[Nofost]

I changed my tires/wheels tonight and put on my set of winters. My focus is 9 months old and has 6,600 miles on it. Below is a picture of the tires taken tonight. I did the first oil change/rotation at 5,000 miles. Notice the tire that is much more worn than the other. This was from the rear, so it should've been on the front when I got the car. I don't beat on the car, launch it, or chirp the tires. I've never even taken traction control off. What was your experience with these tires? At this rate I feel like I'll be lucky to get 15k miles out of the set. That's pitiful.

 

[wheelhopper]

Looks like an alignment issue to me.

 

[Nofost]

Not that it couldn't be, but I don't notice the wheel off center. What about the wear leads you to believe it's alignment related?

 

[Duchess]

They're only rated 240 treadwear, so they're not meant to last. Treadwear ratings are a bit subjective, but making 20k miles would be beating expectations.

 

[Blindeye_03]

Is it just me or is the center more worn than the outside? Those look worse than mine with 13k miles.

 

[Hosz]

As tires wear, the wear rate slows dramatically. When you get down to the last 20% of tread life, that last 20% will probably last as long as the first 60%. Personally, I can't wait for the OEM tires to wear down so I can get something really grippy.

Could the excessive wear be caused by incorrect tire pressure? When the center of the tire is excessively worn, that usually means the tire was over-inflated.

 

[Nofost]

I'll definitely monitor the pressure in the spring because I suspect that to be part of the issue. Also, for those saying they aren't meant to last long, I understand that and didn't expect 50k out of them, but when you rotate at 5k and don't beat the crap out of them the wear should be EVEN, and it's not. I guess I shouldn't rely on the factory TPMS (I wish they didn't even have them) even though they're supposed to have a 3psi range.

 

[Blindeye_03]

Dont rely on the tpms.. Mine have only been useful a few times... Once on my s2000 and once on the fost.. Each time they told me I had a flat tire. Otherwise I check my inflation every two weeks.

You should get some decent life from the stock tires unless you autocross or launch it at every single red light you come across.

 

[UnfocusedST]

Check your tire pressures once a month. You will find with most vehicles you lose about 1psi a month. Also check the tires when they are cold.

Sent from another garage.

 

[lug]

They're only rated 240 treadwear, so they're not meant to last. Treadwear ratings are a bit subjective, but making 20k miles would be beating expectations.

This. I got 23K out of my set and I normally drive like a little old granny who smoked some dope and has a right foot that pains her when she pushes down.

 

[Nofost]

They're only rated 240 treadwear, so they're not meant to last. Treadwear ratings are a bit subjective, but making 20k miles would be beating expectations.

This. I got 23K out of my set and I normally drive like a little old granny who smoked some dope and has a right foot that pains her when she pushes down.

I understand the life expectancy. I knew that going in. I don't mean to sound snarky, but I'm shocked because the didn't wear EVENLY. I've always rotated my tires every 5-6k miles and I'm probably going to get 50k out of the set of Goodyear Duratracs that are on my jeep. I made a point to rotate at 5k given FWD performance car. Also, the dealer didn't mention anything about the pressure or wear, which they should have noticed themselves as it was only 1,500mi ago.

I will monitor the pressure much more closely going forward, but again, thought a 3psi change would be detected and anything less than that would just be a headache from the sensor going off every other day.

 

[Ayada]

I would get an alignment before completely blaming this on tire pressure.

 

[Hosz]

I misread the first post. I thought the tires came off the rear. If the tires came off the front or were on the front, yeah, it probably is your alignment. Your toe in/out is screwed up. One wheel is trying to go straight and the other wheel is trying turn and can't so it's basically getting scrubbed every time you drive. If your toe in/out is screwed up, one of your winter tires will also be trash pretty soon.

Is your car pulling to one side? Try to find an empty parking lot and drive with your steering wheel straight. If it pulls to one direction, someone hit something and messed up your toe. Don't try this on a public road because the crown on the road may cause your car to drift.

 

[GronkDaSlayer]

Looks like normal wear rate to me.
I replaced my front tires a few months ago and I think I got about 18K out of them so I was pretty happy. The rears are still fine and they have 31K on them.
The front are the ones that take a beating. I got something gripier but unfortunately they make a fairly horrendous noise

 

[Evitzee]

And get a GOOD tire gauge, not the $1 ones at the Walmart checkout. I use an Autometer....very accurate, about $23 at Amazon.

 

[Nofost]

Sorry I forgot there was any confusion. The more worn tire was on the front from mile 0-5000, and on the rear from 5001-6600, while the less worn tire was on the rear from mile 0-5000, and the front from 5001-6600. The pairs of tires (front and back) have worn evenly. I would've expected the set of 4 to be more even considering I rotated at 5000, a normal interval.

I have no issues with the wheel pulling, wandering, etc.

I'm surprised people are saying they replaced pairs of tires though. The point of rotating them is so that the wear evenly as a set of 4. Am I missing something?

 

[NeoF150]

I got 27k out of mine. They were definitely shot by then though.

 

[grindMARC]

I would get an alignment before completely blaming this on tire pressure.

I suspect that worn tire was under inflated. It's way easier (and cheaper) to check the pressure than it is to get an alignment. I'd be interested to see this tire inflated properly with a straight edge up against the tread to see if its cupping.

 

[Hosz]

Sorry I forgot there was any confusion. The more worn tire was on the front from mile 0-5000, and on the rear from 5001-6600, while the less worn tire was on the rear from mile 0-5000, and the front from 5001-6600. The pairs of tires (front and back) have worn evenly. I would've expected the set of 4 to be more even considering I rotated at 5000, a normal interval.

I think I understand. Now I am not trying to insult you. I am seriously trying to help. But did you rotate your tires by moving them in a circle? Like LF to RF; RF to RR; RR to LR; and LR to LF? If that is what you did, the wear you are experiencing is normal.

Rotating tires means moving the 2 front tires to the rear and the 2 rear tires to the front. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but those OEM Goodyears look symmetrical to me. That means they can be mounted on the left side or right side of the car. You rotate symmetrical tires by either moving the LF to RR; RF to LR; LR to LF; and RR to RF; or you can do LF to LR; LR to LF; RF to RR; and RR to RF.

Directional tires must always stay on the same side of the car. So you rotate directionals LF to LR; LR to LF; RF to RR; and RR to RF.

FWD cars wear out front tires twice as fast as the rears. FWD cars have more weight over the front and are the driven wheels. Drive wheels always wear out tires more quickly and having more weight over the front only hastens the wear.

I'm surprised people are saying they replaced pairs of tires though. The point of rotating them is so that the wear evenly as a set of 4. Am I missing something?

Nope. You got it. In theory, rotating tires evens out the wear and helps you get more miles out of the tires. It is better to have 4 of the same tires for handling. To use an extreme example, imagine driving your car with winter tires on the front and summers on the rear. The car will fishtail all over the road in the snow and will badly understeer in the summer.

 

[Nofost]

I'm not insulted. I appreciate the thoughtful response.

My initial question was, "is this normal", so I'll check pressure and report back. I may do an alignment check but I'm not throwing money at a problem I don't even know for sure is a problem.

The Ford dealer did the rotation, not me, but I believe it was done correctly because like I said, both fronts were evenly worn with each other, and same with the tears.

I guess I'm just disappointed because I've always gotten good mileage out of my tires and it sounds like I might be lucky to get 20k. I guess the fun factor of this car got the best of me in the first 5000 miles even though I'd still say I didn't beat on it.