Bad Tire Again! What is Causing This Uneven Wear and Bumping?
Reader Question:
Let me first thank you for your help. I sure don’t know what I should do. I have a 94 Nissan Altima.
On the driver’s side, the tire is wearing down pretty good. It also has a bumping feeling.
I know is not the tire because when I bought new ones it still did the same thing. Any advice?
Thanks so much, Lori
Hello Lori,
Without looking at the tire myself, I can only assume you have an “out of alignment” issue.
If one tire is wearing unevenly or more so than the others, there is probably something out of
whack with the alignment of the vehicle.
If a tire has some raised bumps on it, called scallops, this is usually caused by lack of tire
rotation and wheel balancing. If the driver side tire is not deemed a dangerous condition by your
mechanic, you might be able to rotate and balance all four wheels, move the driver tire and
wheel to the rear of the car, put the best two tires on the REAR of the car, and then check the
alignment of the vehicle.
The tire manufacturers have determined that the best tires with the deeper tread should be placed on the rear of the vehicle control (prevent oversteer) while driving on wet and slippery conditions, which is surely an accident waiting to happen.
Don’t be swayed into buying shocks and struts as a remedy for this situation. These items are
commonly sold when abnormal tire wear is present. In my opinion, they are sold more because
the customer is familiar with the terms shocks and struts, and the slick advertising done by the
strut companies. In 90% of the tire wear cases shocks and struts are not the culprit. Rather,
out of alignment, lack of tire rotation, and wheel balancing or the failure of some front end
alignment part is the cause for tire wear.
Blessings,
Austin C. Davis
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How exactly dose lack of rotation cause chopped or scalloped tires? Ive seen many cars with one chopped tire on the vehichle and the others being perfectly round (and all 4 tires being purchased at the same time) Ive being working with tires ten years now and have been to Brigdestone and Goodyear training seminars, and none of them have ever said a chopped tire was due to lack of rotation. Now i can see that it could be possible if all 4 tires were chopped that it could be due to lack of rotation perhaps more so on all wheel drive vehichles. In twenty years of driving ive maybe rotated my tires 5 times in my life, and ive never have had chopped tires Alignment wear or other mechanical wear yes but not due to lack of rotation.
The biggest culprit of a chopped tire is a defect inside the tire itself…which the manufacturer will never admit to. Lots of tires are coming from overseas and the tires made here in the US are for the most part using cheaper materials than before. Prices of tires are pretty cheap these days and you get what you pay for. Rotating the tire helps the tread and belts inside the tire wear more evenly than if they were left in a single position for their lifetime.
Tires on the front take more abuse and inherent wear than a rear tire that only travels in one direction. Moving the tires around will help wear patterns wear more evenly so you do not have a shimmy/wheel balance problem.
Regular wheel balancing will also greatly help to keep the tire wearing evenly.
Smaller cars with smaller tires tend to “chop” more easily than bigger/heavier vehicles.
Cheap tires chop more easily
Low profile tires chop more easily
Aggressive off road tires chop more easily
Alignment problems will cause inside and outside tread wear on the tire but not in top tread and not necessarily chopping.
Under inflated tires will wear both outsides of the tire tread
Over inflated tires will wear the inside the tire tread
If possible buying a highway tread tire, with multiple “plys” from a brand name is my best advice…..and of course rotate and balance often.