Tire Wear: Conditions and Causes

Click the links on the left for Tire Wear Conditions.

Irregular wear reduces the useful life of a tire and can lead to tire failure. Irregular tread wear is a symptom of a problem with a vehicle, a tire or a tire maintenance practice.

Tire tread wears away because of friction with the pavement. Tread should wear down uniformly all the way around the circumference of the tire and all the way across the tread face. When this does not occur, the tire has irregular wear.

When you see a tire with irregular wear, you should find the underlying cause. If you only replace the tire, you have not solved the problem that caused the irregular wear in the first place. To solve the underlying problem, you must see the irregular wear when the tire is still on the vehicle.

Some irregular wear patterns look the same all the way around the tread of the tire. Other wear patterns are not consistent all the way around, but occur in various spots. The underlying causes of the two categories are different.