What Causes Tires to Wear Unevenly?

Keeping an eye on tire tread wear is an important part of vehicle maintenance for your new or used vehicle. As such, you’ll know what causes tires to wear unevenly. Why? Tire tread wear has a significant impact on the overall performance of your vehicle. Uneven tire tread wear can cause wheel misalignment, impact gas mileage, and lead to other issues.

It’s important to understand what causes tires to wear unevenly to prevent expensive issues from occurring later. Several things can cause uneven tire wear in Humboldt, including driving conditions, your driving habits, extreme weather, and other factors.

A few very simple precautions can go a long way toward preserving your tire’s tread and reducing tire tread wear. The goal is to make your tires last as long as possible to lower your overall costs of new vehicle ownership.

Why Does Tire Tread Wear Matter?

While you drive, your tire treads grip the road, giving you control over your vehicle. Tire treads also shunt water away from the main tire surface to get better traction and handling on slick surfaces. When you encounter offroading conditions or inclement weather in Milan, the surface of your tires needs as much contact with the road as possible. However, when your tire tread wears unevenly, portions of the tire lose contact with the road.

When you lose traction, it makes it difficult to properly control your vehicle. We’ll dive into two main causes of tire tread wear.

Uneven Tire Tread Wear from Improper Inflation

When your tires are properly inflated, your vehicle moves effortlessly. Turning, weight distribution, braking, and other tasks take place without much effort because your car rides smoothly on tires with the correct inflation. However, when your tires are under- or over-inflated, tire tread may wear unevenly. You may notice that your vehicle feels unstable as it turns, accelerates, and decelerates.

When your tires lose traction, these normal driving tasks become more difficult. As time continues with uneven wear, the treads wear even faster. Before you know it, you’ve got one portion of a tire with a bald patch and another portion with decent treads. Check your tire tread wear at least once a week, and always check on them during extremely hot or cold weather.

Tire Misalignment

Having your tires aligned through normal maintenance is important, but it’s often overlooked because you may not notice the problems caused by uneven tire tread wear. But less tread on your tires can cause significant challenges.

When your tires aren’t aligned properly, steering, bearings, and joints can weaken, causing major problems in the future. However, short-term issues include uneven tire tread wear and possible blowouts. Hitting potholes, curbs, and other significant impacts will throw your vehicle out of alignment. You can correct this problem as soon as you can.

Having your vehicle serviced regularly will avoid these problems because expert service technicians on our team will inspect the tires every time you come in. We can always provide tire alignment and other maintenance when needed.

Get Tire Service in Jackson

If you’re concerned with your vehicle’s tire tread wear or other performance issues, contact our team or call 731-206-2800 if you’re in the Brownsville area. We’ll have you back on the road in no time!