a bit...

 

A search for the tp threads would show this isn't a surprise. IMO, raise the pressure until you aren't happy with the ride or performance. They are your tires, do whatever you want.

 

Hello Zero, Matt:

Many PC members are running either 42F/40R, or 40F/38R on their G2s. The factory recommended pressures seem to be more tailored for a cushy ride than for handling or tire wear.

As already mentioned, the excessive shoulder wear is a known issue when the tire pressures are run at factory specs.

Also, the higher tire pressures will improve you .MPG.

 

The manufacturer's maximum cold pressure is shown on the sidewall of every tire.

It's a bit safer (and less bother) not to rotate the tires. The rear pair wear more slowly, which is good because it reduces the chances of fishtailing in a hard stop. When the front pair wear out, move the rear pair to the front and put a new pair at the rear.

 

Kroushdb ran his at 55 psi and still got the shoulder wear. Either his alignment's off or these tires perhaps cannot be made to wear evenly. Pix on 1st page this thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ting/67445-180k-preventative-manitenance.html

 

Toyota replaced mine free @ 30k because of the edges being gone, they know about the edge wear on the Prius, but won't acknowledge a problem unless you hassle them about it. 40k is much better, but the Goodyear Integrities are junk anyway, no traction in snow and a very bad consumer rating. They put Yokohama Avids on mine and I now have 30k and not much wear at all, even on the edges. They did an alignment at the same time. I am hoping to get 50k out of these at the rate they are wearing now.

 

The orignal tires on my 2005 prius were were wearing out extremely fast, and I kept the pressure at 37psi on all four tires. Both rear tires were showing more wear on the inside and out side shoulders than the center treads. And I was rotating the tires every oil change.

I was getting ready for a road trip of 3000 miles almost all interstate travel at 70 mph or higher. I raised the pressure to 40 psi all four tires. After traveling 2300 miles the rear tires were completely worn bald on the inside and outside shoulders and center treads were fine. The front tires were worn down to the tread wear indicator. I had to have all four tires replaced,and the tires had only 18,782 on them. When I checked the pressure it was 40 psi on all four tires. The technician who replaced the tires checked the pressure also before changing the tires and said it was 40 psi. He said the tires on the rear had deformed with the outside shoulders bulging downward.

I was lucky I noticed the extreme wear on the rear tires they could have blown out at any time. I would advise against raising the pressure on the orignal tires to to 42 and 40 psi as some people suggest, especially if you are running at high speeds.

 

I gave my Integrities away at 8,000 miles.

Tom

 

Holy hand grenades batman! how do you wear out 10,000 sets of tyres? Was this all on one car or a fleet?

That is what this thread is about isn't it?

If tyres wear on the edge you need the wheels aligned properly. Not everyone in a tyre shop can wheel align and not every wheel alignment machine is accurately calibrated. I say this from experience.

 

I have 32K miles on my Goodyears, and they're fine. No problem in the snow either. I run at 40/38 psi generally.

 

This is my pet peeve....... Toyota had to replace mine at 30k because they were completly bald on the edges. Later I spoke with the new service manager,..... offsite of the dealership..... He said that was a known problem with Prius's that they eat tires. Others have had Toyota replace the tires free also. INcluding alignment. The Goodyear Integrity's are junk though. NO snow traction even when new and not a good consumer rating. After the free replacement, with Yokohama Avid's..... which have a 100% better consumer rating than the Goodyear's. I now have 31k on these with very little edge wear and stilll fairly good tread. If you got 40000 out of the Goodyear Integrity's you are the exception. At this mileage, forget about the dealer doing anything, I had enough problems getting them to @ 30k. National had to approve it. change tires and go with it. Also, I ran 42 lbs pressure so the wear WAS NOT due to underinflation, It was bad alignment from day 1 and cheap tires.

 

While none of us will recommend running high pressures in our tires many of us do anyway and see excellent results from it. I regularly drive 70-75mph

Integritys at high pressure and high miles

Nokian i3s with high pressure after 20k+