At a glance:

• Fitting your vehicle with the right tyres is essential
• Causes of uneven tyre wear
• Ways to avoid uneven tyre wear

Regardless of whether they are used on or off road, tyres experience all kinds of stresses. But what causes excessive or uneven tyre wear? Does it mainly come down to driver error or lack of maintenance, or does it have more to do with external factors?

Check your tyres at the earliest opportunity in case you notice that they are wearing out faster than they normally do or if they appear to be wearing at a really alarming rate. Excessive wear occurs for several reasons, including incorrect wheel alignment, faulty suspension, worn steering, and braking problems.

Also, when looking to buy tyres online for an upgrade or replacement, it is paramount that you buy tyres that fit your vehicle; whether you need truck tyres, ATV tyres, quad bike tyres or crane & OTR tyres. In doing so, the vehicle will be in proper balance and alignment and faulty suspensions, worn steering, braking problems and uneven tyre wear are minimized.

Causes of Uneven Tyre Wear Improper Wheel Alignment

A tyre alignment or wheel alignment refers to the process of adjusting a vehicle’s steering and suspension components. In addition to the tyres and wheels, this also adjusts the angles of the tyres on the road in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications (camber, toe, and caster).

Incorrect Tyre Pressure

If a tyre isn’t inflated correctly, it will wear faster and unevenly. Various factors affect vehicle performance, safety, comfort, handling, and fuel economy, including tyre pressure.

A correctly inflated tyre optimizes vehicle load distribution, acceleration, braking, and cornering forces. A tyre with a low or high pressure will not have the optimal contact area for the task at hand. Due to this, different parts of the tyre tread may wear away more quickly.

Poor Driving Habits

Uneven tyre wear can easily be caused by driving habits such as sharp corners, hitting the kerb, spinning the wheels, and excessive braking. Consequently, potholes are a major concern as they have the potential to affect your alignment and cause premature wear on your tyres.

How can you avoid uneven tyre wear

The best ways to prevent tyre wear are by maintaining correct tyre pressures for the load and speed conditions and driving smoothly and carefully. Avoid hard braking, hard cornering, and violent acceleration.

During acceleration and braking, the rubber is removed from the treads of the tyres until a flat patch is left.

Since weight is transferred to the outside wheels, hard cornering puts more strain on the tyres, particularly the shoulder treads. Even slight increases in cornering speed increase tread wear.

Checking your tyres tread is the best way to ensure they’re in good condition; and the best part is it doesn’t take long. Whenever you need new tyres for your vehicle, visit Oceanic Direct to get high-quality tyres from the leading brands fitted to your vehicle, and remain safe on the road, safeguarding you and your family.