Rear tyre wear?

[matt_s]

Got my front tyres replaced at the weekend and the place said they couldn't swap the fronts and rears over because the rears had worn funny. I can't see anything obvious like patchy wear or the edge being more worn. Also can't see the damper leaking.

Is this common on leons and should I just swap them anyway and see what happens?

 

[dinsdale]

Mine wore badly in the centre at first - but I think that's because I used to pump them up too hard. Apart from that they look fairly evenly worn, but I've never had them off the car to see (I'm having the original pair replaced this weekend, after 4 years/4k miles).

 

[matt_s]

Think I'm going to swap them over and see what happens. If there's problems I'll just swap them back. Shouldn't take too long.

 

[Fast_Eddie]

my nearside rear wore down a lot quicker than my offside due to roundabout tomfoolery?

 

[ibiza_95]

Mine wore badly in the centre at first - but I think that's because I used to pump them up too hard. Apart from that they look fairly evenly worn, but I've never had them off the car to see (I'm having the original pair replaced this weekend, after 4 years/4k miles).

i hope that was 40k miles, i couldnt imagine 4k in 4 years!

 

[matt_s]

Pictures

I've finally had the time and the weather at the same time and I've got a rear tyre off.

There are little cracks in the tread, does it look like something to worry about? It is on the inner half of the tyre.

Has anyone else had this? They don't seem deep just lots of them all the way round. If it's indicative of something I'll mention it when it gets serviced.

Is it going to cause problems if I put it on the front?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jetsetjimbo]

The tyres could be defective. Did the tyre place say any more than they wore funnily?

Goodyear offer a service where they'll collect any supect tyres and test them. If they found to have failed due to a manufacturing issue you get a new set of tyres. If not you just get them back.

 

[matt_s]

They said it could be because the rear wheels just drag along. Other than that they didn't say much, didn't even suggest they check the allignment or anything. Just that I should swap them over every few thousand miles after I had new rear ones to stop it happening again.

They are what was on the car when I bought it last July so I'm assuming they are what it came out of the factory with, it only had 9k miles on it then.I'll see what the dealer says when it goes to them in 2 weeks. The cars completely standard so there's nothing for them to blame.

 

[Reg]

The tyre isn't defective, thats just down to the age of the tyre and the rubber starting to perish.

If I were you I would put those on the front, new ones on the back and see how you get on. If you don't have any more vibration or similar (because it will be more apparent on the front through the steering wheel than when fitted to the back) you will be fine. Then these will get a worn properly (as already said, they are just being dragged along)

 

[matt_s]

That sounds like the best thing to do. I suppose the perished bit will wear away fairly quick and expose the protected rubber underneath.

Glad I got F1's to replace the michellin pilot sports that were on it. 2 years is a bit rubbish though. My old car had yoko A539's on for 4 years. Kept the same on the back and got through nearly 3 sets on the front and the rears weren't even half worn with no cracks.

 

[Reg]

Thing is, those tyres might have been sat on a shelf/in a yard/on a boat/wherever for a year or two before you got them? But as I say, its nothing to worry about, just use them up. A while ago there were batches of Pirelli tyres that were turning quite brown on the sidewalls with exposure to sunlight. Turned out they had been destined for brazil or somewhere like that, and cosmetically were not of the same standard Europe expects, but they sneaked in anyway.

I have a Fiesta I use for running to and from work in most of the time, and the back tyres although hardly worn are showing signs of perishing after 4 years on the car. I'll swap the new fronts to the back on that over the weekend too to get my money's worth out of them too.

 

[rockfodder21]

If they are Goodyears check their place of manufacture, I am reliably informed that slovenian ones have been failing on Police Vectra's and are being replaced by German sourced tyres.

 

[matt_s]

The old tyres with the cracks are michellins (french) but the new F1's are german.

 

[craigomills]

so, is it best to have newer tyres on the front or back?

Im due to get 2 new F1's for the back, but im thinking of putting the newer ones on the front to get the maximum out of the ones currently on the front

does this make sense?

 

[TheOtherSimon]

New tyres on back. Always.

Simon.

 

[Oz]

personally, any defect like that should just get replaced; last time i checked, losing the backend on a roundabout worked our more expensive than the cost of a couple of tyres

 

[craigomills]

New tyres on back. Always.

Simon.

why? not that I dont believe you mate. I would have thought it would have been better to have more grip at the front where the power is?

The F1's I have got on the front have done about 10,000 miles, and there is loads left.

 

[jaybeee]

New tyres on back. Always.

Simon.

Why is that?

I got two new F1 front tyres a month ago. The back ones need replacing in the next couple of months, and was thinking of putting the new ones on the front and existing ones on the back. Mainly because I thought the front tyres wear quicker.

 

[Reg]

why? not that I dont believe you mate. I would have thought it would have been better to have more grip at the front where the power is?

This has been covered a lot before. Basically, its a safety thing. On a front wheel drive car, worn tyres are going to create more understeer on the front. Generally just lift off the throttle and things should come back into place nice and easy.

However, have worn tyres on the back, and oversteer can start to show its face. Usually lift off/roll induced oversteer turning into roundabouts, tightish or fast corners etc. The vast majority of people (including those that know what to do) won't act fast enough to catch oversteer on the road because it will happen very quickly, and you will end up in the hedge.

So by having the best tyres on the back, you have a better chance of keeping it on the black stuff.

 

[Snoopcousins]

I have been wondering about this, I need new front tyres and not sure whether its best to put the new ones on the back? My Leon has only done 9k miles, is it better to rotate them?