What Causes Tire Wear?
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Tire Wear Causes
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Tire wear is caused by friction. This friction is generated from simple driving. It is what actually allows the car to move across the road. If there was no friction, the car would not move forward. The tires would simply spin in place, and the car would stand still, like it does on a sheet of ice, which generates no friction. As tires travel across asphalt, they produce a force against it which propells the car forward. This forces is absorbed partially by the tire, partially by the road and partially by the car itself. When the energy is absorbed by the tire, it causes the rubber to burn off in small amounts. Over time, these small amounts contribute to your over all tire wear.
Rear Tire Wear
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The most common type of tire wear comes from everyday driving on your rear wheels. A rear wheel that rolls across the asphalt will wear down slowly, but wear just the same. The rear wheels wear down fairly evenly, as long as the tires are inflated properly, because the wheels are just moving in a straight line. Some wear occurs on the rear tires during a turn, because the tire is dragged slightly across the asphalt. This accounts for some of the tire wear, but not the majority.
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Front Tire Wear
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Another type of tire wear is horizontal, which occurs on the front tires. Front wheels turn in both directions, and during the turn, pressure is applied not just to the flat surface of the tire, but laterally across the tire. There is more force put on the front tire during a turn because of gravitational forces. These forces press down and across on the tire, causing more friction and more wear. Because the tire is being pushed slightly across the pavement during a turn, it will wear out more along the sides, becoming "bald." Treads along the edges of front tires will wear out much faster than the flat treads on the bottom of rear tires due to this type of tire wear.
Inflation
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Improper inflation affects tire wear. A car tire that is over-inflated will wear out in the center. This is due to the shape of the tire. It is bowed out slightly, which means the bottom is more round than flat, and more energy is absorbed by a smaller section of the tire. Under-inflated tires can wear on the sides because the rubber sags slightly, and the outer edges have more pressure on them.
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