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Shoulder tire wear

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Perkolator, May 25, 2017.

  1. Perkolator

    Perkolator Junior Member

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    Very soon I'm going to need some new tires on my 2013. They are the original Bridgestone Ecopia tires that came with the car and they now have over 55,000 miles on them, which is pretty exceptional to me for any tire.

    The tires are definitely to the wear bars but I'm noticing more wear on the outer shoulders of the tires, all 4 tires. It's actually on both inside/outside shoulders, but more so on the outside than the inside. I know my tire pressure has been good since I know the tire pressure sensors work almost too well on this car and I've had to keep it in the sweet spot.

    Kinda thinking that maybe I could use an alignment now that I've got almost 60k, but wondering if this might be a common problem that others are experiencing caused by something else? Like perhaps the stock suspension is setup so the tire is slightly positive camber in anticipation of squatting down a bit from passenger weight (car always driven with one driver only, 80% highway)

    What do you think?
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how often did you rotate? perhaps a higher pressure would help.
     
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  3. Perkolator

    Perkolator Junior Member

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    hehe, not often at all - like only when it goes in for service because i just put in gas and drive it like i stole it :)

    I believe my tire pressure is always over 32psi since the stock setting on the pressure sensors makes the light come on at like 30psi
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    If the TPMS initialization is done at some pressure, I believe it takes a 25% drop before they'll be triggered. You have been monitoring pressures, with a gauge? And what pressure are you using: spec., a bit higher, a lot higher?
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a lot of people here run them a little higher to put more of the middle of the tire on the road. still, you can't complain about 55k, as you said.
     
  6. Perkolator

    Perkolator Junior Member

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    yeah I'm definitely not complaining, just wondering if there's something else as I thought the wear looked odd compared to all other cars I've driven in the past.

    Pressure is always set at like 32psi or whatever the door says, I check it at home with a decent gauge. Was having issues a few years ago with sensors always coming on when weather changed and when I'd look and see the tire to appear "normal", I'd check the PSI was only like 29-30psi
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yeah, looks can definitely be deceiving on radial tires.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I tend to see faster wear on inner tread edge, a consequence of negative rear camber methinks.

    This is 15" right? Ok, no peeking: what is spec pressure?
     
  9. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    OP, if you don't like shoulder wear, increase pressure to at least 36, 40 if you can stomach road feel.
     
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  10. Perkolator

    Perkolator Junior Member

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    I looked earlier, I guess spec is 34/35 PSI, not much higher. Maybe next set I'll see about keeping them higher, I can deal with the extra stiffness as I also drive trucks. I think Toyota always sets them lower like 32 for some reason. Oh well can't complain about 55k from tires! Have fun everyone!
     
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    next set, at higher pressures, you'll probably only get 40k.:p
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think lower pressures are good for suspension and bearings. (n)

    Near the end of any tire's life, uniformity of wear starts to run off the rails. Ours, it always seems to be inside edges wearing a bit faster, due to aforementioned rear camber.