Thread: VERY strange tire wear... wtf?

I know exactly the wear pattern you are describing. It was obvious to me from looking at the first pic. I have spent almost the last 10 years running garages so I have seen just about every issue that can happen with a vehicle. This is not something that is surprising to me in the least. It will happen when snow tires are used in conditions that they are not meant for, meaning hotter weather. I will say it one more time, the compound they are made out of is designed to work in cold weather. When you use snow tires in hot weather you will get a chopped wear on the tires. I used to sell a ton of Nokian WR tires when they first came out. They were advertised as an all season tire with the grip of a snow tire and living in the north east it sounded like a great idea to people who were not looking to change tires but still wanted to be able to get up hills in the snow. Well that was a major fail on Nokian's part. Needless to say, I had many pissed off customers because I went by what the company that made the tires said until I saw what happened. It was a great selling point in the north east and made selling the tires very easy. The problem was that they were really a 3 season tire. As soon as the pavement was hot, the tires exhibited the same wear pattern that your tires are. Nokian was aware of the problem but continued to market the tires as all season. I know they were aware because they redesigned the tire and came out with the WR G2, which was supposed to correct the issue. The tires lasted longer but still didn't last like an all season should and showed the same wear pattern, especially on heavier vehicles. I never sold those tires again unless the customer insisted. The ones that insisted were the ones that got lucky and didn't have severe wear issues. They loved the fact that they could keep them on all year and not get stuck when we had snow. Just get a set of all seasons off of tire rack and your problem will be magically fixed. You don't have to worry and over think this. I am telling you what is happening with your car from experience, not just a wild guess. Stop over analyzing this and listen to what we are saying. The fact that the tires were studded made the situation even worse because studs, being that they are metal, create even more heat when they contact the pavement. I am done for the evening as I spend 60 plus hours a week explaining things like this to people. I am just trying to give you a simple answer to a simple question and you are looking for an issue that just isn't there.
Drew

Its called scalloping, its normally caused by soft shocks that can't correctly suppress the oscillation of the spring, basically it allows the wheel to move up and hammer back down when you go over bumps, wearing the lug of the tyre, unfortunately once it starts it only gets worse, Prob want some new front shocks and chuck the tyres on the back for a while, might save them.

Bingo ^^ . Although i call it "stepped" to better explain it to customers . Me and total200ser are on the same page i have to explain constanlty to customers at my shop that you cant run snow all year because your lazy and cheap to buy summer tires . Although i cant stand having to dismount the snow tires and balance them on their stock wheels every year .. ..just buy steel wheels youcheap ass !

But botom line or good rule of thumb replace front shock @50-75k, rotate tires every other oil change , and get alignment checked every year or some cases if you live where i do twice a year thanks to the great roads we have . Those tires have to be making a loud wheel bearing like noise badhabbits ! Or is the radio up too loud lol. Check around some shops offer life time alignment deals .

If it were a set of all season tires I would be suggesting that the tire wear was caused by lazy struts. These are snow tires and will get that way even if you were to have brand new struts all the way around. On top of that they are studded snow tires! You put those tires in the back and you are going to have a hell of a vibration and loud noise still. I am not sure how you drove on studded snows for that long as even in the winter, they are loud and annoying.

Yes they were very loud. I guess I had just become used to it. I pulled the rims and tires off today and realized that they also waved like as if I had run them over inflated and then under as well. I know they weren't run like that since I check my pressure every time I change the oil. Anyways, after shopping around for new tires for the stock rims, the best price I could find was about $400 mounted and balanced. So, to Craigslist I went and picked up a pair of 17x7 (a little big for my taste but they look OK) speedy wheels lite 7, with brand new 205/40/17 which was a perfect fit. Anyways, $500 later I have new to me rims and brand new rubber. I'll be checking the tread daily to make sure this doesn't start happening to the new tires so wish me luck. hopefully I can sell off my ser rims once I clean them up and repaint them and recoup a little bit of the money.

Here she is now, its dark now so the best I could do.

So just an update. the new tires are doing well. no signs of anything damaging them and I've put about 200 miles on them. doesn't seem like much to tell from but the old tires were literally dropping 1/32 every 20 mile trip to work. I'm relieved.

Oh, and omg I never realized how loud those studs were until I got them off of there. it feels like a whole new car as far as handling just by getting new tires on it (though I'm sure the wider rims contribute to that too)

I am happy that things are changing for you!!! I hope you have learned an important lesson from this ordeal from both vehicles. Your tires are one of the most important thing of the car. They connect the car to the road and it is crucial to pay attention to them all the time.

And check your tires pressures at least every two weeks at a minimum. Unless you are using Nitrogen-filled tires, the pressure will change with the temperature.

You know, that may have contributed.. I never knew why but I know it is not recommended to add regular air to tires that had nitrogen. when I got the car up in Vermont there was lots of snow and the tires were filled to 30psi with nitrogen. Once I got ready to leave Vermont I stopped at the gas station and filled to 36psi with regular air and have added regular air ever since then.. may not really have anything to do with it, but since I have no clue why they say don't mix it might be a part of it.

There are no ill-effects that come with mixing regular air in the the nitrogen. All it means is you're diluting the nitrogen and reducing any benefits it would give you (less psi change with temperature, less leaking). I'm glad you solved your issue and you're happier. I'm not sure why you decided to go with the craigslist rims/tires? For the same price you could have had some really nice tires mounted to your B14 rims, which I am guessing are much lighter rims than the 17's, which means you would have better handling, better fuel economy, a better ride, and less wear-and-tear on your suspension. Maybe next time. Regardless, you are certainly much safer on your new set-up than your old. Glad the issues aren't carrying over to your new tires.