What's wrong with my tires?

Question

I have a 2 wheel drive 2000 Toyota Avalon. My dad said he got new tires for my car exactly a year ago, but the front two are already going bald. I'm no tire expert, but I've been doing some research and I just went outside to look at them. The back tires seem fine; they passed the penny test and I can't see the tread bars. The front two however, didn't pass the penny test, and the tread bars are almost at the same level as the surface of the tire.

I talked my dad into looking at them, and he thinks they're fine. He also thought there was too much air in the tires and started deflating them a bit...even though I got them filled only a few weeks ago at Big Tires...

I live in Denver, and last winter was horrible!! I had just moved from CA too. I got stuck in snow about 5 times, and I skid really bad one time too. Could this be why my tires are so bad after only 1 year? What would you recommend I do now?

Answer 1

Sounds more like a driver issue, and your dad is not helping.

Inflate your tires to between 30 and 35 psi when the tires are cold (driven slowly for less than 2 miles). When hot, they will be 2 to 5 psi higher.

Accelerate, brake and corner more gently.

Buy only good quality tires with long tread life; personally I like Michelin's brands: Michelin, BF Goodrich and Uniroyal. Wal-mart and many others carry these.

Rotate your tires per instructions in your owners manual.

Snow: on winter roads, the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road as around 0.1; versus on clean dry tarmac around 0.8. That means a panic stop in the winter will take EIGHT times the space of of a panic stop in the summer.

Regarding getting stuck - you probably jumped in and floored it - just digging a deeper hole. Most of the time, the car will pull itself out if you keep your foot off the gas, the rest of the time, gentle rocking will do it. Spinning your tires just digs a deeper, icy (more slippery) hole.

Answer 2

You never had them rotated? or an alignment done? Either way, that alone would not likely cause this kind of wear. Where did you check on the tire? is it worn the same all around? Is the inside worn less then the outside edge? Is there more wear in the center? or on the sides? All these details can help someone give you a better idea of why you may have had this happen.

Skidding on ice a few time will not cause this wear, but, without sounding mean, you seem like a new driver if you live in Colorado, and cannot maintain control in bad weather. You probably drive hard. Quick accelerations, fast cornering, all this will wear your tires.

Answer 3

If the alignment was good, and the pressure was somewhat near to correct, one year should not wear out tires.
Of course, 2 new tires should go on the back anyway. You have to buy 2 new tires, put them on the back, put your back tires on the front, and get an alignment and suspension check.
The only other thing that could have worn the tires out was a lot of spinning, burning out, that kind of thing, unless they weren't actually new tires last year, but used ones. Lack of rotation can't wear out tires in a year. I had my best tires on the front, didn't rotate as long as the tread was deeper on the front, and after 3 years both tires have worn perfectly evenly.
I just had another thought. If you had that much trouble, are they summer tires? If they don't have the M&S symbol, they are not all-seasons, and you are lucky to be alive.

Answer 4

Go and buy two new tires for the front...make sure they're the same size as the ones on the back. Make sure you get the tires balanced and all that. Then you need to get your butt to a shop certified in steering and suspension and have them do a front end alignment...here in Kentucky, that costs about 50 bucks. Trust me, it will save you a lot of money in tires if you do it now. I'm getting one tomorrow...I've already had to change my front tires because they wore extremely fast, because the front end needs aligned. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Tire pressure info should be on your driver side door jamb. This is what your manufacturer has determined best for your car. Tires need rotated about every 8000 miles to get the best wear out of them so you need to keep track of this and have it done as necessary. You are right to worry about front tire with winter coming on. Have it checked by tire center since your dad does not seem to be to mechanically inclined. Good Luck and its good you are aware of such things!

Answer 6

1) Is your car a front wheel drive or rear wheel drive?

2) Have you rotated your tires regularly?

If you car is front wheel drive & you haven't rotated the tires, then that could be why the front tires are more worn than the rear tires.

You can change just the front 2 tires & have all 4 rotated regularly for even wear. Also, have the alignment checked.

The correct air pressure for the tires should be indicated on it's inner rim.

Here's a good site for car maintenance & advice: www.cartalk.com

Related articles: http://cartalk.com/content/advice/rotatingtires.html
http://cartalk.com/content/features/WinterDriving/

Answer 7

Since you already asked about replacing them in a previous question, I will only mention two things - have the alignment checked - and check the tire pressure regularly.
If both tires are wearing the same (center more worn - over inflation, sides worn - under inflation) If they are worn unevenly (outside of one, inside of the other - hard cornering. Both inside or both outside - alignment. uneven tread wear - worn suspension parts

Answer 8

I recommend new tires, and possibly a front end alignment. Should cost no more than 200 bucks.

Answer 9

check tha camber on them if thats not it then you need to have them balanced again cuz if they took only a year to wear out then "big tires" didnt really do it right or somethin. good luck and BE CAREFUL when you drive in tha snow again.

Answer 10

did u rotate the tires every six to eight thousand otherwise they will go bald like that and ur alignment could be out